New car, packed grid and an anniversary race

For the one-make cup, the opening round marks the start of a very special year of motor racing: the new Porsche 911 GT3 Cup will be fielded for the first time in the German Carrera Cup. The cup car is the first racing version based on the latest 992 generation of the 911. At the opening round held as part of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), the first two of this season’s 16 races will be contested.

In addition to the FIA WEC season opener, the Carrera Cup will compete at six ADAC GT Masters events and the DTM weekend in Monza, Italy. All races will be broadcast in full length on the German television channel Sport1. In addition, a range of magazine formats will be aired on n-tv and numerous European channels.

“We’re excited to finally get going. The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps is one of the world’s most famous racetracks and this makes our start to the season at the FIA WEC an absolute highlight. The events held as part of the ADAC GT Masters and the DTM also provide us with a top platform for our races. This is a guarantee for action-packed racing,” says Hurui Issak, Project Manager of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland. On Belgium’s Ardennes rollercoaster, the one-make cup celebrates a comeback after almost 19 years: the Carrera Cup was last contested here in the 2002 season alongside the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup as part of the “Porsche Anniversary Cup”. 

With events in Spielberg (Austria), Monza (Italy) and Zandvoort (Netherlands), the calendar includes another three race weekends abroad. A special event awaits the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland in the Autodromo Nazionale Monza: at the DTM event, the one-make cup will contest its 350th race. For the other rounds, the national one-make cup travels to Oschersleben, the Nürburgring, the Sachsenring and the Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg.

The fight for the championship title promises to be gripping: with Larry ten Voorde (Netherlands/Team GP Elite), the 2020 champion returns to defend his crown. His rivals include the Porsche Junior Ayhancan Güven (Turkey/Phoenix Racing), the Dutch GP Elite driver Max van Splunteren (2020 rookie champion Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup) as well as the current champion of the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux Loek Hartog (Netherlands/Black Falcon Team Textar). Meanwhile, with Laurin Heinrich (Germany/Van Berghe Huber Racing) and Carlos Rivas (Luxembourg/Black Falcon Team Textar), the rookie and ProAm champions from the 2020 Carrera Cup season return to the grid line-up. 

Since the 1990 debut season, the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland has evolved into a successful training platform and served as a springboard into professional motor racing for many talented drivers. Identical vehicles, control tyres and restricted set-up options put the drivers’ performance in the foreground. Porsche works driver Kévin Estre won the German Carrera Cup in 2013; today the Frenchman is making a bid for the FIA WEC title. Austria’s Richard Lietz underlined his talent in the one-make cup before being promoted to the position of works driver and is now successful in the WEC. This season, eight youngsters receive extensive support and will join the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland Talent Pool. Thanks to the former Porsche works driver Wolf Henzler, these young racing drivers have a seasoned coach as a mentor.

For the 2021 season, the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland again enjoys an extensive media package. Sport1 broadcasts one race per weekend on free TV, plus highlights will be aired in a magazine on the following Saturdays. All races can be viewed via a livestream on www.sport1.de, with Sport1+ broadcasting live or at a later scheduled time. The German channel n-tv produces the PS – Porsche Carrera Cup magazine and gives spectators a look behind the scenes of the series at every race weekend. All races are also Estreamed live on the Facebook account @CarreraCupDeutschland, the official YouTube channel of the one-make cup and on the Porsche Motorsport Hub. 

2021 Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland racing calendar