The 21-year-old Theo Oeverhaus set an exclamation mark at the season opener of the Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Deutschland in Imola: The Lower Saxon from Osnabrück won races one and two of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) in commanding style. On Sunday, South African Keagan Masters (Proton Competition) finished second, Alexander Tauscher (Target) from Bavaria took third place.

"Imola seems to be a good place for me," said Oeverhaus after the award ceremony. "Of course, this success gives me confidence and that's good for the next races. My team is also mega happy." Two pole positions and two victories gave Oeverhaus the maximum points haul of 50 points. For the ID Racing team around team principal Iris Dorr, these were the first two victories in the German Carrera Cup.

A total of 31 drivers from 13 nations competed in the new, 520 hp Porsche 911 Cup on the storied racetrack in Italy. The close competition caused a safety car phase right at the beginning of the race. The Taycan Turbo GT with Weissach package and new Dekra wrapping moved out. The reason: On the first lap, the car of Porsche Junior Flynt Schuring (NL/Schumacher CLRT) was hit in a scuffle and the Dutchman ended up in the gravel trap with his nine-eleven without a countable result. Proton Competition pilot Masters was happy about a better first round.

The 26-year-old, who started the race from third place, overtook the swapper in front of him and established himself in second place. "My secret was a good start and then I had to watch out for Alexander behind me," Masters explained. Tauscher stuck to his heels and tried to hold on to third place. Originally, he would have had more than 30 minutes to do so, but a collision on lap eleven caused a red flag race to be stopped after 24 minutes. Due to a vehicle in the gravel and damage to the track barriers, the race on the 4.909-kilometre circuit of the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari was not continued for safety reasons.

After Oeverhaus, Masters and Tauscher on the podium places, Talent Pool rider Matheus Ferreira (BR/Team GP Elite) finished fourth. Rookie Sam Jongejan (NL/Team75 Bernhard) secured fifth place. Dirk Schouten (NL/Looping by CarTech) was classified sixth ahead of Dutchman Wouter Boerekamps (Team GP Elite). Porsche Junior Marcus Amand (FIN/Proton Competition) was able to take home points in eighth place. The best ProAm driver was Sören Spreng (D/GP Elite) in 21st place.

"The first two races gave us a taste of what an exciting season awaits us," said Thorsten Rückert, Project Manager Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Deutschland. "Many wheel-to-wheel duels throughout the field provided the best entertainment for the spectators and at the same time showed what is possible with the new Porsche 911 Cup."

The next race weekend is not long in coming: rounds three and four will take place next weekend (24th to 26th April) as part of the DTM at the Red Bull Ring. With its combination of long straights and fast corners, the Austrian circuit is one of the most spectacular circuits on the calendar. Perfectly embedded in the Styrian mountain landscape, the 4.326 Formula 1 race track has large differences in altitude with gradients of up to twelve percent.

Race result round 2, Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Deutschland

1. Theo Oeverhaus (D/ID Racing)
2. Keagan Masters (ZA/Proton Competition)
3. Alexander Tauscher (D/Target)
4. Matheus Ferreira (BR/Team GP Elite)
5. Sam Jongejan (NL/Team75 Bernhard)
6. Dirk Schouten (NL/Looping by CarTech)
7. Wouter Boerekamps (NL/Team GP Elite)
8. Marcus Amand (FIN/Proton Competition)
9. Gustav Burton (UK/Forch Racing by Atlas Ward)
10. Niels Langeveld (NL/Laptime-Performance)

Points standings after 2 of 16 races

Drivers' standings
: 1st Theo Oeverhaus (D/ID Racing), 50 points
, 2nd Alexander Tauscher (D/Target), 36 points
, 2nd Keagan Masters (ZA/Proton Competition), 36 points