Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland, rounds 1 and 2 in Hockenheim
More than 20 cars to start
Stuttgart. With a packed grid of more than 20 vehicles, the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland takes off into its 23rd season in Hockenheim on 27 to 29 April. And it brings many new features. Two races per weekend, higher prize money and an amateur classification make Germany’s fastest one-marque race series even more attractive. The two Porsche Juniors Klaus Bachler and Michael Christensen contest their first race with the 450 hp Porsche 911 GT3 Cup in Hockenheim. Fans can expect much more comprehensive and diverse reporting on television and the internet. One of the highlights of this season is the guest appearance as support to the 24 hour classic on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife.
Amongst the drivers with title aspirations is Sean Edwards (Great Britain, Team Deutsche Post by tolimit), the 2011 vice-champion, and two of last year’s race winners Nicki Thiim (Denmark, Hermes Attempto Racing) and Jaap van Lagen (Netherlands, FE-Racing by Land Motorsport) as well as Norbert Siedler (Austria), who follows in the footsteps of Nick Tandy with the Konrad Motorsport squad. After winning the championship title of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland last year, the greatest success of his career, Tandy has made the switch to international GT racing. Kévin Estre is another driver who is good for a surprise in the Carrera Cup. Last year, the Frenchman clinched the Rookie of the Year title in the international Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup.
“I would love to start the new season how I finished the last one – with a win in Hockenheim,” says Sean Edwards. “The circuit is interesting and there is always a fantastic atmosphere in the Motodrom.”
The new Porsche Juniors Klaus Bachler and Michael Christensen prevailed in a selection process against other talented young drivers from around the world. The 20-year-old Austrian and the 21-year-old Dane compete for well known teams that they have chosen themselves. Bachler races for Deutsche Post by tolimit, Christensen for Konrad Motorsport. Aside from financial support, the new Juniors receive similar assistance to the Porsche works drivers, not least from the successful professional racer Sascha Maassen who has taken on the role as Junior coach.
Two sprint races instead of one each weekend – this gives drivers more track time and provides more action for drivers, teams and spectators alike. Race one on Saturday runs over approximately 60 kilometres, with Sunday’s race over an 80 kilometre distance remaining the same. A new incentive is now offered with the creation of a B-classification for amateur drivers with the highlight being its own podium ceremony. This new feature has attracted a young lady driver. Twenty-year-old Christina Nielsen from Denmark drives for Farnbacher Racing. Porsche increases the prize money for 2012 by around 100,000 Euro with the total that is paid out to teams and drivers now more than half a million Euro.
The media as well recognise the high value of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland with extensive coverage. On Monday after each race weekend, news channel N24 broadcasts a 30-minute “Porsche Carrera Cup Magazin” at 6.30 pm. Televising coverage of the race series, its participants and highlights of the weekend, the news series also takes a look behind the scenes of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland. Sport1 also analyses the race action in the week after the race in a 30-minute report – and shows a large proportion of the races live or time delayed later on Sunday. Moreover, the races of the Carrera Cup Deutschland will be highlighted by various sports channels in Germany and neighbouring countries. On the official Porsche website (www.porsche.com), all races are broadcast live exclusively and in high quality – with editorial reports before the actual live-streaming, live-timing and commentary in Germany and English. As another service, viewers can watch the race either via a media centre or the Porsche channel on YouTube at any time and as often as desired.
All pilots contesting the Carrera Cup Deutschland compete with identical Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars. The 450 hp GT race car is based on the lightweight road-legal 911 GT3 RS sports car. More 2,200 units of the various model generations have been delivered to motorsport customers around the world since 1998, making the GT3 Cup the top-selling race car in history. The vehicle is built in the Porsche plant at Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen before being set-up for racing in the Motorsport Centre at Weissach and prepared for delivery to customer teams.
The races 2012
28/29 April Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg
05/06 May Lausitzring
18/19 May Nürburgring (as support to the 24 hour race)
02/03 June Red Bull Ring, Spielberg, Austria
30 June/01 July Norisring
18/19 August Nürburgring
25/26 August Circuit Park Zandvoort, Netherlands
15/16 September Motorsport Arena Oschersleben
20/21 October Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg
Communication Porsche AG
Motorsportpress
Oliver Hilger
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