Exactly one year ago, Alexander Tauscher claimed his maiden victory in the Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Deutschland at the Nürburgring. It was at this same circuit that the 23-year-old Bavarian ended his long dry spell; at the wheel of the Italian Target team’s Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, he dominated the ninth race of the season. After 22 laps on the sprint layout of the Formula 1 track, he crossed the line with a comfortable 4.7-second advantage over Porsche Junior Theo Oeverhaus.

“As a team, we’ve been plagued by bad luck both on and off the track this season. Nevertheless, we didn’t give up and made a few changes recently. My car has never performed as well as it did today – we all truly deserved this victory,” said Tauscher, in praise of his team.

As is often the case in racing, fortune favoured the prepared. Alexander Tauscher started from third on the grid, behind Porsche Junior Alessandro Ghiretti (Schumacher CLRT) and championship leader Robert de Haan (Proton Huber Competition). However, the two quickest drivers in qualifying became so embroiled in a fierce duel during the early stages that the race director was forced to intervene on several occasions with penalties.

At the start of lap two, de Haan executed a successful overtaking manoeuvre, albeit with some bodywork contact. The move forced both Ghiretti and De Haan briefly off the track and propelled Alexander Tauscher into the lead. As de Haan was ordered by the stewards to drop back behind Ghiretti, Porsche Junior Theo Oeverhaus moved into second place. Behind them, Ghiretti and de Haan resumed their fight with undiminished intensity, now battling for third. Once again there was contact, and once again it was penalised: Both drivers were instructed to complete two so-called “penalty laps”. They had to slow down to 50 km/h for around 50 metres at a designated point on the circuit.

For de Haan, the damage Haan was limited: Although the Dutchman temporarily dropped back to fifth place, he managed to regain two positions before crossing the finish line. However, the contacts resulted in a bent steering column on Alessandro Ghiretti's Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, among other things. “After that, one wheel locked up nearly every time I braked,” reported the Porsche Junior. Consequently, he fell further and further back, eventually crossing the finish line in nineteenth place and outside the points.

The situation at the front soon settled. Theo Oeverhaus was unable to reel in eventual race winner Alexander Tauscher, but was more than satisfied with second place. “I’ve had a few difficult weeks, both in the Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Deutschland and in the international Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup. That’s why it feels really good to finally be back on the podium,” said the German with obvious relief.

The turbulent race kept the stewards busy long after the last car crossed the finish line. Among other things, they imposed retrospective time penalties. Ultimately, Israel's Ariel Levi was classified fourth ahead of France’s Marvin Klein (Proton Huber Competition) and his Dutch GP Elite teammate Huub van Eijndhoven. Further penalties will affect the starting grid for the next race on Sunday.

Guest driver Alex Hardt celebrated a perfect debut. Drawing on his experience in the Porsche Sports Cup Deutschland, he clinched victory in the ProAm classification at his first outing in the Black Falcon Team Zimmermann Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. “I’m not used to a standing start in the Sports Cup, so I lost a few positions in the opening metres. After that, I was relatively cautious in the battles to avoid getting caught up in any title fights. But the tactic paid off – twelfth place overall on my debut is an amazing result,” grinned the German. The ProAm winner was flanked by Michael Schrey (Bonk Motorsport) from Germany and Ahmad Alshehab from Kuwait, who races for the [a-workx] by Porsche Paderborn team.

In the Rookie class, Brazilian Matheus Ferreira secured his second win of the season. “My qualifying didn’t go perfectly, so I had to seize every opportunity to overtake at the start and on the first lap – and that worked very well,” said the 18-year-old as he collected Saturday’s second winner’s trophy for the Italian Target team. The remaining podium places went to Britain’s Joseph Warhurst (Team Proton Huber Competition) and Dutch driver Emely de Heus (ID Racing).

Porsche presents new race car for the 2026 Carrera Cup season
The new Porsche 911 Cup was officially unveiled during the Carrera Cup event at the Nürburgring. Based on the current 992.2 generation of the Porsche 911, the latest one-make cup car will also compete in the Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Deutschland from 2026.

Further information on the Porsche 911 Cup is available on the Porsche Motorsport Hub,

Porsche Junior Alessandro Ghiretti also on pole position for the Sunday race
The Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars will return to action at the Nürburgring tomorrow, with Porsche Junior Alessandro Ghiretti starting the tenth race of the season from pole position at 11:15 am CEST.

Fans can follow the weekend’s second race with English commentary live on the internet, including on the Porsche Motorsport Hub and the Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Deutschland channels on YouTube and Facebook Facebook.

Result race 9, Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Deutschland, Nürburgring (DEU)
1. Alexander Tauscher (DEU/Target), 22 laps
2. Porsche Junior Theo Oeverhaus (DEU/Bonk Motorsport), +4.723 seconds
3. Robert de Haan (NLD/Proton Huber Competition), +12.789 seconds
4. Ariel Levi (ISR/Team GP Elite), +13.385 seconds
5. Marvin Klein (FRA/Proton Huber Competition), +16.544 seconds
6. Huub van Eijndhoven (NLD/Team GP Elite), +20.315 seconds

Standings Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Deutschland (after 9 of 16 races)
1. Robert de Haan (NLD/Proton Huber Competition), 156 points
2. Porsche-Junior Alessandro Ghiretti (FRA/Schumacher CLRT), 138 points
3. Porsche-Junior Theo Oeverhaus (DEU/Bonk Motorsport), 103 points

Full results and championship standings on the Porsche Motorsport Hub.