The season opener of the Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Deutschland could hardly have gone better for Robert de Haan: On the Formula 1 race track in Imola in northern Italy, the 18-year-old Dutchman was the dominant driver.

Robert de Haan set the fastest time in both qualifying sessions, won from pole position on Sunday after Saturday's race and leaves Emilia-Romagna as the clear leader of the standings. "That was a perfect weekend for me, my team just did everything right," said the newcomer to Proton Huber Competition, who saw a large part in his success with his team as well.

While de Haan spent a comparatively relaxed Easter Sunday at the front of the 32-strong Porsche 911 GT3 Cup field, numerous exciting battles for positions took place behind him: Directly behind him, Flynt Schuring and Marvin Klein duelled for second place throughout the entire 17-lap race. "I would have liked to put more pressure on Robert. But against Marvin I had to defend myself in almost every corner," Schuring reported. The Dutchman from the Schumacher CLRT team crossed the finish line in second place by a narrow margin and was also delighted with the place of honour as the best-placed driver from the talent pool of the Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Deutschland.

"To be honest, I'm very happy with third place," admitted Klein. In qualifying and in the first race on Saturday, I didn't really get a feel for my car. The Frenchman completed the excellent result of Proton Huber Competition. The team also took the top spot in the team standings.

Fourth place went to Dutchman Huub van Eijndhoven (Team GP Elite) ahead of French Porsche Junior Alessandro Ghiretti (Schumacher CLRT) and his teammate and compatriot Kas Haverkort.

In the rookie classification, Brazilian Matheus Ferreira (Target) prevailed against Dutchman Sacha Norden (Proton Huber Competition) and Raphael Rennhofer (Wimmer Werk Motorsport) from Austria. "To win the rookie classification in my second Carrera Cup race – that's a super result, but I had to work hard for it," commented Ferreira, who had switched from single-seater racing to Porsche's one-make cup.

Another newcomer to the Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Deutschland, but already outgrown the rookie age, is Michael Schrey (Bonk Motorsport). The experienced endurance and GT4 driver from near Osnabrück celebrated his first victory in the ProAm classification. "Despite all the routine, I was a bit tense before my first Carrera Cup weekend. I still had a bit of a hard time on Saturday," admitted the 42-year-old. Behind Schrey, Westphalian Michael Essmann (Team75 Bernhard) and Australian Sam Shahin (GP Elite) took the next places in the ProAm.

Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President Porsche Motorsport, followed Sunday's race of the Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Deutschland on site and presented trophies. He commented: "This was a perfect start to the season with two varied races. Congratulations to Robert de Haan on his convincing performance. An exciting season is also on the cards in the rookie and ProAm classifications. I was also particularly impressed by the Talent Pool riders."

For the second round, the Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Deutschland will once again be on a Formula 1 circuit and once again as part of the FIA World Endurance Championship: The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium will be the stage for races 3 and 4 of the season on 9 and 10 May 2025.

Result race 2, Imola (ITA)

1. Robert de Haan (NLD/Proton Huber Competition), 17 laps
2. Flynt Schuring (NLD/Schumacher CLRT), +1.350 seconds
3. Marvin Klein (FRA/Proton Huber Competition), +1.727 seconds
4. Huub van Eijndhoven (NLD/Team GP Elite), +2.358 seconds
5. Porsche Junior Alessandro Ghiretti (FRA/Schumacher CLRT), +3.507 seconds
6. Kas Haverkort (NLD/Team GP Elite), +3.771 seconds

Standings after 2 of 16 races

1. Robert de Haan (NLD/Proton Huber Competition), 50 points
2. Marvin Klein (FRA/Proton Huber Competition), 27 points
3. Porsche Junior Theo Oeverhaus (DEU/Bonk Motorsport), 26 points