Laurin Heinrich (SSR Huber Racing) has kicked off the new Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland season with a victory. The Porsche-Junior from Germany won the first race of the 2022 season on Belgium’s Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps ahead of Dylan Pereira (Luxembourg/IronForce Racing by Phoenix). “My start wasn’t great but I managed to defend my position and keep my rivals at bay. I’m starting Saturday’s race from pole position as well and I’m keen to make this weekend perfect with a double victory,” says Heinrich. Defending champion Larry ten Voorde (Netherlands/Team GP Elite) finished third at the race contested as part of the FIA World Endurance Championship support programme.

Under blue skies and in temperatures of 18 degrees Celsius, polesitter Heinrich took up the race at the wheel of his 375 kW (510 PS) Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. The 20-year-old from Germany’s Würzburg region got the jump off the line and promptly put several car lengths between him and his closest pursuers to ultimately score an emphatic victory after 14 laps. At the start, Pereira turned heads with a spirited charge on the 7.004-kilometre racetrack. The 24-year-old tackled the race from the fifth grid spot and, by lap two, had worked his way up to second place. “I got a puncture in qualifying so I started the race on the fresh set of slicks. That gave me an advantage in the first laps so I made the most of it. At one point I managed to close the gap slightly to Laurin Heinrich but I couldn’t really catch him,” admits Pereira.

Ten Voorde initially gained one position after the start with an overtaking manoeuvre in the La Source hairpin only to lose it to Pereira shortly afterwards. “I’m satisfied with the result. Towards the end, I was really fast and if I’d had a few more laps I might have been able to overtake Dylan Pereira,” says ten Voorde. As the best driver from the Talent Pool – the youth development initiative of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland – Loek Hartog (Netherlands/Black Falcon) finished in fourth place. His fellow countryman Morris Schuring (SSR Huber Racing) also secured a spot in the top five.

Michael Ammermüller (SSR Huber Racing) concluded his first Carrera Cup race since 2019 in sixth place. Following the German over the finish line were Bastian Buus (Denmark/Allied-Racing) and Max van Splunteren (Netherlands/Team GP Elite). Carlos Rivas (Luxembourg/Black Falcon) clinched victory in the ProAm classification. The reigning ProAm champion took the flag ahead of Jan-Erik Slooten (Germany/IronForce Racing by Phoenix). Ahmad Alshehab (CarTech Motorsport by Nigrin) celebrated a premiere with third place in the ProAm class: This is the first time a racing driver from Kuwait has climbed the podium in the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland.

Race two of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland gets underway on Saturday at 10:55 am local time. The German free-TV channel NITRO televises the race and the pre-race report from 10:45 am.

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

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