The Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Deutschland made a successful start to the first race weekend of the season on Saturday in Imola, Italy. In the support programme of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), Theo Oeverhaus celebrated a lights-to-flag success with ID Racing.

The 21-year-old from Osnabrück relegated Alexander Tauscher (Target) from Mitterfels in Lower Bavaria and South African Keagan Masters (Proton Competition) to second and third place. "I'm really happy about the victory, because it paid off my hard work in the winter. Alexander was close behind me and I knew I couldn't afford to make any mistakes. I succeeded," said a happy Oeverhaus. In Sunday's race of the German Porsche one-make cup, he is once again on pole position.

The spectators in the grandstands of the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari were able to enjoy an exciting race. In sunshine and temperatures of 24 degrees Celsius, 31 new Porsche 911 Cup cars took to the grid. Oeverhaus, who set the fastest lap with his 520 hp car in qualifying at noon, got off to a good start and took the lead of the field. Tauscher and the Brazilian Matheus Ferreira (Team GP Elite) were in second and third place. Until the sixth round, the podium places seemed to be firmly taken, but then Masters pushed past Ferreira. In this order, the top four saw the chequered flag.

"Second place is a good start to the season. In the first half of the race, I was able to put real pressure on Theo, but in the further course of the race I had to defend myself more backwards," explained Tauscher. Both Ferreira and later Masters fought for a place on the podium. Fifth place went to Italian guest driver Aldo Festante (Target) ahead of Porsche Junior Marcus Amand (FIN/Proton Competition). Chester Kieffer from Luxembourg (Schumacher CLRT) finished seventh, making him the fastest rookie in the field. Dutchman Dirk Schouten (Looping by CarTech) was able to score points with eighth place.

In the ProAm classification, there was a fierce scramble for places. Michael Essmann (D/Team75 Bernhard) and Sören Spreng (D/GP Elite) fought for every millimetre and both slid into the gravel trap on the penultimate lap. Australian Samer Shahin (GP Elite) benefited from this and thus secured the crown as the best ProAm driver.

The youngest driver in the field celebrated the most eventful race: 18-year-old Montego Maassen from Nordenstadt in Hesse finished second on the rookie podium in his first outing in the Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Deutschland. In qualifying, he worked his way up to 17th place and finished twelfth out of 31 starters in the overall standings.

On Sunday, the second of 16 runs starts at 9:50 a.m. Fans can follow the race live on the Carrera Cup Facebook and YouTube channel and in the Porsche Motorsport Hub. Joyn, the streaming platform of TV partner ProSieben, will also show the racing action live and free of charge.

Race result round 1, Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Deutschland

1. Theo Oeverhaus (D/ID Racing)
2. Alexander Tauscher (D/Target)
3. Keagan Masters (ZA/Proton Competition)
4. Matheus Ferreira (BR/Team GP Elite)
5. Aldo Festante (I/Target)
6. Marcus Amand (FIN/Proton Competition)
7. Chester Kieffer (L/Schumacher CLRT)
8. Dirk Schouten (NL/Looping by CarTech)
9. Wouter Boerekamps (NL/Team GP Elite)
10. Joseph Warhurst (UK/Target)

Points standings after 1 of 16 races

Drivers' standings
: 1st Theo Oeverhaus (D/ID Racing), 25 points
, 2nd Alexander Tauscher (D/Target), 20 points
, 3rd Keagan Masters (ZA/Proton Competition), 16 points

Rookie classification:
1st Chester Kieffer (L/Schumacher CLRT), 25 points
, 2nd Montego Maassen (D/Forch Racing by Atlas Ward), 20 points
, 3rd Dylan Yip (HK/Team Proton), 16 points

ProAm classification
: 1st Samer Shahin (AUS/GP Elite), 25 points
, 2nd "Rey King" (UK/ID Racing), 20 points
, 3rd Michael Essmann (D/Team75 Bernhard), 16 points