STUTTGART, Germany — Larry ten Voorde looked relieved. “It was a tough race with more fighting for positions and more contacts than I would have liked, but it was great fun,” said the Dutchman from the GP Elite team, after finishing Sunday’s race at the Red Bull Ring in fifth place.
“When I first contested the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland in 2017, I would never have dared to dream that I would set a new record with three titles. It’s been an incredible journey so far and I hope it continues for a long time to come.”
In the race, the dominant championship leader could have taken the pressure off himself: To claim the title, he only needed to score two points at round 14 of the 16-race calendar. However, heading into the race from the fifth grid spot, ten Voorde was determined to fight for a podium finish.
He and Harry King went head-to-head for third place over many laps – at times swapping paint as well as a spectacular detour through a gravel bed for the GP Elite car. “After that, my car didn’t handle so well,” ten Voorde reported later. He let King and, a little later, Morris Schuring go and concentrated on making it across the finish line unscathed. Ultimately, fifth place was enough to clinch an early title.
At the head of the field, Porsche Junior Bastian Buus drove a commanding race to bring home his third win of the season. On lap three, the 20-year-old Dane and his Allied-Racing teammate Harry King initially swept past polesitter Loek Hartog from the Netherlands. However, the stewards decided that King’s overtaking manoeuvre was a little too ambitious. When the Englishman was instructed to fall back behind Hartog again, the door opened for Buus. His lead after 21 laps was 4.1 seconds – a huge margin by Carrera Cup standards. “I won, that’s all I could do today. Congratulations to Larry on winning the title,” said Buus showing true sportsmanship.
After failing to turn his pole position into a victory on Saturday, Loek Hartog was also less than thrilled on Sunday. “I’m not happy, that I lost the lead in the race. At least I still have the points for second place,” he concluded. Third-placed Harry King would also have preferred to finish further up the field. “I could’ve won, but the penalty cost me two positions. At least I had a great duel with Larry ten Voorde,” he concluded.
Behind Schuring and ten Voorde, Germany’s Leon Köhler crossed the finish line in sixth place. Scoring seventh place, his fellow countryman Alexander Tauscher (Huber Racing) was the best-placed driver from the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland Talent Pool.
Repeating the success from the previous day, Theo Oeverhaus won the rookie classification. “After just a few laps I managed to take the lead of the rookies and held on to it to the flag. The points are valuable,” stated the 18-year-old from Germany, thrilled with his seventh win of the season and his extended lead in the standings. Joining him on the rookie podium were Vincent Andronaco from Germany in second place and Jasin Ferati from Switzerland in third.
Ahmad Alshehab claimed the top step of the ProAm podium for the fourth time this season. “My engineer told me to push, push, push – so that’s what I did,” beamed the Kuwaiti racer. The current ProAm leader Sören Spreng from Germany finished second ahead of Bulgarian Georgi Donchev.
“My sincere congratulations to Larry ten Voorde on winning the title. He clearly dominated the 2023 Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland season and takes home the well-deserved championship crown for the third time,” said Issak Hurui, Project Manager for the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland after the weekend in Styria.
“Now I’m looking forward to the season finale in Hockenheim and the title decisions in the ProAm, Rookie and Team classes. There’s still a lot of suspense in all three classifications.”