Austria’s Philipp Eng (Team Deutsche Post by Project 1) is currently the measure of all things in the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland. The 25 year old harvested his sixth victory of the season on Saturday at the wheel of his 460 hp Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Porsche Junior Sven Müller (D/Lechner Racing Middle East) finished second with Robert Renauer (D/Herberth Motorsport) in third. Out of twelve races so far, Eng has managed to climb the podium ten times. “After a stone knocked my fan belt off in qualifying, I’m over the moon with this win. I’m only now letting myself think about reclaiming the title, because none of my closest rivals finished in the points,” said Eng after the award ceremony.
The 17-lap race lost its suspense in the first lap. Polesitter Eng made a cracking start to retain his front spot and fended off Müller trailing him in second. Directly behind the pair, Christopher Zöchling (A/Konrad Motorsport) miscalculated his braking point, lost control of his 911 and slid straight into Alex Riberas (E/The Heart of Racing by Lechner), Michael Ammermüller (D/The Heart of Racing by Lechner) und Christian Engelhart (D/TECE MRS-Racing) who were running third, fourth and fifth. Zöchling received a drive-through penalty. This incident robbed Eng’s two closest rivals Jeffrey Schmidt (CH/Lechner Racing Middle East) and Christian Engelhart of almost any chance of taking the title, because with just five races remaining on this season’ calendar, Eng leads with 210 points ahead of Schmidt with 135 points and Engelhart with 125 points. Schmidt also went home empty handed due to a technical retirement and may very likely bury his title dreams on Sunday. A total of 100 championship points (20 per win) are still up for grabs.
Porsche Junior Müller drove an immaculate race in second place and, although he attempted to attack Eng for the lead in the final sprint, he had to acknowledge the dominance of the championship leader. “It’s really hard to overtake on this circuit and I simply couldn’t get past Philipp. I’m pleased with my second place. As far as the championship is concerned, I was unable to contest two races due to a clash of dates and therefore I didn’t earn points. But I did get the chance to drive the 911 RSR in the Sports Car World Endurance Championship WEC and I’m very proud of that,” explained the 23-year-old German.
Robert Renauer seemed satisfied with his third place. “After scoring second at the Lausitzring and Spielberg rounds, this is my third podium of the season. And in such a highly competitive series like this, it’s not easy to accomplish,” concluded the German. Fourth place went to Ben Barker (Land-Motorsport) from Great Britain. Porsche Junior Matteo Cairoli (I/Team Deutsche Post by Project 1) clinched fifth place ahead of Jaap van Lagen (NL/Küs Team75 Bernhard) and his Danish teammate Nicki Thiim. “I regard my race result in a positive light. I started from eleventh and finished on fifth. I had a great duel with Ben Barker, but I still need to work on my qualifying,” declared Cairoli. Amateur pilot Rolf Ineichen (CH/Konrad Motorsport) netted eighth place, marking his best result of the season in the field of professional racing drivers.
Porsche Junior Connor de Phillippi (USA/Land Motorsport) took up the race from the 13th grid spot and saw the flag in position nine. “My start wasn’t so great and there were cars everywhere blocking the first corner. No one could get through. Unfortunately we’re struggling in qualifying,” said the 22-year-old. Elia Erhart (D/TECE MRS-Racing) rounded off the top ten in today’s race.
On Sunday, round 13 of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland is contested on the 3.696-kilometre circuit at Oschersleben. A 22-strong fleet of Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, which is based on the seventh generation of the iconic 911 sports car, takes off into the Porsche one-make series at 10.30 hours.
Result race 12: 1. Philipp Eng (A/Team Deutsche Post by Project 1) 2. Sven Müller (D/Lechner Racing Middle East) 3. Robert Renauer (D/Herberth Motorsport) 4. Ben Barker (GB/Land-Motorsport) 5. Matteo Cairoli (I/Team Deutsche Post by Project 1) 6. Jaap van Lagen (NL/Küs Team75 Bernhard) 7. Nicki Thiim (DK/Küs Team75 Bernhard) 8. Rolf Ineichen (CH/Konrad Motorsport) 9. Connor de Phillippi (USA/Land-Motorsport) 10. Elia Erhart (D/TECE MRS-Racing)
Points standings after 12 of 17 races: Drivers’ classification 1. Philipp Eng (A/Team Deutsche Post by Project 1), 210 points 2. Jeffrey Schmidt (CH/Lechner Racing Middle East), 135 points 3. Christian Engelhart (D/TECE MRS-Racing), 125 points 4. Robert Renauer (D/Herberth Motorsport), 117 points 5. Michael Ammermüller (D/The Heart of Racing by Lechner), 114 points
Rookie classification 1. Alexander Toril (E/Market Leader Team by Project 1), 38 points 2. Richard Charles Goddard (AUS/TECE MRS-Racing), 20 points 3. Luca Rettenbacher (A/Konrad Motorsport), 9 points
Amateur classification 1. Rolf Ineichen (CH/Konrad Motorsport), 216 points 2. Wolf Nathan (NL/Land-Motorsport), 208 points 3. Ralf Bohn (D/Herberth Motorsport), 174 points
Team classification 1. Team Deutsche Post by Project 1, 293 points 2. Lechner Racing Middle East, 236 points 3. The Heart of Racing by Lechne
