The 2026 edition of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup began in the splendour accompanying the Monaco Grand Prix, and continued without a break on the fringes of Formula 1 on the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit. The Schumacher CLRT team, the current title holders, saw their #12 Porsche entrusted to Flynt Schuring win in Spain despite his qualifying being disturbed by mechanical glitches. Chester Kieffer, who’s aiming for the Rookie title, finished on the podium of the category twice. A start that laid down a marker by the black and gold cars!
Monaco, a royal spectacle in the Principality
The first race of the year was a real thriller even if there were few position changes. The 27 drivers gave their all, with their 911 Cups dancing over the bumps between the guardrails of a circuit that is approaching its 100th birthday! Schuring started in fifth spot and snatched fourth in the first braking phase for Sainte Dévote. But a slight error dropped him back a place on lap four as his pursuer slipped past so the Dutchman saw the chequered flag in the same position as the one in which he started. Kieffer also made a great getaway. The driver from Luxemburg briefly appeared in ninth spot, but he found himself trapped at the apex of the Hotel Fairmont hairpin and that lost him a place. Even so he stoutly defended his top 10 placing and his first six points in the Supercup as well as third place on the rookie podium.
Barcelona: Flynts’ first!
Flynt had already been on the overall podium three times last year, but in Catalonia he found himself on the topmost step! However, the weekend didn’t get off to a smooth start. The 2025 rookie champion had issues in free practice, and he was then stuck on the pit lane during the second part of qualifying so he managed only one flying lap. But at least his glitches enabled him to save a set of new tyres and in the race itself he picked off his rivals to climb up to P1 from P5 on the grid.
Did Flynt benefit from his glitches in qualy as a stroke of good fortune to boost his progression in the race? Engineer Benjamin Floch dismisses this hypothesis. ”Flynt made a very good start and placed himself in just the right spot for the first braking phase and he passed a car. At that particular moment, maybe the tyres did give him a slight boost in terms of his confidence, but after that the drivers spent six laps behind the safety car and on the restart, the state of freshness of his tyres compared to his rivals, was undoubtedly naturally reduced.”
Thus, it was the performance of the Schumacher CLRT Porsche and the talent of its driver in the race that made the difference in Barcelona. To back up this conclusion, it’s enough to look at Chester Kieffer’s race. After starting 15th, the 2025 Porsche Carrera Cup France Rookie champion, who is a contender to succeed his team-mate as Supercup Rookie Champion, also made a fantastic comeback fighting his way up to eighth place overall and second on the rookie podium.
As the first quarter of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup is already over, Schuring is second in the championship with Kieffer third in the Rookie Classification. The next round will be held at the Red Bull Ring in Austria on 26—28 June, but between now and then, the two drivers will go at it hammer and tongs on the Lausitzring in the Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Deutschland on 19-21 June. Remember that the Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa is also on the Schumacher CLRT Racing team’s programme with three top-class drivers defending their colours: Frédéric Makowiecki, Ayhancan Güven and Matt Campbell will share the no.22 Porsche 911 GT3 R in the greatest endurance race in the world reserved for grand touring cars!
Schumacher CLRT Racing Team 2025 results:
Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup: Driver, Rookie and Team champion, 3 overall wins
Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Deutschland: Driver runner-up, Team champion, 7 overall wins
Porsche Carrera Cup France: Driver and Rookie champion, Team runner-up, 4 overall wins
FIA GT World Cup – Macau GT Cup: P3
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup (Driver): P6
Porsche Sprint Challenge Southern Europe: Overall & Rookie champion