Race 1
“It feels great to start the season with such a sense of achievement. We used the free practice to set the car up for this track. It makes me all the more pleased that we were rewarded as a team,” said King about his success in the race run as part of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) support programme.
The 32-strong field lined up on the grid in their Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars in sunshine and temperatures of 19 degrees Celsius. Starting from pole position, King got off the line cleanly in his Cup car and won the sprint to the first corner. In the first minutes, the 2022 champion of the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux eked out an advantage of almost two seconds, only to lose it during a safety car phase. For more than two laps, the field followed the Taycan Turbo S, which is decked out in a special livery this season to commemorate the anniversary of “75 Years of Porsche Sports Cars”. At the restart, King fended off ten Voorde’s repeated attacks and crossed the finish line first after 13 laps.
Ten Voorde made up two positions during the race and finished in second place. “The spectators were treated to some great racing today. After the safety car phase, Harry King and I drove through Eau Rouge wheel-to-wheel – that was spectacular. Ultimately, second place is a great result,” said ten Voorde. His teammate Hartog completed the podium. Shortly after the safety car phase, the 20-year-old advanced to third place and, in the final minutes, defended his position against his fellow countryman Morris Schuring (Fach Auto Tech). “That was an intense race. I lost a bit of focus at the end but I still managed to bring home the result,” explained Hartog. Schuring took the flag in fourth place.
Porsche-Junior Bastian Buus (Allied-Racing) wrapped up the first race of the season in fifth place. Starting from P8 on the grid, the Dane worked his way up the order with several overtaking manoeuvres. “Obviously, I would’ve liked to have finished further up the field but it’s a decent result considering my grid position. I start Sunday’s race from ninth place and I’d like to finish at least in the top five,” said Buus. Vincent Andronaco (Allied-Racing) concluded his first race in the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland in sixth. This makes the 17-year-old from Hamburg the best driver from the Talent Pool – the one-make cup’s youth development squad.
Janne Stiak (Germany) experienced a special race: At the age of 16 years and 49 days, the junior driver from ID Racing set a new record as the youngest contestant in a Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland race. Stiak replaces Schuring, who was just 20 days older at his debut. Stiak, however, experienced an unlucky race at Spa-Francorchamps – the young German had to park his car in the pits early due to a collision.
This season’s first trophy in the ProAm class was claimed by Georgi Donchev (ProfilDoors by Huber Racing). The Bulgarian won his category on the 7.004-kilometre racetrack in the Ardennes ahead of the two Germans Sören Spreng (GP Elite) and Kai Pfister (HRT Performance).
Round two of this year’s Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland gets underway at Spa-Francorchamps on Saturday. Larry ten Voorde starts from pole position. Two years ago, the two-time champion (2020 and 2021) won both championship races on the famous Formula 1 circuit. The race gets the green light on Saturday at 9:20 am local time and will be streamed live on www.ran.de, the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland Facebook and YouTube channels and the Porsche Motorsport Hub.
Result race 1, Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland
1. Harry King (United Kingdom/Allied-Racing)
2. Larry ten Voorde (Netherlands/Team GP Elite)
3. Loek Hartog (Netherlands/Team GP Elite)
4. Morris Schuring (Netherlands/Fach Auto Tech)
5. Bastian Buus (Denmark/Allied-Racing)
6. Vincent Andronaco (Germany/Allied-Racing)
7. Harri Jones (Australia/Scherer Sport PHX)
8. Theo Oeverhaus (Germany/CarTech Motorsport Bonk)
9. Leon Köhler (Germany/Huber Racing)
10. Alexander Tauscher (Germany/Huber Racing)
Preview
The Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland returns from its winter break: the 34th season gets underway on the spectacular Ardennes rollercoaster of Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium) from 27 to 29 April. Thanks to its capacity grid of 32 drivers, the start of the season as part of the FIA World Endurance Championship WEC support programme promises some gripping race action. Fans can look forward to two thrilling events with the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. The Carrera Cup welcomes ProSieben as a new TV partner. The German free-to-air network will broadcast the highlights of the one-make cup in the lead-up to the DTM races.
“The famous Formula 1 circuit in Spa-Francorchamps is the perfect setting for the start of our season,” says Alexander Pollich, CEO of Porsche Deutschland GmbH. “With young rookies and seasoned one-make cup specialists, the grid line-up promises action-packed racing from the first metres. I’m delighted that ProSieben joins as our new TV partner and offers us a broad platform. With live broadcasts of the DTM and Formula E, two top international series are already part of the channel’s offering.”
As the two-time champion and last year’s runner-up, Larry ten Voorde (Netherlands/Team GP Elite) now has his sights set on title number three. However, he faces tough competition from Porsche-Junior Bastian Buus (Allied-Racing) from Denmark as well as the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux champion Harry King (United Kingdom/Allied-Racing) and Germany’s Leon Köhler (Huber Racing), who still has a score to settle after claiming third overall in the 2021 season. The two swift Dutch racers Loek Hartog (Team GP Elite) and Morris Schuring (Fach Auto Tech) also belong to the circle of favourites.
In addition to the overall classification, the two Rookie and ProAm categories give drivers the chance to pit themselves against each other. This year, ten talented youngsters from six countries tackle the rookie classification. Among the title aspirants in the ProAm class are Bulgarian Georgi Donchev (ProfilDoors by Huber Racing), Sören Spreng (Germany/GP Elite) and Ahmad Alshehab (CarTech Motorsport Bonk) from Kuwait.
On the media side, the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland repositions itself this year and joins forces with the TV broadcaster ProSieben for the 2023 season. From now on, the “ran racing: Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland” programme will be aired immediately before the DTM races. In this approximately five-minute magazine, TV viewers are treated to fascinating insights and the most important highlights of the series. Moreover, all 16 races will be aired live on www.ran.de. The “ran” format was introduced in 1992 and has since broadcast many international sporting events, including the DTM. Moreover, the news channel ntv will continue to televise the programme “PS – Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland”.
Drivers and teams can expect a spectacular start to the season in Belgium’s Ardennes. The 7.004-kilometre racetrack of Spa-Francorchamps is famous for its passages Radillon/Eau Rouge, Blanchimont, La Source hairpin and Kemmel straight. However, due to the topography of the region, unpredictable weather has always played a decisive role. The first of the new season’s two races gets the green light this Friday at 3:45 pm with the second round taking off on Saturday at 9:20 am local time. Both races are streamed live on www.ran.de, the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland Facebook and YouTube channels and the Porsche Motorsport Hub.
Grid line-up of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland 2023
#4 Georgi Donchev (Bulgaria/ProfilDoors by Huber Racing)
#5 Sören Spreng (Germany/GP Elite)
#6 Vincent Andronaco (Germany/Allied-Racing)
#7 Jasin Ferati (Switzerland/Fach Auto Tech)
#8 Alexander Fach (Switzerland/Fach Auto Tech)
#12 Harri Jones (Australia/Scherer Sport PHX)
#13 Alexander Tauscher (Germany/Huber Racing)
#14 Morris Schuring (Netherlands/Fach Auto Tech)
#19 Harry King (United Kingdom/Allied-Racing)
#22 Matteo Ferrer-Aza (Switzerland/Scherer Sport PHX)
#23 Lukas Ertl (Germany/HP Racing Int. with Huber)
#24 Loek Hartog (Netherlands/Team GP Elite)
#25 Larry ten Voorde (Netherlands/Team GP Elite)
#27 Ghislain Cordeel (Belgium/GP Elite)
#28 Huub van Eijndhoven (Netherlands/Team GP Elite)
#31 Sebastian Freymuth (Germany/Team Huber Racing)
#34 Theo Oeverhaus (Germany/CarTech Motorsport Bonk)
#40 Janne Stiak (Germany/ID Racing)
#41 Diego Stifter (Germany/ID Racing)
#44 Jonas Greif (Germany/ProfilDoors by Huber Racing)
#54 Michael Essmann (Germany/CarTech Motorsport Bonk)
#55 Lorenzo Ferrari (Italy/Proton Competition)
#65 Kai Pfister (Germany/HRT Performance)
#68 Tim Stender (Germany/HRT Performance)
#69 Holger Harmsen (Germany/HRT Performance)
#77 Leon Köhler (Germany/Huber Racing)
#84 Ahmad Alshehab (Kuwait/CarTech Motorsport Bonk)
#87 Ariel Levi (Israel/Team Huber Racing)
#88 Horst Felix Felbermayr (Austria/Proton Competition)
#92 Luca Rettenbacher (Austria/Huber Racing)
#98 Jan Seyffert (Germany/HP Racing Int. with Huber)
#99 Bastian Buus (Denmark/Allied-Racing)
2023 race calendar Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland
27.04-29.04.2023
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (FIA WEC), races 1+2
10.06-11.06.2023
Hockenheimring (Festival of Dreams), races 3+4
23.06-25.06.2023
Circuit Zandvoort (DTM), races 5+6
04.08-06.08.2023
Nürburgring (DTM), races 7+8
18.08-20.08.2023
DEKRA Lausitzring (DTM), races 9+10
08.09-10.09.2023
Sachsenring (DTM), races 11+12
22.09-24.09.2023
Red Bull Ring (DTM), races 13+14
20.10-22.10.2023
Hockenheimring (DTM), races 15+16