Victory for Huub van Eijndhoven, title decisions remain open
The ninth different winner in the 15th race of the season: the Hockenheimring saw the Carrera Cup Deutschland set a new record in its 35-year history. Huub van Eijndhoven joined the list of winners of the one-make cup with the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Driving for the Uniserver by Team GP Elite squad, the Dutchman brought home a commanding lights-to-flag victory. British driver Harry King from Team Allied-Racing kept his title chances intact with a second-place finish. Championship leader Larry ten Voorde, who drives for Proton Huber Competition, finished sixth. Coming into the final race tomorrow (Sunday), which will also be contested at the Hockenheimring, ten Voorde’s lead over King has been reduced to 25 points.
“Given that the track was drying out, grip conditions changed with every lap – and I was always the first to try out the new braking point in every corner,” said Huub van Eijndhoven with a chuckle, explaining the challenging conditions. Starting from pole position, the Dutchman confidently controlled the race packed with spirited overtaking manoeuvres.
Larry ten Voorde initially held second place. However, the championship leader soon had to let Harry King and his compatriot Robert de Haan from Team75 Bernhard pass. One lap later, ten Voorde misjudged his braking for the hairpin – an opportunity that British driver James Kellett from ID Racing and Dutchman Flynt Schuring (Team Proton Huber Competition) did not miss: They overtook ten Voorde, who eventually crossed the finish line in sixth place.
Despite the decreased gap, King remains the underdog in the title fight: even if he won the 16th race of the season, securing a single point would be enough for ten Voorde to win the title. “I finished further forward today than I could’ve expected from eighth on the grid. Maybe I can do the same on Sunday. In any case, I’ll be fighting until the last lap,” said Harry King, looking ahead to Sunday’s race, for which he qualified third on the grid.
Robert de Haan celebrated victory in the rookie class, securing third place overall. The 18-year-old Dutchman achieved this impressive finish from 23rd on the grid. De Haan was joined on the podium by Flynt Schuring from the Proton Huber Competition team, who finished second among the Carrera Cup rookies. Third place went to Dutchman Senna van Soelen from Target Competition. With that performance, De Haan took over the lead in the rookie standings from Kas Haverkort (Uniserver by Team GP Elite), who did not finish. The title in this classification will be decided in Sunday’s race between the Dutch trio of De Haan, Schuring and Haverkort.
Victory in the ProAm classification went to Sören Spreng. “The conditions on the track were really difficult. Some sections were still wet at the start, but the track dried almost completely towards the end of the race. I managed to keep out of all trouble – that was crucial,” reported the businessman from Germany, who drives for GP Elite. Second place in the ProAm went to Michael Essmann and third to his CarTech Motorsport teammate Kai Pfister. Spreng thus extended his lead in the standings, with only Michael Essmann still able to prevent him from winning the title. In the team standings, the season finale on Sunday at 11:00 am will go down to the wire between the German team Proton Huber Competition and the Dutch squad Uniserver by Team GP Elite.
Result race 15, Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Deutschland, Hockenheim (D)
1. Huub van Eijndhoven (NL/Uniserver by Team GP Elite), 16 laps
2. Harry King (UK/Allied-Racing), +0.847 seconds
3. Robert de Haan (NL/Team75 Bernhard), +2.820 seconds
4. James Kellett (UK, ID Racing), +6.388 seconds
5. Flynt Schuring (NL/Team Proton Huber Competition), +7.014 seconds
6. Larry ten Voorde (NL/Proton Huber Competition), +8.786 seconds
Overall standings Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Deutschland (after 15 of 16 races)
1. Larry ten Voorde (NL, Proton Huber Competition), 268 points
2. Harry King (UK, Allied-Racing), 243 points
3. Theo Oeverhaus (D, Bonk Motorsport), 171 points
Full results and championship standings:
motorsports.porsche.com/germany/de/category/carreracup/psccd-2024-results