Tandy Wins Damp Season Opener At Hockenheim

Nick Tandy won the opening round of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland at Hockenheim after a gamble on tyre strategy made at the beginning of the race paid off.

With rain falling shortly before the start of the race some decided to change to wet tyres, including polesitter Robert Renauer. Tandy, staying on slicks, inherited the front row all to himself and built up a lead that the Konrad Motorsport driver would never surrender.

Rene Rast, who beat Tandy to the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup title last season, finished in second for Forch Racing. He closed up on Tandy during the second half of the race, but had to settle for second place in the end. Sean Edwards came through to finish in third for Deutsche Post by tolimit, after starting 14^th on the grid, joining fellow Briton Tandy on the podium.

“Under such conditions, the race was really difficult, but it was great fun for exactly this reason,” said Tandy. “I gave more than 100 percent, particularly in the first few laps in order to build up a decent gap. Around the mid-way point I slackened off the pace a little. And in the last laps Rene put the pressure on and came closer and closer. So I had to put my foot down again to bring home victory.”

Rast said: “It was a difficult race for me. Unfortunately, my start wasn't the best and Uwe Alzen got past me. By the time I overtook him, Nick had already put a decent gap between us. Okay, I managed to reduce the gap but it wasn't enough to win. Still, I'm happy with our start to the season with my Forch team.”

Edwards added: “What a race! Because I only started from 14th on the grid I lost a lot of time in the first half. I got caught up in duels between drivers who'd started on wet tyres and came from behind. I couldn't regain that time again. But I'm happy with third place.”

Edwards' teammate Jeroen Bleekemolen finished fourth, relegating Uwe Alzen to fifth place towards the end. Jan Seyffarth was sixth, with Jaap van Lagen seventh. The duel between the pair would see van Lagen go off the circuit and recover the car on the wet grass. Pole Robert Lukas finished eighth, ahead of two Carrera Cup newcomers – Philipp Frommenwiler and Johann Ledermair.

The decision of Renauer, reigning champion Nicolas Armindo and Nicki Thiim to switch to wet tyres at the start did not pay off, as the track dried later on. Renauer finished 12^th, with Hermes Attempto Racing teammates Armindo and Thiim both a lap down, with Armindo last.

The second round of the season takes place at Zandvoort in the Netherlands on 15^th May.

Final results after 18 laps: