The second Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland event in 2021 gained Rudy van Buren a decent amount of points. Though based on his promising pace around Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, he reckons more could have been achieved.

“I can hardly remember a weekend during which our raw pace was so good, yet the results ended up not to our liking”, says Rudy. “Despite the fact this year’s field is very competitive, we belong in the top five on pace. But to capitalize on that, track position is key - as the new Porsche 911 GT3 Cup makes it very hard to follow someone around the circuit, let alone overtake them.”

The pace was promising, yet a trio of red flags and an obstructing competitor denied Rudy from achieving the desired starting grid position in qualifying. As the first race commenced, track conditions were wet and race control elected to run the first few laps behind the safety car. Rudy: “We set the tire pressure for dry conditions, but initially the rain picked up, leaving me with hardly any grip whatsoever. In later stages I was able to match the pace up front, but it proved near impossible to overtake other cars in the field, which was already quite spread out.” Still, the CarTech Motorsport by Nigrin driver managed to close up to the chasing pack, taking eighth place at the finish line.

The pace was promising, yet a trio of red flags and an obstructing competitor denied Rudy from achieving the desired starting grid position in qualifying. As the first race commenced, track conditions were wet and race control elected to run the first few laps behind the safety car. Rudy: “We set the tire pressure for dry conditions, but initially the rain picked up, leaving me with hardly any grip whatsoever. In later stages I was able to match the pace up front, but it proved near impossible to overtake other cars in the field, which was already quite spread out.” Still, the CarTech Motorsport by Nigrin driver managed to close up to the chasing pack, taking eighth place at the finish line.

The opening stages of the second race saw Rudy struggle a bit, though he recovered quicky after a very early safety car: “Starting in P10, I nearly stalled the engine and lost some places. But as the race was resumed, I pushed on and recovered four places. After a while, I got stuck behind a train of Porsche racing cars, as at speeds exceeding fourth gear there’s a lot of understeer when you’re following another car. All competitors are vocal about this matter and it’s the explanation for the general lack of overtaking.”

Ultimately, the 29-year-old driver finished ninth. This meant he collected a fair amount of points and climbed up to seventh (out of 28 competitors) in the championship standings. Looking ahead to the next race, which will be held on the Red Bull Ring on 12/13 June, Rudy says: “We know that venue quite well. It wasn’t my best weekend last year, so we’re poised to do well this time. Qualifying will be key once again.”