STUTTGART, Germany — Larry ten Voorde’s relief was obvious; after two mediocre races in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup – Porsche’s international one-make cup with the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – the Dutchman clinched a commanding lights-to-flag victory in the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland at the Nürburgring.
“The last two weeks were perhaps the most difficult in my career so far. But we didn’t give up. The team and I worked incredibly hard to get back to our old form. First place today is a great reward, a weight is lifted from my heart,” said the 26-year-old. Thanks to his fourth victory in seven races in the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland, ten Voorde has extended his lead in the overall standings.
On the sprint version of the Nürburgring, Harry King crossed the finish line in second place, 2.5 seconds behind.
“Considering that this was my first race at this track, I’m satisfied. My goal for Sunday’s race is of course another podium finish,” commented the 22-year-old from Windsor, England. At the wheel of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup campaigned by the German team Allied-Racing, he promptly swept past Morris Schuring after just a few meters.
When the race restarted after a safety car phase, King was able to pull away from the pack of pursuers seemingly effortlessly.
This group was led by Leon Köhler, who also got past Schuring on the first lap as a consequence of the Dutchman’s mediocre start.
“The season hasn’t been great for me so far. That’s why I’m particularly happy and also delighted for the team that I’m finally back on the podium. Maybe I can finish even further up the field in Sunday’s race,” said Köhler, as he heads into the eighth Carrera Cup round.
Porsche Junior Bastian Buus, Harry King’s teammate at Allied-Racing, crossed the line in fourth. But the Dane lost this position due to a time penalty, which relegated him to sixth behind Dutchmen Loek Hartog and Morris Schuring.
FACH Auto Tech driver Jasin Ferati clinched his maiden victory in the Rookie classification.
“I’m on the rookie podium for the first time, and at the very top – I could get used to that,” beamed the Swiss racer, who just turned 20. Sören Spreng was the best-placed driver in the ProAm class. Thanks to this result, the German from the GP Elite squad took the lead in the ProAm rankings.