Jones falls agonisingly short of Supercup Rookie title

Harri Jones took his first ever Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup rookie victory at Monza, but in a bittersweet moment lost out on the rookie championship on the very last lap by a single point.

A hectic race on all fronts in which both the main and rookie championships swapped leaders in live-time, saw the BWT Lechner Aussie racer take his highest finish of the season in P4, but he twice held third spot over the time-certain closing laps which would have given him the prestigious rookie title – falling short by only one point.

It was however his first ever rookie victory after a handful of P2 finishes, and after starting in third, his direct competitor for the rookie title, Frenchman Alessandro Ghiretti crashed out of the race at the halfway mark, giving Jones the chance to finish as title winner should he take third place.

Jones’ first Supercup Rookie victory an overall P4 saw him fall one point short of being the rookie champion. Image/main image: Lechner Racing

In a massive battle between Jones and Italian Simone Iaquinta, the two traded P3 in a race that saw plenty of action and yellow’s on the fast and twisty Monza track.

Jones looked as if he’d sewn up the spot but ran wide into the gravel on the penultimate lap with the more experienced  Iaquinta putting on the heat at all times.

It did however sure up a top-ten in the championship in his debut season, with the 2022 Australian Carrera Cup champion showing he’s got a promising future ahead of him.

In a crazy and eventful race to decide the ultimate title, Jones teammate Harry King held off Dutchman  Larry ten Voorde, who if he won would have taken the title over Jones and King’s other teammate, Bastian Buus.

But in a turn of events, 20-year-old Buus went off track early and faced an almighty fight to make up five spots to get enough points to win the championship with a damaged car, which he did, finishing in P13, which led to an outpouring of emotion at the finish line for himself and the team.

Last years rookie champion Bastian Buus has become Supercup champion at just 20-years-old. Image: Lechner Racing

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