Double victory for Philipp Eng

The 25 year old won race four on Saturday and the fifth round on Sunday. “My good preparation paid off. I’m very fit, I’m totally focused on my driving and I’m thrilled with these two victories,” said Eng. On the race track situated about 60 kilometres from Dresden, Eng beat Michael Ammermüller (D/The Heart of Racing by Lechner) and Nicki Thiim (DK/KÜS Team 75 Bernhard) to the flag on Saturday in his 460 hp Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, and on Sunday outpaced Robert Renauer (D/Herberth Motorsport) and Ammermüller.

In the race over 83.472 kilometres, the 23-strong field treated spectators to gripping duels and exciting overtaking manoeuvres. Taking off into the race from second on the grid, 30-year-old Renauer made an attempt for the lead spot, only to have his attack foiled by Eng. “I’m totally happy with second place. This is also a great result for the boys from my team,” said Renauer after the award ceremony. Ammermüller overtook his Lechner teammate Jeffrey Schmidt (CH/Lechner Racing Middle East) in the first few metres and safely brought home third place, with Schmidt following him over the finish line in fourth. “Two podium results and precious points are a great weekend balance. The lead guys were all driving a similar pace, hence I couldn’t do anything more,” explained Ammermüller.

Paint-swapping and bumper-to-bumper duels

A fierce battle for points ensued for the following positions. Paint-swapping and bumper-to-bumper duels kept the Porsche Carrera Cup fans out of their seats. With the front of his car demolished, Christian Engelhart (D/TECE MRS-Racing) saw the flag in fifth. Alex Riberas (E/The Heart of Racing by Lechner) managed to salvage position six, despite falling back to ninth place in the first race third. Nicki Thiim (DK/KÜS Team 75 Bernhard) finished on seventh place. Ben Barker (GB/Land-Motorsport), Jaap van Lagen (NL/Lechner Racing Middle East) and Christopher Zöchling (A/Konrad Motorsport) sprinted to the finish line side-by-side in their 911 GT3 Cup racers mounted with the characteristic 3.8-litre flat-six rear engine, with Barker a nose ahead at the flag in eighth, followed by van Lagen on ninth and Zöchling in tenth.

The two Porsche Juniors Connor de Phillippi (USA/Land-Motorsport) and Porsche Junior Matteo Cairoli (I/Team Deutsche Post by Project 1) battled with problems already during qualifying. In race five, de Phillippi came from the 13th grid spot to finish on eleventh. “It doesn’t help to complain. We need to do our homework in qualifying. Everything depends on this. We’ll work on it,” analysed de Phillippi. Cairoli slid from the track in lap 13, ploughed through the gravel and had to park his damaged vehicle in the pits. “I can write this weekend off. Now I need to look ahead to the next race. I’m curious to see how it is at the Norisring,” said the Italian.

Podium (l-r): Rolf Ineichen, Robert Renauer, Philipp Eng, Michael Ammermüller

A look back at race 4

Already in the saturday race, Philipp Eng reached the finish line before Michael Ammermüller and Nicki Thiim. At the wheel of his 460 hp Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, the 25-year-old Austrian beat Michael Ammermüller and Nicki Thiim to the flag. This result puts the native of Salzburg at the top of the overall rankings of Porsche’s one-make championship. “That was a tough race. I’m extremely pleased to have scored my first win of the season for my team,” said Eng after the award ceremony.

Although at first the race looked like a straightforward lights-to-flag victory, spectators were in for a real last-lap treat. After qualifying on pole several hours early, Eng made a cracking start to pull clear of the 23-strong field and hold a convincing lead until the twelfth lap. But Ammermüller suddenly loomed large in Eng’s rear vision mirror to sit only 0.3 seconds behind the Austrian. The Bavarian looked ready to snatch the lead.

Thiim, however, also closed the gap to the front-runners and put Ammermüller under pressure.This gave Eng the chance he needed to take the flag 0.5 seconds ahead of the field of identical, near-standard sports cars. “Second place is okay,” explained Ammermüller. “Unfortunately it wasn’t possible to overtake. It would have been easier if I hadn’t come under so much pressure from behind.” After winning in the Lausitz in 2011, 2012 and 2013, Thiim stated: “We had a great three-way fight. I enjoyed climbing the podium here again. The season can continue like this.”

Jeffrey Schmidt finished on sixth

After 18 laps on the 3.478 kilometre circuit, Spaniard Alex Riberas clinched fourth place ahead of Robert Renauer. The previous points’ leader, Jeffrey Schmidt , finished on sixth. Jaap van Lagen crossed the finish line in seventh in front of Christopher Zöchling. Ninth place went to Porsche Junior Connor de Phillippi .

With 80 pionts, Eng pushes out his lead in the overall standings. On second sits Schmidt with 66 points ahead of Riberas (62 points). Wolf Nathan leads the amateur classification with 86 points.

Races six and seven of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland are contested from 26 to 28 June on the Norisring in Nuremberg.