When race control allows rain tyres to be taken on the grid, it usually requires a large portion of nerves from the drivers of the Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Deutschland.

At Saturday's race at the Circuit Zandvoort, it was that time again: Dark clouds over the dune circuit on the North Sea demanded a last-minute decision from the 30 starters. Despite the track still being damp in some places, all 30 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars finally set off on slicks.

"The racing line was dry, I had no other choice," said Porsche Junior Alessandro Ghiretti, explaining his decision to use the treadless tyres. The Frenchman from the Schumacher CLRT team had secured pole position. However, the front starting position offered anything but an advantage at this moment: On his, the left side of the track, the asphalt was still a bit wet. Janne Stiak, the second in qualifying, on the other hand, was able to line up to the right on a dry track.

The Lower Saxon, who competes for the Italian team Target, took advantage of the better traction ice-cold: During the sprint to the first corner, he accelerated Ghiretti and took the lead. Afterwards, he did not let the occasionally heavier rain get him out of his rhythm and drove out his first victory of the season in a superior manner. "As the frontrunner, I always had to be the first to find out how much grip the braking zones offered at the moment – that was sometimes a bit dicey," Stiak reported. The 18-year-old celebrated his second victory in the Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Deutschland.

Behind Stiak, the difficult track conditions made for thrilling overtaking manoeuvres and constantly changing positions. Championship leader Robert de Haan provided the show of the race: The Dutchman only started ninth after a botched qualifying. At the end of the first lap, the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup of the Proton Huber Competition team was already in sixth place. After eleven laps, De Haan only had leader Stiak in front of him. "I love these tricky weather conditions, it was a lot of fun," said the almost two-metre-tall 18-year-old happily.

Previously, Ariel Levi had held second position for a long time. "I tried to defend myself against Robert – but he consistently prevailed," said the Israeli, who drives for the GP Elite team, describing the decisive overtaking manoeuvre that ended to his disadvantage. In the end, Levi received the trophy for third place for the second time in the current season.

Behind him, Talent Pool rider Flynt Schuring crossed the finish line. The Dutchman had also overtaken Alessandro Ghiretti immediately after the start. Schuring even held second position for a few laps, but fell back to fourth place halfway through the race. His Schumacher-CLRT teammate Ghiretti, for his part, was able to fend off the attacks of Kas Haverkort. The Dutchman from the GP Elite team crossed the finish line in sixth place.

For the fourth time in five races, Sacha Norden climbed to the top step of the rookie podium. "I didn't count how many duels I was involved in," the Carrera Cup rookie recapitulated. I was able to quickly move up from third position to the front of the rookies. After that, I preferred to back off in the duels with the drivers outside the rookie classification," revealed the Dutchman, teammate of Robert de Haan at Proton Huber Competition.

Ahmad Alshehab drove to victory in the ProAm category comparatively unscathed. "The conditions were really difficult, but I made it through without making any mistakes," said the Kuwaiti-born driver, who competes for the German team [a-workx] by Porsche Paderborn. With this success, Alshehab took the lead in the overall ProAm standings.

The trophies were presented by Thomas Illner, among others. "An enormously thrilling race in front of a phenomenal backdrop, especially for our numerous Dutch drivers," commented the Chief Operating Officer of Porsche Germany. The many thrilling duels for which the Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Deutschland is known were given additional spice by the weather. We can really look forward to the next race tomorrow and then the rest of the season."

Alessandro Ghiretti will start from pole position again on Sunday

In qualifying for the sixth round of the season, Porsche Junior Alessandro Ghiretti was also the fastest. Tomorrow, Sunday (start 11:35 a.m.), he will share the front row with championship leader Robert de Haan. Fans will be able to watch the second race of the weekend live on the internet, including on the Porsche Motorsport Hub as well as the channels of the Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Germany at YouTube and on Facebook. The TV channel ProSieben will also broadcast live on the Internet portal of ran racing.

Result race 5, Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Deutschland, Zandvoort (NLD)

1. Janne Stiak (DEU/Target), 16 laps
2. Robert de Haan (NLD/Proton Huber Competition), +0.501 seconds
3. Ariel Levi (ISR/Team GP Elite), +3.822 seconds
4. Flynt Schuring (NLD/Schumacher CLRT), +4.704 seconds
5. Porsche Junior Alessandro Ghiretti (FRA/Schumacher CLRT), +5.830 seconds
6. Kas Haverkort (NLD/Team GP Elite), +6.538 seconds

Standings Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Deutschland (after 5 of 16 races)

1. Robert de Haan (NLD/Proton Huber Competition), 95 points
2. Porsche Junior Alessandro Ghiretti (FRA/Schumacher CLRT), 80 points
3. Flynt Schuring (NLD/Schumacher CLRT), 64 points