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2020/07/01 | Stuttgart | Motorsports | Press Release

Guatemalan Mateo Llarena will also be the first Latin American to participate in a full season of the one-make cup

A Latin American is the youngest driver in the history of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup

Stuttgart. At 16 years, four months and nine days, Mateo Llarena, born in Guatemala, will become this Sunday, July 5, the youngest driver to dispute a race of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup (known until 2007 as Porsche Michelin Supercup). In the same vein, Llarena will be the first Latin American to participate in a complete season of the one-make cup, which this season will open the Formula One Grand Prix in eight occasions, as it has been doing since it was created in 1993.

On Sunday, when he accelerates his 911 GT3 Cup at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria, Llarena, born on February 26, 2004, will be six months and 17 days younger than Loek Hartog, who made his debut in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup on August 30, 2019, during the Grand Prix of Spa-Francforchamps. Until this season, the Dutchman was the youngest driver in the 25-year history of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup.

"I think I'm already used to being the youngest in each category that I reach," said Llarena, who began his tour of the tracks when his father, Rinaldo, gave him a go-kart with which he began to race and shine in 2008.

When he was only 5, in 2009, he took third place in the 50 cc Kart category of the Pan American Championship. Several important performances in 50 cc and 60 cc in the United States, Argentina, Mexico and Italy (including the Final of the Easykart World Championship) and four national titles (60 cc in 2014 and 2016, Vortex 100cc and Tag 125 Junior in 2019) are part of his record and have helped him to be the recipient of the FIA Award Americas, 'Sport Junior' category, from the International Motor Racing Federation in 2014.

“He was doing very well in go-karts and we thought we had to measure him against the elders and 'throw him to the lions' to measure his true potential," said Rinaldo Llarena. That's how at age 14 he made his debut in his country's Toyota Yaris Cup. As an amateur he got two pole positions and was on the podium twice. Then he competed in a couple of races of the FIA Formula 4 Nacam in Mexico, won the National GTR Championship in Guatemala, disputed, in Uruguay a race of the Porsche GT3 Cup Trophy Argentina, participated in an official test of the Porsche GT3 Carrera Cup in Brazil and with a 911 GT3 Cup TLM Motorsport team, disputed races in Miami and Daytona. Similarly, he ran the CTCC Costa Rican Touring Car Championship, the Three Hours of Costa Rica, was first in the GT2 category of the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) in Miami and got a fourth place in the Trans Am Super GT Class at Daytona International Speedway. This impressive performance earned him another FIA Award Americas in 2019, this time in the 'Motorsport' category.’

During the Supercup that was disputed in Mexico in October 2018, Mateo Llarena met Johan Koning Hemmerling, a Panamanian living in Holland for many years who has good contacts in the world of motoring. This relationship served to focus the steps towards the races of stock cars and to approach Karsten Molitor, ex DTM driver and owner of the team MRS GT-Racing. From the relationship arose an invitation to race the following year at the Hermanos Rodríguez racetrack on the last event of the Porsche Supercup 2019. Unfortunately, he could not do it because two days before the first of the two races, a steward said that, according to German regulations, it was not allowed to children under 16 years of age to run on this type of championships.

“Even though I didn't race, I learned a lot of good things during that weekend," said Llarena at the time. "It is always good to be in touch with the drivers, the team members and all the people who move around the world of motorsports”.

The last minute impasse resulted in an invitation by the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup Project Manager, Oliver Schwab, for Mateo to visit the Development Centre in Weissach, to participate in March of this year in the official Supercup test in Barcelona (cancelled due to the coronavirus), to take part in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup Rookie Program 2020 and to race throughout the season.

“We reached an agreement with Karsten (Molitor) to race in his MRS GT-Racing team and so far, things have gone very well", said Mateo. The balance, after the first official test of the Supercup carried out in Austria last week, showed it.

“I had the opportunity to do more than 100 laps around the circuit, which gave me a lot of important information," said Llarena. "At the same time, I could get acquainted with all the members of the MRS GT-Racing, especially with the engineer with whom we are going to work the eight races that conform the championship. The Porsche 911 GT3 Cup that the team gave me was in excellent condition and very stable”.

For now, Mateo Llarena is on a path that has a clear goal: "I dream of being a Porsche factory driver and winning with the team the Endurance World Championship," he said. What if that dream doesn't come true? "I'm still studying and I'm not going to give that up. I have two years left of school and for now I will combine the virtual classes with the Supercup", he concluded.

Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup 2020 calendar
July 5 Red Bull Ring, Spielberg (Austria)
July 12 Red Bull Ring, Spielberg (Austria)
July 19 Hungaroring, Budapest (Hungary)
August 2 Silverstone (England)
August 9 Silverstone (England)
August 16 Montmeló, Barcelona (Spain)
August 30 Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium)
September 6 Autodromo Nazionale Monza (Italy)

Note: Image material in the Porsche Newsroom newsroom.porsche.com/en and in the Porsche press database press.pla.porsche.com. The @PorscheRaces Twitter handle provides live updates from racetracks around the world with the latest information and photos from Porsche Motorsport.
---

Elizabeth Solis

Porsche Latin America, Inc.

+1 770 290 8305

Text

English (Porsche Latin America)

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2020/07/01

    • Motorsports
    • Season 2020
    • Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup

A Latin American is the youngest driver in the history of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup

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