Big celebrations for Laurin Heinrich (Van Berghe Huber Racing). On Sunday, the German won his first race in the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland. “I noticed the pressure at first, but I was determined to bring home my first victory after nine podium finishes. During the race, I managed to eke out a solid lead and of course, I’m happy with the result,” said Heinrich. At race four in the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, the 19-year-old took a lights-to-flag victory. Porsche Junior Ayhancan Güven (Turkey/Phoenix Racing), who secured his maiden win in the German one-make cup on Saturday, finished in second place. Series leader Larry ten Voorde (Netherlands/Team GP Elite) claimed the third podium spot. A total of 27 drivers in their 510 hp Porsche 911 GT3 Cup racing cars tackled the doubleheader contested as support to the ADAC GT Masters.
Safety car after first lap
Polesitter Heinrich got the jump at the start, however, the safety car came out after the first lap due to a collision at the back of the field. When the race went green again, pursuer Güven was waiting behind Heinrich. The Huber driver kept his cool, defended his lead and gradually pulled away from the rest of the field. After 20 laps, Heinrich took the flag to claim his first win at his 17th Carrera Cup race. Güven crossed the finish line 0.8 seconds behind the driver from the Talent Pool, the support programme of the one-make cup. “Victory on Saturday, second on Sunday – that’s a top result. Unfortunately during the race, I didn’t manage to put any effective pressure on Laurin Heinrich,” explained Güven.
Ten Voorde defended his championship lead with third place. “On the first lap, I dropped back to sixth. It was really tough among the midfielders. That was great fun and I did everything to get as far up the field as possible,” concluded ten Voorde. A spectacular duel for fourth place unfolded between Christopher Zöchling (Austria/Fach Auto Tech) and Leon Köhler (Germany/Nebulus Racing by Huber). Up until lap ten, Zöchling vehemently defended himself, however, Köhler saw a crucial gap, grabbed his chance and swept over the line in fourth place.
Max van Splunteren (Netherlands/GP Elite) followed Zöchling over the line in sixth place. His compatriot Morris Schuring (Team GP Elite) was the best rookie in seventh place. Julian Hanses (Germany/HRT Performance), Rudy van Buren (Netherlands/CarTech Motorsport by Nigrin) and Jukka Honkavuori (Finland/MRS GT-Racing) also achieved a top ten result.
Bastian Buus (Denmark/Allied-Racing) launched a remarkable charge through the field. The 17-year-old rookie had started from P27 and achieved eleventh place after overtaking many of his rivals. Carlos Rivas (Black Falcon Team Textar) also enjoyed a successful race: The Luxembourger celebrated his fourth win in the Pro-Am class at the racetrack near Germany’s Magdeburg. Rivas beat Jan-Erik Slooten (Germany/Phoenix Racing) and Bashar Mardini (UAE/Van Berghe Huber Racing) in his class.
Comments after the race
“These two races were exciting with many challenging but fair fights. After four races, Laurin Heinrich is the third driver to score his maiden win this season after Larry ten Voorde and Ayhancan Güven. That underlines just how high the competition is in our series,” says Hurui Issak, Project Manager of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland. With 86 points, 24-year-old ten Voorde remains at the top of the leaderboard followed by Heinrich (81 points) and Güven (58 points).
For the next two races, the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland travels to Spielberg in Austria. From 11 to 13 June, races five and six will be contested as part of the ADAC GT Masters. The event at the Red Bull Ring is home turf for Christopher Zöchling: The experienced racer is the only Austrian in this year’s Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland. You can find the complete calendar of the 2021 season of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland here.
Result race 4, Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland
1. Laurin Heinrich (Germany/Van Berghe Huber Racing)
2. Ayhancan Güven (Turkey/Phoenix Racing)
3. Larry ten Voorde (Niederlande/Team GP Elite)
4. Leon Köhler (Germany /Nebulus Racing by Huber)
5. Christopher Zöchling (Austria/Fach Auto Tech)
6. Max van Splunteren (Netherlands/GP Elite)
7. Morris Schuring (Netherlands /Team GP Elite)
8. Julian Hanses (Germany /HRT Performance)
9. Rudy van Buren (Netherlands /CarTech Motorsport by Nigrin)
10. Jukka Honkavuori (Finland/MRS GT-Racing)
Points standings after 4 of 16 races
Drivers’ classification
1. Larry ten Voorde (Netherlands /Team GP Elite), 86 points
2. Laurin Heinrich (Germany /Van Berghe Huber Racing), 81 points
3. Ayhancan Güven (Turkey/Phoenix Racing), 58 points
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Edited Porsche factory press release.
Pictures courtesy Porsche AG.
