Race 2
The finale of the 2023 Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland 2023 could hardly have concluded more appropriately, with champion Larry ten Voorde winning the last of this season’s 16 races in front of packed grandstands at the Hockenheimring. With this, the 26-year-old Dutchman notched up his 30th victory in the national one-make cup with the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – his seventh triumph this season. “My start wasn't great and I had to work hard over the rest of the laps. Alexander Tauscher did a great race,” said ten Voorde, with a nod to his 21-year-old main rival.
Indeed, Alexander Tauscher rode ten Voorde’s slipstream over much of the race and even attempted to overtake a few times. It was only in the final phase that the Huber Racing driver from Bavaria was overtaken by Harry King (Allied Racing) and Loek Hartog (Team GP Elite). However, when a time penalty relegated King down the field, Tauscher inherited the third podium step – his best result to date. “I don’t even know what to say,” beamed Tauscher, who is one of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland Talent Pool supported drivers. “This is the perfect end to a very unlucky season.”
Thanks to his victory in Saturday’s race and second overall on Sunday, Loek Hartog was the big winner of the weekend. With this result, the 21-year-old Dutchman shunted Bastian Buus off second place overall literally on the season home straight. “I didn't expect that when I came to Hockenheim, I also owe the success to a perfect team strategy,” admitted Hartog. His Team GP Elite squad, for which series champion Larry ten Voorde also scored points, had already secured the title in the Teams classification of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland on Saturday.
For Porsche Junior Bastian Buus from Denmark, however, the weekend turned bleak. The newly crowned champion of the international Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup crossed the finish line in seventh place on Saturday and retired from the race on Sunday. “It's a shame, I expected more,” said the frustrated 20-year-old. This result saw him drop to third place in the final standings ahead of his British Allied-Racing teammate Harry King.
Trailing the Dutchman Morris Schuring (FACH AUTO TECH) over the line, Theo Oeverhaus from Germany took the flag in fifth place. The 18-year-old from the CarTech Motorsport Bonk squad won the Rookie classification for the ninth time and commandingly secured the Rookie trophy. “It was a terrific year with a strong result in the finale. “I’m already looking forward to next season,” stated Oeverhaus. Harri Jones (Scherer Sport PHX) from Australia and Jasin Ferati (FACH AUTO TECH) from Switzerland rounded off the Rookie podium at the 16th race of the season.
The last available title went to Sören Spreng. The GP Elite driver from Germany is the new ProAm champion of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland. “The season was more challenging and exhausting than I’d imagined,” he admitted. In the final round, third place was enough for him to take home the ProAm crown, narrowly edging out Sunday’s winner Ahmad Alshehab (CarTech Motorsport Bonk).
Alshehab, who comes from Kuwait, struggled during Saturday’s race at the Hockenheimring, where he was handed two penalties. Although one of the penalties turned out unwarranted during the post-race analysis, a subsequent adjustment was impossible. Thanks to his victory in the ProAm classification on Sunday, Alshehab worked his way to within one point of champion Spreng. “Congratulations to Sören. But without the penalty, the title fight might have ended differently,” the Kuwaiti was convinced. Second place on Sunday and third in the overall ProAm standings went to the Bulgarian Georgi Donchev (ProfilDoors by Huber Racing).
“In many ways, the Hockenheimring weekend was the craziest of the whole year. But all in all, it was a great conclusion to a nail-biting 2023 Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland season. I’d like to thank all the drivers for some fantastic race action and the teams for their extremely professional work throughout the year,” concluded Hurui Issak, the Project Manager of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland.
The 2024 Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland calendar
Next season, the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland will run 16 races in five countries, with the opening round held as part of the FIA Endurance World Championship WEC weekend in Imola, Italy. On the Formula 1 circuit in the Hungarian capital Budapest, the one-make cup competes as support to the International GT Open Championship, one of Europe’s most important racing series for GT cars. The remaining six rounds will be contested as part of the DTM at the German racetracks Oschersleben, Nürburgring, Sachsenring and Hockenheimring as well as in Zandvoort in the Netherlands and at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.
19 – 21 April: Imola (I), FIA Endurance World Championship WEC
26– 28 April: Oschersleben (D), DTM
7– 9 June: Zandvoort (NL), DTM
21– 23 June: Budapest (HU), International GT Open Championship
16– 18 August: Nürburgring (D), DTM
6 – 8 September: Sachsenring (D), DTM
27 – 29 September: Red Bull Ring, Spielberg (A), DTM
18 – 20 October: Hockenheimring (D), DTM
Result race 16, Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland, Hockenheimring (D)
1. Larry ten Voorde (NL/Team GP Elite), 33:30.241 minutes
2. Loek Hartog (NL/Team GP Elite), +2.031 seconds
3. Alexander Tauscher (D/Huber Racing), + 2.580 seconds
4. Morris Schuring (NL/FACH AUTO TECH), +2.800 seconds
5. Theo Oeverhaus (D/CarTech Motorsport Bonk), +2.997 seconds
6. Harri Jones (AUS/Scherer Sport PHX), +3.835 seconds
Final standings Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland / Drivers (after 16 races)
1. Larry ten Voorde (NL/Team GP Elite), 330 points
2. Loek Hartog (NL/Team GP Elite), 251 points
3. Porsche-Junior Bastian Buus (DK/Allied-Racing), 239 points
4. Harry King (UK/Allied-Racing), 219 points
5. Morris Schuring (NL/FACH AUTO TECH), 181 points
Final standings Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland / Rookies (after 16 races)
1. Theo Oeverhaus (D/CarTech Motorsport Bonk), 291 points
2. Harri Jones (AUS/Scherer Sport PHX), 232 points
3. Vincent Andronaco (D/Allied-Racing), 211 points
Final standings Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland / ProAm (after 16 races)
1. Sören Spreng (D/GP Elite), 279 points
2. Ahmad Alshehab (KWT/CarTech Motorsport Bonk), 278 points
3. Georgi Donchev (BG/ProfilDoors by Huber Racing), 275 points
Final standings Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland / Teams (after 16 races)
1. Team GP Elite (NL), 600 points
2. Allied-Racing (D), 478 points
3. FACH AUTO TECH (CH), 294 points
Full results and championship standings.
Race 1
The penultimate race of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland season saw a tactical masterstroke from Team GP Elite. Larry ten Voorde, who had already been crowned champion, started from pole position but opened the door for his teammates Loek Hartog and Huub van Eijndhoven, who started directly behind him, to pass him before the first corner. “The plan is to help Huub to his first podium in the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland and to let Loek score as many points as possible in the fight for second place overall,” said team boss Torsten van Haasteren outlining the strategy.
This tactic proved 100 per cent successful. “My victory is great. But it’s even better to see three GP Elite drivers on the podium,” stated Loek Hartog in agreement with his team boss. The 21-year-old Dutchman had built up an impressive lead of over five seconds before a safety car bunched the field together shortly before the finish. Nevertheless, Hartog refused to relinquish his fourth victory of the season.
Hartog received the trophy for this success from Alexander Pollich, CEO at Porsche Deutschland GmbH. “Congratulations to the winners of today’s race and to the 2023 champions,” commented Pollich. “Here in Hockenheim, an exciting season has come to an end in which drivers and teams have treated fans to top-class motorsport. Not only were there drivers from roughly a dozen European countries, but we also had participants from Kuwait, Australia and Israel. The races were broadcast live by around 70 television stations in almost 50 countries. This underlines the worldwide significance of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland. With ProSieben, we also have a strong new media partner for Germany.”
Three-way battle for second place continues
With his victory in Saturday’s race, Hartog advanced to third overall and closed the gap to overall runner-up Bastian Buus (Allied-Racing). Heading into the final race of the season tomorrow, Sunday (11:35 a.m.), only eight points separate the Porsche Junior from Denmark and his Dutch rival. Buus finished the first race of the weekend in seventh place. Briton Harry King, Buus’ teammate at Allied-Racing, who finished the race sixth, still has an outside chance of taking the honours behind champion Larry ten Voorde with a gap of 20 points.
The starting grid for round 16 works in Hartog’s favour: On Sunday, Saturday’s winner will start from the third grid spot. King and Buus, on the other hand, qualified for grid positions seven and eight. Once again, Larry ten Voorde will start from the front of the field – making it the 50th pole position in the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland for the 26-year-old Dutchman.
In the duel with the German Allied-Racing squad, GP Elite’s triple victory gave them such an extensive lead that they secured the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland team title for the first time. “I’m incredibly proud of my entire crew. We worked hard for it and gave everything we had,” concluded Torsten van Haasteren.
Talent Pool driver Theo Oeverhaus crowned Rookie champion
With his eighth win of the season in the Rookie category, Theo Oeverhaus from Germany extended his lead in the junior drivers’ classification by such a margin that he is now beyond reach. The 18-year-old member of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland’s Talent Pool development programme finished fifth behind Dutchman Morris Schuring (FACH AUTO TECH). “I kept out of trouble in the early stages to avoid taking any unnecessary risks. Only when things got tight again after the late safety car phase did I fight back more,” outlined Oeverhaus, who drives for the CarTech Motorsport Bonk team. “The fact that I won the Rookie classification again with this tactic and even achieved a fifth-place finish is a brilliant reward.”
The decision in the ProAm ranking will go down to the wire on Sunday. Championship leader Sören Spreng (GP Elite) became entangled in a collision in the early stage. “After that, the steering was wonky. Fortunately, I managed to save myself and get across the finish line,” reported the driver from Germany. The ProAm victory went to Michael Essmann for the first time. The German contests his first season in the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland with CarTech Motorsport Bonk. “It was really heated competition today, everyone was fully motivated,” added Essmann, describing the turbulent race in the ProAm class which included numerous incidents and position changes. “I decided to err on the side of caution and that paid off.”
TV and internet coverage of Sunday’s race
The last race of the 2023 Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland will be broadcast live on the internet on Sunday (22 October 2023) from 11:15 am on the one-make cup’s YouTube channel (@PorscheCarreraCupDeutschland) and the Porsche Motorsport Hub www.porsche.de/pccd.
Results
Result race 15, Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland, Hockenheimring (D)
1. Loek Hartog (NL/Team GP Elite), 30:38.384 minutes
2. Huub van Eijndhoven (NL/Team GP Elite), + 0.688 seconds
3. Larry ten Voorde (NL/Team GP Elite), +1.290 seconds
4. Morris Schuring (NL/FACH AUTO TECH), +1.852 seconds
5. Theo Oeverhaus (D/CarTech Motorsport Bonk), +2.265 seconds
6. Harry King (UK/Allied-Racing), +2.934 seconds
Standings Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland / drivers (after 15 races)
1. Larry ten Voorde (NL/Team GP Elite), 305 points*
2. Porsche-Junior Bastian Buus (DK/Allied-Racing), 239 points
3. Loek Hartog (NL/Team GP Elite), 231 points
4. Harry King (UK/Allied-Racing), 219 points
5. Morris Schuring (NL/FACH AUTO TECH), 168 points
* already crowned champion
Standings Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland / Rookies (after 15 races)
1. Theo Oeverhaus (D/CarTech Motorsport Bonk), 266 points*
2. Harri Jones (AUS/Scherer Sport PHX), 212 points
3. Vincent Andronaco (D/Allied-Racing), 211 points
* already crowned champion
Standings Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland / Teams (after 15 races)
1. Team GP Elite (NL), 555 points*
2. Allied-Racing (D), 478 points
3. FACH AUTO TECH (CH), 273 points
* already crowned champion
Full results and championship standings:
motorsports.porsche.com/germany/de/category/carreracup/pccd-2023-results
Preview
Three championship titles are up for grabs at the finale of the 2023 Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland at the Hockenheimring (20 to 22 October). While the Dutchman Larry ten Voorde has already taken home the overall championship title, the Rookie, ProAm and Teams categories are yet to be decided. A 32-strong field of Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars will tackle the final two of this season’s 16 races on Germany’s Formula 1 racetrack.
Porsche Junior Bastian Buus heads to the finale of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland at the Hockenheimring with an ambitious goal: “I want to wrap up the season with the best possible result – two wins,” declares the 20-year-old Dane, who drives for the Bavarian Allied-Racing squad. Buus, the overall champion of the international 2023 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, had to capitulate to his long-standing rival Larry ten Voorde in the fight for the title in the German one-make cup. However, he has the best chance in the three-way battle to clinch the vice-championship honours behind the Dutchman: Ahead of the two final races, he holds a 21-point lead over his British teammate Harry King. “Even if it doesn’t look too promising for me, I’ll give it my best shot again in Hockenheim. Second place overall is obviously my goal,” states King, who recently won three races in one weekend in the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia.
Loek Hartog, ten Voorde’s fellow countryman and GP Elite teammate, is also still in the running for the vice-champion trophy. Hartog lies 24 points behind Buus and there are a total of 50 points left to claim. “I’ve had a bit of bad luck recently. I want to finish the season well in Hockenheim,” said Hartog. In June, at the last outing of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland at the Formula 1 circuit in Baden as part of the “Festival of Dreams”, the 21-year-old won one of the two races.
Although Larry ten Voorde was already crowned champion at the last round at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, he could add to his personal record in Hockenheim: Since securing first place in a Porsche Carrera Cup Italia race two weeks ago, the 26-year-old has achieved a total of 30 victories and 100 podium finishes in Porsche’s brand cups – more than anyone else in Europe. “In June I won at Hockenheim, I think I can do it again now. But my main goal is to support GP Elite in its bid for the team championship title and help Loek improve to second place overall,” explains ten Voorde.
Three-way battle for the Rookies and ProAm titles
The titles in the other Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland classifications are still up for grabs. However, among the Rookies – including eleven young drivers from six nations – the title looks pretty much in the bag for leader Theo Oeverhaus (CarTech Motorsport Bonk). The German sits 41 and 42 points respective ahead of his pursuers, Vincent Andronaco (Allied-Racing) from Hamburg and Harri Jones (Scherer Sport PHX) from Australia. Ranking seventh overall, Oeverhaus is also the best-placed young driver from the Talent Pool of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland.
In the ProAm classification, three drivers still have realistic chances of winning the title. Only twelve points separate leader Sören Spreng (GP Elite) from Germany, Bulgarian Georgi Donchev (BG/ProfilDoors by Huber Racing) and Ahmad Alshehab (CarTech Motorsport Bonk) from Kuwait. In the Teams ranking, the GP Elite squad – with its drivers Larry ten Voorde, Loek Hartog and rookie Huub van Eijndhoven – is on a clear path to claim the title. The German team Allied-Racing, for which Porsche Junior Bastian Buus, Harry King and rookie Vincent Andronaco are competing, ranks a safe second.
Two ca. 30-minute races
The Hockenheimring hosts two 30-minute Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland races, one each on Saturday and Sunday. The one-make cup last raced on the 4.574-kilometre Formula 1 circuit near Mannheim at the “Festival of Dreams” in June. At that time, the GP Elite drivers Larry ten Voorde and Loek Hartog each won a race.
“A great 2023 season draws to a close at the Hockenheimring. The title decisions in the Rookie, ProAm and Teams rankings promise to be equally as exciting as the three-way battle for second place in the overall rankings. And with 32 Porsche 911 GT3 Cups lining up, we again have a capacity grid that guarantees some action-packed racing,” says Hurui Issak, Project Manager Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland ahead of the season finale.
The last two races of this year’s Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland will be broadcast live with English commentary on the one-make cup’s YouTube channel (@PorscheCarreraCupDeutschland).
Schedule Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland, round 8, Hockenheimring
Friday, 20 October
11:45 am – 12:40 pm: Practice
5:40 – 6:15 pm: Qualifying
Saturday, 21 October
11:30 am: Race 15
Sunday, 22 October
11:35 am: Race 16
Standings
Standings Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland / Drivers (after 14 races)
1. Larry ten Voorde (NL/Team GP Elite), 289 points*
2. Porsche-Junior Bastian Buus (DK/Allied-Racing), 230 points
3. Harry King (UK/Allied-Racing), 209 points
4. Loek Hartog (NL/Team GP Elite), 206 points
5. Morris Schuring (NL/FACH AUTO TECH), 155 points
* already crowned champion
Standings Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland / Rookies (after 14 races)
1. Theo Oeverhaus (D/CarTech Motorsport Bonk), 241 points
2. Vincent Andronaco (D/Allied-Racing), 200 points
3. Harri Jones (AUS/Scherer Sport PHX), 199 points
Standings Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland / ProAm (after 14 races)
1. Sören Spreng (D/GP Elite), 254 points
2. Georgi Donchev (BG/ProfilDoors by Huber Racing), 242 points
3. Ahmad Alshehab (KWT/CarTech Motorsport Bonk), 242 points
Standings Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland / Teams (after 14 races)
1. Team GP Elite (NL), 510 points
2. Allied-Racing (D), 457 points
3. FACH AUTO TECH (CH), 251 points
Full results and championship standings:
motorsports.porsche.com/germany/de/category/carreracup/pccd-2023-results
2023 Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland calendar
27-29 April: Spa-Francorchamps (B)
9-11 June: Hockenheimring (D)
23-25 June: Zandvoort (NL
4-6 August: Nürburgring (D)
18-20 August: Lausitzring (D)
8-10 September: Sachsenring (D)
22-24 September: Red-Bull-Ring (A)
20-22 October: Hockenheimring (D)
