The fight for the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland crown remains gripping to the very end. The title decision will have to wait until the final race weekend in Hockenheim from 17 to 19 October after Michael Ammermüller (D/Walter Lechner Racing Team) failed to snatch enough points from his closest rival Christian Engelhart (D/Konrad Motorsport) on the Sachsenring. At races 15 and 16, Nicki Thiim (DK/Walter Lechner Racing Team) beat his teammate Ammermüller. Porsche junior Sven Müller (D/Team Deutsche Post by Project 1) came third on Sunday. With two rounds left on the calendar, Ammermüller ranks first with 200 points ahead of Engelhart (180 points). “Two wins are of course a perfect harvest. It was great fun driving on the Sachsenring. Now I’m looking forward to the final in Hockenheim,” said a beaming Thiim.
The hilly Sachsenring circuit proved challenging for the 35-strong field contesting the Porsche Carrera Cup on Sunday. But race 16 ran smoothly for all 460 hp Porsche 911 GT3 Cup with no collisions. Taking up the race from pole position, Thiim dominated the race from the front of the pack. Behind him sat Ammermüller whose main priority was to yield championship points. “Of course as a race driver you always want to win, but if you’re aiming for the title you simply can’t afford to take unnecessary risks,” explained the German from Lower Bavaria. Another duel developed behind the two Lechner pilots: Philipp Eng (A/Team Deutsche Post by Project 1) was running in third when his teammate Sven Müller overtook him in the fourth lap. “Philipp left the racing line slightly and I grabbed my chance. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to catch the front-runners, but I’m delighted with my podium result,” said Müller.
On the 3.645 kilometre circuit, Eng took home important championship points for fourth place ahead of Engelhart on position five. Robert Lukas (PL/Förch Racing by Lukas Motorsport) crossed the finish line in sixth. Porsche junior Alex Riberas (E/Attempto Racing by Häring) took off from twelfth on the grid to finish tenth: “My start was okay and I immediately made up a place. Overtaking here is hard unfortunately so under the circumstances tenth is a decent result.” After a fluffed qualifying, Porsche junior Connor de Phillippi (USA/Förch Racing by Lukas Motorsport) got away well at the start of the race. “Straight after the start I passed a couple of guys and I was actually going quite well. But in the last laps I suddenly experienced some technical difficulties and had to park the car two laps before the finish. We now need to take a look at what happened,” said a frustrated de Phillippi.
Champagne corks were popping at the Sachsenring for Switzerland’s Rolf Ineichen after the Konrad Motorsport pilot scored an early title in the amateur classification. From 16 races, Ineichen clinched victory in the B-category twelve times. The businessman from Sursee has earned 264 points ahead of Ralf Bohn (D/Team GT3 Kasko, 221) and Wolf Nathan (NL/Land Motorsport).
Fans of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland can now look forward to an exciting final phase of the series. From 17 to 19 October, the ninth and final championship weekend will be played out on the Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg. In the last double-header of the year, the title in this fiercely competitive series will be decided. For Connor de Phillippi (Förch Racing by Lukas Motorsport) the Hockenheim weekend will be a kind of home race. For the last 18 months, the American has lived close to Frankfurt and as such has a short journey to the finale. Porsche junior Sven Müller (D/Team Deutsche Post by Project 1) from Bingen in Rhineland-Palatinate also has only a hundred kilometres to drive to the Hockenheim.
Result race 16
1. Nicki Thiim (DK/Walter Lechner Racing Team)
2. Michael Ammermüller (D/Walter Lechner Racing Team)
3. Sven Müller (D/Team Deutsche Post by Project 1)
4. Philipp Eng (A/Team Deutsche Post by Project 1)
5. Christian Engelhart (D/Konrad Motorsport)
6. Robert Lukas (PL/Förch Racing by Lukas Motorsport)
7. Robert Renauer (D/Team GT3 Kasko)
8. Jeffrey Schmidt (CH/Lechner Racing Academy ME)
9. Christopher Zöchling (A/Konrad Motorsport)
10. Alex Riberas (E/Attempto Racing by Häring)
Points standings after 16 of 18 races
Driver classification
1. Michael Ammermüller (D/Walter Lechner Racing Team), 200 points
2. Christian Engelhart (D/Konrad Motorsport), 180 points
3. Philipp Eng (A/Team Deutsche Post by Project 1), 172 points
4. Sven Müller (D/Team Deutsche Post by Project 1), 159 points
5. Christopher Zöchling (A/Konrad Motorsport), 150.5 points
Amateur classification
1. Rolf Ineichen (CH/Konrad Motorsport), 264 points
2. Ralf Bohn (D/Team GT3 Kasko), 221 points
3. Wolf Nathan (NL/Land-Motorsport), 220 points
Rookie classification
1. Sven Müller (D/Team Deutsche Post by Project 1), 159 points
2. Lukas Schreier (D/ZaWotec Racing), 34 points
3. Mike Halder (D/SMS Seyffarth-Motorsport), 18 points
Team classification
1. Walter Lechner Racing Team, 359 points
2. Team Deutsche Post by Project 1, 331 points
3. Konrad Motorsport, 330.5 points
