Two wins for Sven Müller

After his victory on saturday the Porsche Junior has also won the race on sunday. In the ten championship races contested so far, this begins to take on a record-breaking form: the Konrad Motorsport pilot won convincingly with a margin of 0.9 seconds on the 2.3-kilometre street circuit. Following him over the finish line on positions two and three were Porsche Junior Dennis Olsen (N/Team Lechner Huber Racing) and Christian Engelhart (D/MRS GT-Racing). “From the outside, this perhaps looks easy, but when you make the slightest mistake on the Norisring then you hit the wall. I also came under pressure from my Junior team colleague Dennis. I’m thrilled with my double pole and double victory and I travel home feeling very pleased,” said the Müller, who hails from the Rhineland-Palatinate town of Bingen.

A total of 123,500 spectators flocked to the Norisring this weekend and added to the excited atmosphere on the packed grandstands. For Sunday’s race both Porsche Juniors Müller and Olsen stood side by side on the first grid row. Both got away cleanly at the start with their Porsche 911 GT3 Cup to maintain their 1-2 positions to the flag. “I’m really happy with my weekend balance. Second place twice, despite not knowing the circuit – and a street circuit, at that, which are always a little tricky. I managed to stick to Sven today and it was good that he couldn’t pull away from me,” explained Olsen.

Engelhart: "It was an exciting race"

Behind the pair a gripping fight for positions developed over the 35 laps. The seasoned Porsche specialist Engelhart finally took the chequered flag in third place after starting from seventh. “I had to avoid two collisions in the first lap and that threw me back. It was an exciting race, but I would have preferred it to be a little less exciting. Third place is okay,” summed up the 29-year-old from the Bavarian town of Wolnzach. The Australian Nick Foster (KÜS Team75 Bernhard) crossed the finish line in fourth place. Jeffrey Schmidt from Switzerland (Team Lechner Huber Racing) collected vital points for fifth, with the Austrian rookie Luca Rettenbacher (Konrad Motorsport) taking home sixth place.

With eight victories under his belt, Müller leads the overall classification with 181 points, followed by Engelhart in second on 165 points and Olsen (154). Cup new-comer Olsen ranks first in the rookie classification and was able to extend his lead this weekend over Rettenbacher (103) and David Kolkmann (97 points, D/Rookie Team Deutsche Post by Project 1). In the B-podium ceremony the Peruvian flag flew on the podium, with Ricardo Flores Ramirez (MRS GT-Racing) from Lima winning the amateur category on Sunday. However, the points’ table in the B-classification is still led by Wolfgang Triller (D/Team Huber Lechner Racing). Konrad Motorsport is first in the team category.

Already in qualifying in summer temperatures of 32 degrees Celsius, the turquoise Porsche 911 GT3 Cup run by Konrad Motorsport posted pole position twice. For Saturday’s and Sunday’s race, he managed the top time. When the lights went off on Saturday, Jeffrey Schmidt (CH/Team Lechner Huber Racing) on the second grid spot attempted to pull alongside Müller. But Müller won the sprint to the first corner and refused to relinquish his lead over the next 27 laps to the flag. Behind him Olsen managed to squeeze past Schmidt. “I started from third and I definitely did not want to finish on third. At the start I was alongside Jeffrey and Sven and could move into second place. This was my first time on the Norisring but I already love it: It’s narrow and bumpy and it’s exciting to race on,” explained Olsen.

Engelhart: "This is the first time I’ve climbed the podium at the Norisring"

Over the first eleven laps the order of the top three was Müller, Olsen, Schmidt. But in the twelfth lap, Schmidt touched the wall and was sidelined shortly afterwards. Nick Foster (AUS/KÜS Team75 Bernhard) profited from this mishap and was on course for a podium spot. But the Australian’s luck was short-lived: when the 24-year-old left the racing line by a few metres, Engelhart grabbed his chance and overtook. Engelhart seemed pleased with his race result: “After the first lap I was running fifth, but I worked my way up the field. This is the first time I’ve climbed the podium at the Norisring and I’d be happy to do it again. Sunday marks the 150th Carrera Cup race for my MRS team. A podium result would be a wonderful gift.”

Behind Müller, Olsen and Engelhart, Foster secured valuable points for fourth place. The champion of the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia was supported in the pits by none other than the World Endurance Champion Timo Bernhard, who took the helm of the KÜS Team75 Bernhard for the Norisring weekend. With fifth place, Britain’s Ryan Cullen (Konrad Motorsport) scored his best result in his maiden Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland season. Sixth place went to David Kolkmann (D/Rookie Team Deutsche Post by Project 1).