The championship crown of the one-make cup contested with the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup went to Larry ten Voorde from the Netherlands. His GP Elite squad secured the Teams’ title. Theo Oeverhaus from Germany won the Rookie classification, with his fellow countryman Sören Spreng claiming Pro-Am honours. The 2024 calendar again includes eight rounds. The 35th season of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland takes off in mid-April in Imola, Italy.
“2023 was a very special year for us: We celebrated ‘75 years of Porsche sports cars’, the Le Mans 24 Hour centenary and ‘60 years of the Porsche 911’. The Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland season was also packed with thrills and spills. The grid line-up was almost always filled to capacity with 32 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars – which once again underlines the attractiveness of our one-make cup. My heartfelt congratulations to the champions. I’m already looking forward to next year,” said Alexander Pollich, CEO Porsche Deutschland GmbH, at the award ceremony in Berlin. The major trophies went to the respective champions Larry ten Voorde (overall), Theo Oeverhaus (Rookies), Sören Spreng (ProAm) and GP Elite (Teams).
Ten Voorde set the first of several records for the 2023 season. The 27-year-old clinched his third Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland title after 2020 and 2021 – no other driver has achieved such a success. As Europe’s most successful driver in Porsche’s one-make cups and as the newly crowned champion of the Porsche Carrera Cup Italia, the Dutchman demonstrated outstanding consistency: in the 16 races of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland he finished on the podium 15 times, seven of them as the winner.
Ten Voorde spearheaded a five-strong group that left their mark on the 2023 season. He shared the victory haul with his Dutch GP Elite teammate Loek Hartog (4) and Porsche Junior Bastian Buus (3) from Denmark as well as Englishman Harry King (both Allied-Racing) and Dutchman Morris Schuring (Fach Auto Tech), who clinched one win each. This quintet also scooped the pool with all pole positions and fastest race laps.
Schuring also set a new record: at the Sachsenring, he became the youngest winner in the history of the 1990-inaugurated Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland at the age of 18 years and seven months. However, the distinction of being the youngest-ever driver to contest the German Carrera Cup went to Janne Stiak. At just 16 years old, he contested the 2023 season for the ID Racing team.
The youngster from Lower Saxony in Germany was one of seven drivers to receive special support as part of the Talent Pool. Theo Oeverhaus (CarTech Motorsport Bonk) was another talented young gun from this squad. The 18-year-old German won the Rookie category nine times, which earned him the title among the Cup newcomers and seventh in the overall ranking. Alexander Tauscher from Bavaria achieved the best overall race result for a Talent Pool member: the Huber Racing driver finished third overall at the season finale in Hockenheim.
In the ProAm classification, Sören Spreng (GP Elite) was nearly as successful as Oeverhaus was among the rookies: thanks to seven victories in this class, which is reserved for amateurs without professional racing driver background, the 37-year-old entrepreneur from Germany claimed the title.
Right from the start of the season, the fight for the Teams’ title unfolded into a duel between the Dutch crew GP Elite – with drivers Larry ten Voorde, Loek Hartog and Huub van Eijndhoven – and the Allied-Racing squad based in Bavaria, with its driver line-up of Porsche Junior Bastian Buus, Harry King and rookie Vincent Andronaco from Germany. GP Elite ultimately prevailed and took home the team title in the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland for the second time.
“Drivers and teams have once again raised the bar in the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland and treated us all to an extremely exciting season. Congratulations to the champions. I’m particularly proud of the drivers from the Talent Pool, who have fully justified our support with their strong results and professionalism,” stated Hurui Issak, Project Manager Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland.
Fast forward through the 2023 season
The Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland season kicked off with a doubleheader event as support to the FIA World Endurance Championship WEC in Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium. Harry King and Loek Hartog won a race each on the demanding “Ardennes rollercoaster”, with Sunday’s race contested in the rain. Next up was the season highlight, the “Festival of Dreams” at the Hockenheimring. Around 80,000 visitors enjoyed the big anniversary party to commemorate “75 Years of Porsche Sports Car” – which included a live concert by Alvaro Soler – as well as the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland races. Larry ten Voorde clinched his first victory of the season, but teammate Hartog defended the championship lead by finishing first in Sunday’s race.
From round three onwards, the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland accompanied the DTM. Two gripping duels unfolded between Dutchman ten Voorde and Porsche Junior Bastian Buus on the dune circuit in Zandvoort on the North Sea. The local hero prevailed both times and advanced to the top of the leaderboard – where he stayed until the end of the season. At the Nürburgring, ten Voorde again dominated with two race wins, one of them in torrential rain.
Set against the impressive backdrop of the Lausitzring, Loek Hartog countered with his third victory. A day later, it was Porsche Junior Bastian Buus’s turn to climb to the top of the podium for the first time this season. The Dane did it again on Saturday at the Sachsenring, while Morris Schuring immortalised himself in the chronicles of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland on Sunday as the youngest winner in the history of the championship.
With another victory and fifth place at the Red Bull Ring, ten Voorde clinched his third title in the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland. Thanks to his second win of the season on Sunday, Porsche Junior Buus still had a chance of achieving vice-championship honours. His hopes, however, were dashed at the finale in Hockenheim when the GP Elite duo thwarted him. With a brilliant tactical drive, new champion ten Voorde helped his teammate Hartog to victory in Saturday’s race. Second place on Sunday was enough for the Dutchman to be crowned vice-champion ahead of Buus. Ten Voorde ended the season in style with victory in the final race of the year.
Unique coffee machine for the fastest race lap record-holder
For the first time, La Marzocco – a hospitality partner of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland – sponsored a high-quality coffee machine for the driver who turned the largest number of fastest racing laps during the season. Bastian Buus won this competition with a five-point lead. The highlight: the coffee machine carried the design of the 911 GT3 Cup of the Danish Porsche Junior. The remaining fastest laps went to champion Larry ten Voorde (4), Loek Hartog (4), Harry King (2) and Morris Schuring (1).
The 2024 calendar: 16 races in five countries
Next season, the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland will visit five countries. Two 30-minute races will be contested on each of the eight race weekends. The DTM will again be the main partner with rounds at the German racetracks Oschersleben, Nürburgring, Sachsenring and Hockenheimring as well as in Zandvoort in the Netherlands and at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.
The season opens in mid-April as part of the FIA Endurance World Championship WEC weekend in Imola, Italy. On the Formula 1 circuit in the Hungarian capital Budapest, the one-make cup competes as support to the International GT Open Championship, one of Europe’s most important racing series for GT vehicles.
2024 Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland
19 – 21 April: Imola (I), FIA Endurance World Championship WEC
26– 28 April: Oschersleben (D), DTM
7– 9 June: Zandvoort (NL), DTM
21– 23 June: Budapest (HU), International GT Open Championship
16– 18 August: Nürburgring (D), DTM
6 – 8 September: Sachsenring (D), DTM
27 – 29 September: Red Bull Ring, Spielberg (A), DTM
18 – 20 October: Hockenheimring (D), DTM