DUTCH wunderkind Robert De Haan, of Central Europe Racing, produced another sensational masterclass to win the second race of the opening round of the 2023-24 Porsche Carrera Cup Middle East (PCCME) yesterday, held as part of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) – Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain, at the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC).
The 17-year-old De Haan, who is already being referred to as the next Max Verstappen, took the lead on lap five after starting second on the grid and didn’t look back thereafter, crossing the finish line 1.262 seconds ahead of DHL Team’s German ace Theo Oeverhaus.
The dominant win made up for the heartbreak suffered by the teenager late on Friday after his victory in the weekend’s first race was overturned because of a five-second penalty for a false start, demoting him to third place.
Oeverhaus was declared the winner and, resultantly, started on pole in the second race yesterday.
Fellow German Janne Stiak, of JS Racing, finished in third place 3.767s behind Oeverhause to complete the Pro class and overall podiums.
Team Kuwait’s Ahmad Al Shehab won in the ProAm category after finishing fourth overall with Team BMR’s Canadian driver Bashar Mardini and Saudi Racing’s Saud Al Saud ranked second and third in the class.
R1SE Motorsport’s Italian helmsman Sebastian Gorga completed a double among the Am competitors with Bahrain’s Shaikh Jaber bin Ali Al Khalifa, from the One% team and Shaikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa joining him on the podium.
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