Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland, race 1, Hockenheim

Larry ten Voorde has won the first race of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland season. At Saturday’s event, the Dutchman took the flag in first place ahead of his compatriot Jaap van Lagen and Porsche-Junior Jaxon Evans. On the Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg, ten Voorde kicked off the 30th anniversary season of the one-make cup with a lights-to-flag victory. “Starting the season with a victory is awesome. Still, the race was hard work. I couldn’t take the racing line in the first laps because of the wet track surface, so it required a great deal of skill,” said ten Voorde.

Rain during the morning had made the asphalt wet in some sections of the racetrack. Nevertheless, almost all of the 30 drivers took off into the race on slicks under cloudy skies and with a temperature of eight degrees Celsius. Right from the start, ten Voorde underlined his aspirations to win and immediately pulled clear of the field in his 485 hp Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Two safety car phases, however, bunched the field together again, but the 22-year-old kept his cool at the restarts and took the flag 1.8 seconds ahead of van Lagen. The Förch-Pilot crossed the finish line in second after beating Porsche-Junior Evans in a duel. “The asphalt of my grid spot was still wet and cold, so my tyres weren’t at the ideal temperature at the start of the race,” explained van Lagen. “Still, I’m very pleased with my race.”