STUTTGART — After the first four races of the season and two victories, Loek Hartog held the lead of the overall standings of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland — then the Dutchman went through a dry spell.
“When things didn’t quite go to plan, I initially thought, OK, this can happen. After the second race with problems, the doubts started to creep in. It took us two more races to find a solution. I’m finally back,” said Hartog, obviously thrilled with his victory at the Lausitzring.
The 20-year-old tackled the race from pole position, his fourth so far this season. His only threat came at the start when he had to fend off his GP Elite teammate Larry ten Voorde, who had started from alongside him on the front grid row.
“I blocked his attempt to overtake, and then managed to control the race from the front,” Hartog said.
“Loek drove a flawless race. I’m happy with second place,” said ten Voorde. The British racer finished fourth behind his Allied-Racing teammate, Porsche Junior Bastian Buus from Denmark.
“My car ran beautifully and I could easily follow Loek and Larry. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to overtake. I need to do that tomorrow right at the start,” said Buus as he heads into the 10th race of the season on Sunday.
The Dane will then line up on the grid next to Loek Hartog, with ten Voorde and King sharing the second row.
Sixth place in the race, which was interrupted by two safety car periods, went to Morris Schuring. The Dutchman was able to assert himself against Vincent Andronaco. As the fastest rookie, the German took the lead in the overall ranking of the Carrera Cup newcomers.
“The second rookie win in a row — my season is finally taking off,” Andronaco said. He was joined on the rookie podium by Belgian Ghislain Cordeel and Jasin Ferati from Switzerland.
Sören Spreng won the ProAm classification for the sixth time this year.
“That was a tough race because of the heat,” said the German after the race in 30-degree temperatures. “Still, I made it over the finish line and had a couple of decent duels on the way.”
Positions two and three in the ProAm classification were occupied by Ahmad Alshehab and Kai Pfister.
Watch Race 2 on www.speedsport1.com at 5:15 a.m. (ET) on Sunday.