Laurin Heinrich (born 26 September 2001) is a German racing driver who competes in the

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM, German Touring Car Masters) is a grand touring car series sanctioned by ITR e.V. who have been affiliated to the DMSB-FIA since 1984. The series is based in Germany, with rounds elsewhere in Europe. The ser ...

and

GT World Challenge Europe GT World Challenge Europe (known as the Blancpain GT Series between 2014 and 2019) is a sports car racing series organised by SRO Motorsports Group. It features grand tourer racing cars modified from production road cars complying with the FIA's G ...

. He was selected as the 2022 Porsche Junior following the shootout at

MotorLand Aragón MotorLand Aragón (alternative Spanish name: Circuito de Alcañiz) is a race track used for motorsports located in Alcañiz, Spain. The circuit was designed by German architect Hermann Tilke in conjunction with the British architectural bus ...

Career

Early career

Heinrich began

karting Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on f ...

at the age of eight, initially as a hobby, before taking on the sport competitively as he grew older. As a child, Heinrich had aspirations of being a pilot rather than a racing driver, hence his early treatment of motorsports. After scoring titles in

Swissauto Swissauto is an engine company from Burgdorf, Switzerland, Burgdorf, Switzerland, best known for the V4 engine used in the, ELF 500 ROC, ELF, Muz 500, MuZ and Pulse 500, Pulse 500cc Grand Prix motorcycles and Superside, World Championship Sidecars. ...

kart competitions in his youth, Heinrich later cited his early aspirations as moving into

Formula 4 FIA Formula 4, also called FIA F4, is an open-wheel racing car category intended for junior drivers. There is no global championship, but rather individual nations or regions can host their own championships in compliance with a universal set of r ...

, which he fulfilled in 2017. At the age of 15, Heinrich entered the 2017 ADAC Formula 4 Championship with his family team, dubbed Heinrich Motorsport. In his rookie season of Formula 4 competition, the small outfit struggled, with Heinrich finishing no higher than 14th overall in a race and electing to forego the final round of the season at the

Hockenheimring The Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg () is a motor racing circuit situated in the Rhine valley near the town of Hockenheim in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located on the Bertha Benz Memorial Route. Amongst other motor racing events, it has hos ...

. Heinrich wouldn't return to single-seater competition the following season, and didn't return to professional racing until 2019.

Porsche competition

In 2019, Heinrich took part in the Porsche Sports Cup Germany, claiming the 5E class title with six victories from ten races. In September, Heinrich made his debut in the

Porsche Carrera Cup Germany The Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, also known as Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland, between 1986-1989 as Porsche 944 Turbo Cup; is a one-make racing series by Porsche based in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, ...

, taking part in the

Sachsenring The Sachsenring () is a motorsport racing circuit located in Hohenstein-Ernstthal near Chemnitz in Saxony, Germany. Among other events, it features the annual German motorcycle Grand Prix of the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championship ...

round with CarTech Motorsport. The following season, Heinrich began competing full-time in the series, driving for T3/HRT Motorsport. In September's joint-race between the German and French Carrera Cup competitions at

Circuit de la Sarthe The Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans, also known as Circuit de la Sarthe (after the 1906 French Grand Prix triangle circuit) located in Le Mans, Sarthe, France, is a semi-permanent motorsport race course, chiefly known as the venue for the 24 Hou ...

, Heinrich claimed his first podium in the German championship. He would secure three additional overall podiums that season, three of which occurred during the triple-header at the Red Bull Ring, finishing fourth in the overall points classification. He also secured the Rookie title, awarded to drivers taking part in the full-time championship for the first time. Heinrich also made his debut in the

Porsche Supercup The Porsche Supercup (officially known as Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, known as Porsche Michelin Supercup prior to 2007) is an international one-make sports car racing series supporting the FIA Formula One World Championship organized by Porsche ...

during the 2020 season, making two guest starts at the Red Bull Ring for MRS GT-Racing after one of the team's drivers was unable to enter the country due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

-related travel restrictions. Heinrich placed tenth in both events, but didn't score championship points as he was registered as a guest driver. For 2021, Heinrich embarked on a dual program in both the globe-trotting Porsche Supercup and domestic Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, taking on both series with Huber Racing. Heinrich enjoyed an impressive rookie season in the former championship, taking his first ever Supercup victory at

Zandvoort Zandvoort () is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is one of the major beach resorts of the Netherlands; it has a long sandy beach. It is bordered by coastal dunes of Zuid-Kennemerland National Park and the Amsterdam ...

in September. Heinrich claimed additional podium finishes at

Spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...

and

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

, finishing fourth in the overall championship and highest in the Rookie class. Domestically, Heinrich claimed his first Carrera Cup Germany victory in 2021 as well, taking overall honors in the second race at

Oschersleben Oschersleben () is a town in the Börde district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The population in 1905 was 13,271, in 2020 about 19,000. History On November 23, 994 Oschersleben was first mentioned in a document by the Emperor Otto III. In 1235 ...

. During the next round at the Red Bull Ring, Heinrich claimed his second race victory and took the championship lead heading into the round at Monza. He would finish the season with eight total podiums from 15 races, taking fourth in the championship. At the end of 2021, Heinrich was selected to compete in the Porsche Junior Shootout at

. At the end of the competition, Heinrich was named as Porsche's Junior driver for the 2022 season, which featured a €225,000 scholarship towards a drive in the 2022 Porsche Supercup. FIA Porsche Supercup Austria 2021 Nr

Heinrich began his Porsche Junior campaign with a drive in the

Dubai 24 Hour The Dubai 24 Hour Race is both a sports car and touring car automobile endurance race held annually at the Dubai Autodrome. It was inaugurated in 2006. Entrants and participants As with all races in the 24H Series, promoted by Dutch promoter Cr ...

, taking part in the 992 Am class with Huber Racing. 2022 saw Heinrich return to both the Porsche Supercup and Carrera Cup Germany, once again driving for Huber Racing. His Supercup campaign featured once race victory, at

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and B ...

, and four total podium finishes, taking a career-best third in the championship. The Carrera Cup Germany, however, saw Heinrich feature early and often at the front of the field. Over 16 races, Heinrich claimed six race victories, including a weekend sweep at Spa and the Sachsenring. After his double victory at the Sachsenring round, Heinrich secured the series championship with two races to spare. At the end of the 2022 season, Heinrich joined 311RS Motorsport to compete in the final round of the 2022 Porsche Carrera Cup North America, deputizing for

Leh Keen Lehman McGrath Keen III (born July 22, 1983) is an American racecar driver born in Dublin, Georgia, who competes in the United SportsCar Championship. He most recently drove the No. 22 Alex Job Racing WeatherTech Porsche 911 GT America in the ...

. After crashing out of the first race of the weekend with brake problems, Heinrich won the second race. Ahead of the 2023 season, Heinrich was promoted to contracted Porsche Driver status. Heinrich was also selected for financial support from the

ADAC ADAC, officially the Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club (), is Europe's largest motoring association. ADAC is the largest club (Verein) in Germany with around 21 million members. It would be more aptly described today as an individual mobi ...

and

DMSB The German Motor Sport Federation (german: Deutscher Motor Sport Bund or ''DMSB'', formerly known as or ''ONS'') is Germany's motor racing governing body. It represents Germany at FIA and FIM. The , founded in 1972 by Herbert Linge as , is con ...

as part of their Motorsport Team Germany program. With that backing, he took on a drive in the

for the first time in his career, piloting a Porsche 911 GT3 R for KÜS Team Bernhard. During his maiden season, Heinrich claimed two podium finishes, finishing second at both the

Nürburgring The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Formula One, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around t ...

and Red Bull Ring, adding his first pole position in the series in Austria as well. He supplemented his DTM program with a drive in the

GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup The GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, formerly for sponsorship reasons the Blancpain Endurance Series from 2011 to 2015 and Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup from 2016 to 2019, is a sports car racing series developed by Stéphane Ratel Org ...

with

Rutronik Racing Rutronik Racing also known as HCB-Rutronik Racing is a German racing team from Remchingen Remchingen () is a municipality in the Enz district, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, situated on the river Pfinz, 14 km southeast of Karlsruhe, and ...

, joining Dennis Olsen and

Thomas Preining Thomas Preining (born 21 July 1998) is an Austrian racing driver who is the 2018 German Porsche Carrera Cup champion. Career Formula 4 Preining's first season in single seaters was in 2015 with German team ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg where he co ...

in a Pro class entry. The trio claimed a single podium in the final round at

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, finishing the season 7th in the overall points classification. Heinrich also added a one-off appearance in the Sprint Cup alongside Ayhancan Güven at Zandvoort.

Sim racing

Heinrich describes himself as a 'hybrid driver,' and he frequently competes in officially-sanctioned sim racing events alongside his real-world endeavors. From a young age, Heinrich competed in high-level virtual motorsports, taking part in the

Blancpain GT Series GT World Challenge Europe (known as the Blancpain GT Series between 2014 and 2019) is a sports car racing series organised by SRO Motorsports Group. It features grand tourer racing cars modified from production road cars complying with the FIA's G ...

iRacing ''iRacing'' is a subscription-based online racing simulation video game developed and published by iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations in 2008. All in-game sessions are hosted on the publisher's servers. The game simulates real world cars, tr ...

while competing in the real-world ADAC Formula 4 Championship. Heinrich also competed in the 2022–23 Le Mans Virtual Series, contributing to Porsche Team Coanda's championship victory with a victory at Sebring and a runner-up finish in the season finale at Le Mans.

Racing record

Career summary

^* Season still in progress.

Complete Porsche Supercup results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete GT World Challenge Europe results

GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup

^* Season still in progress.

GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup

^*Season still in progress.

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

References

External links

Laurin Heinrich
at Motorsport.com
Laurin Heinrich
at Heusinkveld {{DEFAULTSORT:Heinrich, Lauren 2001 births Living people German racing drivers Racing drivers from Bavaria ADAC Formula 4 drivers Porsche Supercup drivers 24H Series drivers Porsche Motorsports drivers Porsche Carrera Cup Germany drivers Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters drivers Porsche Carrera Cup North America drivers Blancpain Endurance Series drivers Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers Asian Le Mans Series drivers