Eng is the new champion

Philipp Eng (Team Deutsche Post by Project 1) is the 2015 champion of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland. After just 13 of 17 races, the 25-year-old Austrian secured an early title on Sunday at Oschersleben. Never before in the 26-year history of the German Porsche one-make race series has a pilot taken home the championship trophy so early in the season. Eng’s points’ lead is another new record. Scoring his seventh win, which relegated Christian Engelhart (D/TECE MRS-Racing) and Nicki Thiim (DK/Küs Team75 Bernhard) to finish on second and third respectively, he is now beyond reach with 230 points.

Two pole positions and two race victories rounded off a perfect weekend. “Right now I’m the happiest person on Earth. It is simply unbelievable! I’d like to thank all those who have helped, because as a race driver you are just one ingredient in the success. I’m ecstatic,” said an overjoyed Eng.

Bringing home an unchallenged title

For the eighth time this season Eng took up the race from pole position at the wheel of his 460 hp Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. After getting off the line well at the start, he pulled clear at the head of the field trailed at first by Christian Engelhart (D/TECE MRS-Racing) and Porsche Junior Sven Müller (D/Lechner Racing Middle East). In lap two, Müller got around Engelhart. After six laps Müller was running just 0.2 seconds behind Eng and put him under pressure. “I was faster, but then I made a braking error and fell back down to seventh. I’m a race driver and I want to win so unfortunately something like this can happen,” explained Müller. This opened the door for the frontrunner to bring home an unchallenged title.

After becoming entangled in an accident and retiring on Saturday and claiming second place on Sunday, Engelhart can now only win the vice-championship, as he lies 87 points behind the newly-crowned champion. “After the crash I’m so grateful to my team for enabling me to compete at all. I’m very happy with position two,” said Engelhart. Crossing the finish line behind third-placed Thiim was the 21-year-old Spaniard Alex Riberas (The Heart of Racing by Lechner). Michael Ammermüller (D/The Heart of Racing by Lechner) finished fifth with Müller ultimately ranking sixth at the flag. Christopher Zöchling (A/Konrad Motorsport) came seventh trailed by Porsche Junior Matteo Cairoli (I/Team Deutsche Post by Project 1) on eighth: “That was a difficult race for me because I simply couldn’t get past Christopher. I’d have liked to finish further up the field.”

Walliser sent his congratulations via Twitter

Whilst Eng was still standing on the podium, the Head of Porsche Motorsport Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser already sent his congratulations via Twitter. Now that the title has been claimed by Eng, the fight for runner-up honours is now theoretically between eleven drivers: With 80 points still available, Engelhart on 143 points lies ahead of Jeffrey Schmidt (CH/Lechner Racing Middle East) with 141 points. Riberas has 126 points to his credit which puts him on fourth in the overall classification. He and Ammermüller are tied for points.

A look back at race 12

The 25 year old Philipp Eng harvested his sixth victory of the season on Saturday at the wheel of his Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Porsche Junior Sven Müller (D/Lechner Racing Middle East) finished second with Robert Renauer (D/Herberth Motorsport) in third. Out of twelve races so far, Eng has managed to climb the podium ten times. “After a stone knocked my fan belt off in qualifying, I’m over the moon with this win. I’m only now letting myself think about reclaiming the title, because none of my closest rivals finished in the points,” said Eng after the award ceremony.

The 17-lap race lost its suspense in the first lap. Polesitter Eng made a cracking start to retain his front spot and fended off Müller trailing him in second. Directly behind the pair, Christopher Zöchling (A/Konrad Motorsport) miscalculated his braking point, lost control of his 911 and slid straight into Alex Riberas (E/The Heart of Racing by Lechner), Michael Ammermüller (D/The Heart of Racing by Lechner) und Christian Engelhart (D/TECE MRS-Racing) who were running third, fourth and fifth. Zöchling received a drive-through penalty.

Sven Müller: “I’m pleased with my second place”

This incident robbed Eng’s two closest rivals Jeffrey Schmidt (CH/Lechner Racing Middle East) and Christian Engelhart of almost any chance of taking the title, because with just five races remaining on this season’ calendar, Eng leads with 210 points ahead of Schmidt with 135 points and Engelhart with 125 points. Schmidt also went home empty handed due to a technical retirement and may very likely bury his title dreams on Sunday. A total of 100 championship points (20 per win) are still up for grabs.

Porsche Junior Müller drove an immaculate race in second place and, although he attempted to attack Eng for the lead in the final sprint, he had to acknowledge the dominance of the championship leader. “It’s really hard to overtake on this circuit and I simply couldn’t get past Philipp. I’m pleased with my second place. As far as the championship is concerned, I was unable to contest two races due to a clash of dates and therefore I didn’t earn points. But I did get the chance to drive the 911 RSR in the Sports Car World Endurance Championship WEC and I’m very proud of that,” explained the 23-year-old German.

Junior Connor de Phillippi saw the flag in position nine

Robert Renauer seemed satisfied with his third place. “After scoring second at the Lausitzring and Spielberg rounds, this is my third podium of the season. And in such a highly competitive series like this, it’s not easy to accomplish,” concluded the German. Fourth place went to Ben Barker (Land-Motorsport) from Great Britain. Porsche Junior Matteo Cairoli (I/Team Deutsche Post by Project 1) clinched fifth place ahead of Jaap van Lagen (NL/Küs Team75 Bernhard) and his Danish teammate Nicki Thiim. “I regard my race result in a positive light. I started from eleventh and finished on fifth. I had a great duel with Ben Barker, but I still need to work on my qualifying,” declared Cairoli. Amateur pilot Rolf Ineichen (CH/Konrad Motorsport) netted eighth place, marking his best result of the season in the field of professional racing drivers.

Porsche Junior Connor de Phillippi (USA/Land Motorsport) took up the race from the 13th grid spot and saw the flag in position nine. “My start wasn’t so great and there were cars everywhere blocking the first corner. No one could get through. Unfortunately we’re struggling in qualifying,” said the 22-year-old. Elia Erhart (D/TECE MRS-Racing) rounded off the top ten in today’s race.

Races 14 and 15 of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland takes place from 25 to 27 September on the Nürburgring.