Theo Oeverhaus felt a huge amount of tension when Porsche invited him to a video conference at the end of November. The Stuttgart-based sports car manufacturer had screened eight talented racing drivers from all over the world to select the Porsche Junior 2025. Now the result has been finalised. Those responsible for the renowned junior programme did not leave the youngster in the dark for long.
"They said: 'You're going to be the new Porsche Junior!'," reports Oeverhaus.
"I had fought hard for this opportunity and at first just felt a great sense of relief. Only gradually did I realise that this was the biggest step in my career so far," says the 19-year-old: "I've come a huge step closer to my big goal of being a works driver one day."
Oeverhaus has set a remarkable pace in the past, as his career took off relatively late: only eight years took him from his first race in karting and making it as a Porsche Junior in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup.
"The passion for motorsport has always been there, ever since I accompanied my father to races as a little boy," explains the man from Lower Saxony. His father Ralf competed in numerous events, including GT3 racing. "That always inspired me, but I still wanted to be a professional footballer until the age of twelve." The youngster was on the right track: as a right-back, he made it into the youth team of professional club VfL Osnabrück. "But then the passion for motorsport won out," explains Oeverhaus.
After just three seasons in karting, the youngster contested his first car races at the age of 15. In the summer of 2022, the then 17-year-old – who was driving a GT4 car in the DTM Trophy at the time – suddenly found himself in the spotlight: he made two guest appearances in the DTM at the Nürburgring, making him the youngest ever participant in this internationally renowned GT3 series.
This was just a stopover for Oeverhaus as he continued on his path: in 2023, he won the rookie title as the best newcomer to the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany and won the Porsche Carrera Cup Middle East the following winter. He finished his second season in the highly competitive German Porsche one-make cup in third place and also competed in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup.
"I want to win the title in the Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Germany next year," says Oeverhaus.
"My goal in the Supercup is to finish in the top three – that will be difficult, but it's not unrealistic."
"I want to become a works driver and turn my passion into a career for good," says the 19-year-old, describing his big dream. The Osnabrück native would be following in the footsteps of numerous current and former Porsche works drivers: For example, back in the days the Le Mans overall winners and endurance world champions Timo Bernhard and Marc Lieb went through the Porsche Junior School.
Four of today's works drivers, who compete with the Porsche 963 hybrid prototype in the FIA World Endurance Championship WEC and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, also started out as Porsche Juniors. Oeverhaus' direct predecessors also made the leap to the professional ranks long ago: Turkish driver Ayhancan Güven drove in the DTM in 2024, while Laurin Heinrich from Würzburg in Germany was crowned GTD Pro champion in the North American IMSA series at the same time and the Dane Bastian Buus has also become a Porsche contract driver.
For Theo Oeverhaus, the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup is first and foremost part of his 2025 programme. There, the youngster will once again face Frenchman Alessandro Ghiretti, who is entering his second season as a Porsche Junior. Sascha Maassen, two-time Le Mans class winner with Porsche and winner of the prestigious Macau Grand Prix in 1994, will be on hand to coach the talented youngsters.
Overview of the Porsche Juniors to date
Matthias Wolf (†) (1997)
Dirk Müller (1997 – 1998)
Marc Basseng (1997 – 1999)
Lucas Luhr (1999)
Timo Bernhard (1999 – 2001)
Marc Lieb (2000 – 2002)
Mike Rockenfeller (2002 – 2004)
Patrick Long (2003)
Christian Mamerow (2004)
Lance David Arnold (2005 – 2007)
Jan Seyffarth (2005 – 2006)
Martin Ragginger (2007 – 2009)
Marco Holzer (2008 – 2009)
Klaus Bachler (2012 – 2014)
Michael Christensen (2012 – 2013)
Alex Riberas (2013 – 2014)
Connor De Philippi (2013 – 2015)
Jean-Karl Vernay (2013)
Sven Müller (2014 – 2016)
Earl Bamber (2014)
Matteo Cairoli (2015 – 2016)
Dennis Olsen (2016 – 2017)
Mathieu Jaminet (2016)
Matt Campbell (2017)
Thomas Preining (2017 – 2018)
Julien Andlauer (2018 – 2019)
Jaxon Evans (2019 – 2020)
Ayhancan Güven (2020 – 2021)
Laurin Heinrich (2022)
Bastian Buus (2023)
Alessandro Ghiretti (2024 – 2025)
Theo Oeverhaus (2025)
