The winner of the sixth round of the Porsche Carrera Cup on the Circuit Park Zandvoort (Netherlands) was only decided in a dramatic final lap. Sitting in third position, Chris Mamerow (Germany) passed first his compatriot René Rast and then promptly took Uwe Alzen by surprise, who had been leading, with a short interruption, since the second lap. Taking up the 19-lap race from seventh, Joerg Hardt (Germany) was also able to catch and pass the slowing Alzen as well as René Rast to cross the finish line a commendable second. Rast claimed third ahead of Alzen in fourth. Chris Mamerow’s success in Zandvoort was at the same time his first victory. René Rast yielded both his best qualifying result to date – the 20-year-old had started from third on the grid – and his best race result.
For pole-sitter Olivier Pla (France) the race for victory ended early. Pla, whose pole position was his first in the Carrera Cup, had to head for the pits after just two laps. In a duel with Uwe Alzen the rear left wheel of the Frenchman’s car sustained damages. The ex-GP2 pilot rejoined the race but couldn’t do better than 21st place. Uwe Alzen’s team claimed that the reason for Alzen’s car becoming slower towards the end was due to the right rear tyre scrapping on the wheel arch – a result of his earlier collision with Pla.
In lap five Richard Westbrook had just snatched the lead from Alzen when his throttle pedal stuck while driving at full revs. The Briton pulled into the pits. The defect relegated Westbrook back to position 26 – and cost the 32-year-old racing professional the points lead. At around the highway point Robert Renauer (Germany) buried his chances of a top placing. The 22-year-old had held on to third position until lap ten but with his tyres fading he fell back to finally cross the finish line in seventh.
With his victory Chris Mamerow takes over the drivers championship lead of the Carrera Cup Deutschland for the first time in his four years of contesting the series. Uwe Alzen occupies second with the same points tally. Nicolas Armindo (France) holds on to third after putting in a spirited performance to plough from 16th starting position to take the flag in eighth. Richard Westbrook shuffles down the list from first to fourth ahead of Joerg Hardt.
Chris Mamerow (winner): “Four laps before my attack it became clear to me that I could win the race. We had chosen the tyre pressure and set-up so that my car would run perfectly in the final laps. I was thinking about how I could attack the boys in front when Joerg suddenly put the pressure on. There was no more time to think. I nabbed Uwe under braking, which was fortunate because in the quick passages the old fox wouldn’t let anyone else pass.”
Jörg Hardt (second): “While all the others were squabbling I made the most of it. As always my car was perfect. My race was perfect as well and I did what I could from seventh in qualifying. Now I’m back in the fight for the title. Now there are three races to go on circuits that suit me.”
René Rast (third): “My first podium with a Porsche! I’m a happy man – but not completely satisfied. I pushed the car a little to hard and then I got my first fright: We’d built in a new clutch last night and I almost choked the 911 at the start! But luckily I was able to pull myself together and find a good rhythm. Now I hope to repeat this performance on the Nürburgring.”