Season highlight on the city circuit with Monaco flair
Another
season highlight awaits
the 21-strong field of the Carrera Cup Deutschland. On Nuremberg’s
Norisring on July 4th, they line up with the new Porsche 911 GT3 Cup to
contest the only street race of the year. The flair of the demanding
circuit around the famous stone grandstand and along the Dutzendteich
resembles that of the Monaco Grand Prix and is popular with drivers and
fans alike. With two victories under his belt, Briton Nick Tandy
(Konrad Motorsport) travels to Franconia leading the points.His toughest rival, Nicolas Armindo (Hermes Attempto Racing), recently snatched his first win of the season on the EuroSpeedway Lausitz to move into second overall. The Frenchman is particularly looking forward to the 2.3 kilometre street circuit. “Two years ago I won from pole position here, prior to that I climbed the podium twice,” says Armindo. “The track looks really easy with its four corners, but it’s quite tricky. You’ve got to go at it hard but also watch your tyres – it’s a fine line.”
Several pursuers are keen to close the gap to points’ leader Nick Tandy. Most of all, Cup-regular Robert Renauer from Germany, who knows the Norisring inside out after spending the last six years in the Porsche Carrera Cup. Finishing the last few races in fifth, fourth and sixth, Renauer was within striking distance of the podium.
Ranking third overall, the Herberth Motorsport PZ Olympiapark pilot races for his father’s team. Sitting close on his heels is the former Porsche Junior Martin Ragginger (Schnabl Engineering) from Austria. Ragginger has notched up two third places to now but received zero points in Valencia when a competitor shunted him out of contention. Fifth overall is occupied by Niclas Kentenich (Germany) driving for Farnbacher Racing – PZN. His best result to now was second at the season-opener.
For Kentenich’s Farnbacher teammate, Ferdinand Stuck, the Norisring has a very special meaning. His father, Hans-Joachim Stuck, won a spectacular DTM race here in 1990. At 19-years-old, Ferdinand Stuck is one of three junior drivers to receive support as a “Porsche Motorsport Talent”. Last year the youngster stood in the grandstands as a spectator and was obviously impressed: “The backdrop is fabulous. As a Cup novice driving such a challenging 450 hp car the most important thing for me is to cross the finish line and notch up racing kilometres.” Latvia’s Harald Schlegelmilch (Konrad Motorsport) and Tim Sandtler (MRS Team PZ Aschaffenburg) from Germany are the two other Porsche Motorsport Talents.
Television station Motorvision broadcasts the race on the Norisring live on 4th July from 10.25 hrs (repeated at 21.30 hours), with Sport1 showing highlights at 21.15 hours. n-tv and DMAX also televise magazine reports.
Drivers’ standings after 3 of 9 races
1. Nick Tandy (GB), 58 points
2. Nicolas Armindo (F), 43 points
3. Robert Renauer (D), 36 points
4. Martin Ragginger (A), 32 points
5. Niclas Kentenich (D), 30 points
Team standings after 3 of 9 races
1. Hermes Attempto Racing, 70 points
2. Herberth Motorsport PZ Olympiapark, 67 points
3. Konrad Motorsport, 66 points
