First victory of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland season for Larry ten Voorde (Team GP Elite): The Dutchman won round six on Sunday in Imola (Italy). “In the previous races things didn’t go smoothly for me, so I’m happy that it’s finally worked out with my first win. You have to tackle Imola with complete concentration because every mistake can lead to one of the many gravel traps. But I’m a huge fan of this racetrack,” says ten Voorde. So far this season, six races have yielded four different winners. Second place went to ten Voorde’s fellow countryman Loek Hartog from the Black Falcon team, with Dylan Pereira (Luxembourg/IronForce Racing by Phoenix) completing the podium. At the race weekend run as support to the DTM, 31 drivers treated spectators at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit to some action-packed racing in their 375 kW (510 PS) Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.

With bright sunshine and temperatures of 32 degrees Celsius, the field faced challenging weather conditions. Ten Voorde took off from pole position, however Hartog attempted to get past before the first corner. In a duel between the two Dutchmen, ten Voorde defended his position and eked out an advantage of around two seconds over the first few laps. Using his experience, the 25-year-old two-time Carrera Cup champion controlled the race at the front to the flag.

Behind ten Voorde, the trio Hartog, Pereira and Porsche-Junior Laurin Heinrich (Germany/SSR Huber Racing) battled it out for the other podium spots. In a spirited early phase, Hartog defended his second place and ultimately pulled away from his pursuers. “In the beginning, I kept checking in the rear-view mirror. But I got faster lap by lap and managed to build a decent gap,” says Hartog. The 19-year-old is one of eight drivers from the Talent Pool, the one-make cup’s support initiative for promising youngsters. Pereira maintained his third place over the entire distance. “Unfortunately, I made too many mistakes to be able to achieve a better result. I have to improve on that in the next races,” resolved Pereira.

Although Heinrich has consistently finished on the podium in the first five races of the season, the 20-year-old narrowly missed out on a top-three result in Imola with fourth place. “At the start, I was on the outside line, so it was difficult to make up positions at first. I made several attempts to get past Dylan Pereira but I had to find the right balance so that the tyres and brakes didn’t overheat in his slipstream in the high temperatures,” states the German driver. Saturday’s winner Bastian Buus (Allied-Racing) took the flag in fifth place. While the Dane was overtaking Michael Ammermüller (Germany/SSR Huber Racing) in the last lap, he shunted his rival into the gravel trap and was subsequently handed a three-second penalty for this manoeuvre. Thus, the order after Heinrich was Max van Splunteren (Netherlands/Team GP Elite) followed by Ammermüller, Buus and Rudy van Buren (Netherlands/Huber Racing).

“It was great to return to Imola with the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland after 30 years. Thanks to its illustrious history, the racetrack radiates a special flair. Bastian Buus, one of the drivers from the Talent Pool programme, secured his first Carrera Cup win this weekend. That’s a great success for our youth development programme,” says Hurui Issak, Project Manager of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland.

For the next two races, the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland travels from Italy to the Netherlands. The Circuit Zandvoort hosts rounds seven and eight this coming weekend (24 to 26 June) as part of the ADAC GT Masters support programme. Heinrich (128 points) travels to the Dutch North Sea coast leading the standings, followed by Pereira and ten Voorde (both 92 points). Nine Carrera Cup drivers and the GP Elite squad will tackle the doubleheader event west of Amsterdam in front of home crowds. The outfit under team boss Torsten van Haasteren is based in De Rijp, which is around 40 kilometres from the Circuit Zandvoort.

Result race 6, Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland
1. Larry ten Voorde (Netherlands/Team GP Elite)
2. Loek Hartog (Netherlands/Black Falcon)
3. Dylan Pereira (Luxembourg/IronForce Racing by Phoenix)
4. Laurin Heinrich (Germany/SSR Huber Racing)
5. Max van Splunteren (Netherlands/Team GP Elite)
6. Michael Ammermüller (Germany/SSR Huber Racing)
7. Bastian Buus (Denmark/Allied-Racing)
8. Rudy van Buren (Netherlands/Huber Racing)
9. Morris Schuring (Netherlands/SSR Huber Racing)
10. Lucas Groeneveld (Netherlands/GP Elite)

Full race results
https://motorsports.porsche.com/germany/de/category/carreracup/pccd-2022-results

Points standings after 6 of 16 races
Drivers’ classification
1. Laurin Heinrich (Germany/SSR Huber Racing), 128 points
2. Dylan Pereira (Luxembourg/IronForce Racing by Phoenix), 92 points
3. Larry ten Voorde (Netherlands/Team GP Elite), 92 points