Marçal Muller remains unbeatable in the seventh stage of the Porsche Cup Brasil C6 Bank at Interlagos. The Porsche #544 driver secured his 30th and 31st poles in the morning qualifying session and, in the afternoon, led 100% of the Carrera race to win for the fourth time this year, also setting the fastest lap of the race.
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The driver from Rio Grande do Sul extended his championship lead in the race held under heavy rain, which saw some of his direct rivals retire, victims of spray and aquaplaning sections on the world’s most produced competition cars.
Alceu Feldmann Neto started and finished in second place, with Rouman Ziemkiewicz starting and finishing third and winning in Sport. Cristian Mohr and Alceu Feldmann completed the top 5 while the Carrera Rookie victory went to Flavio Sampaio, who surprised Pipo Massa and managed an overtake while the youngest on the grid was boxed in a pack avoiding an incident.
In the Challenge, Gerson Campos followed Marçal Muller’s example to the letter, securing pole and a flag-to-flag victory without being threatened. The Porsche #82 driver achieved his fifth win in seven races this year.
This Sunday features the Trophy race and the two final races of the Carrera and Challenge. Marçal Muller starts at the front once again, while in the 991.2 car class, Claudio Simão will lead the grid due to the grid inversion draw held after the podium ceremony.
The races are broadcast live on Bandsports and official digital platforms of Porsche Cup Brasil C6 Bank.
The races
Carrera
The start was in single file with the drivers lined up behind the safety car, which was properly branded in reference to the Porsche Fest on November 28.
When Ricardo Landi took the safety car to the pits, Marçal Muller made the most of the advantage of starting in front. Alceu Feldmann Neto tried to keep up, while Rouman Ziemkiewicz was pressured by Cristian Mohr. Pietro Fantin and Raijan Mascarello battled for the last spot in the top 5.
Visibility conditions were challenging due to the spray caused by the cars, and Carlos Campos lost the rear of his Porsche at the Junção. Antonella Bassani came inside and had to take the car off the track to avoid contact, hitting an advertising board and bringing the #72 back to the pits.
The safety car was activated again, remaining until the start of lap 6.
As in the first restart, Feldmann Neto tried to react to Muller’s acceleration, but the leader this time managed to neutralize the attack more calmly.
On the Opposite Straight there was contact involving several competitors and the safety car immediately returned for rescue. The top 5 was Muller, Feldmann Neto, Ziemkiewicz, Mohr, and Feldmann. Rouman led in Sport, while in Rookie the leader was Flavio Sampaio.
And so the race ended with another victory for Muller, on the eighth lap.
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Challenge
The race also started under safety car conditions with the cars in single file led by pole sitter Gerson Campos. On the first lap Daniel Neumann soon challenged Enrico Pedrosa for second place, which favored Caio Castro joining the fight. Nic Garfinkel completed the top 5 and Claudio Simão, in eighth, led in Rookie.
Then Caio Castro took a risk on the Café climb at the end of lap 3 and passed Neumann.
Midway through the race, Garfinkel braked a bit wide at the Senna S and left the door open for Cecilia Rabelo to dive through, taking fifth overall and the lead in Sport. But both ended up sliding at Laranjinha. Cecilia spun and Garfinkel also managed to recover. But Claudio Simão passed both, moving up to sixth and consolidating the leads in Sport and Rookie.
After two laps, Garfinkel retaliated against Simão, regaining the lead in the Sport class. Meanwhile, in the overall lead, Gerson Campos controlled the gap over Pedrosa.
At the start of lap 12, Neumann drew alongside Caio Castro at the end of the straight and emerged from the Senna S ahead, reclaiming third place. On the next lap, which would be the penultimate of the race, Sadak Leite caught up to Porsche #22 and began attacking for fourth place.
Gerson confirmed the victory, his sixth in the category in São Paulo, to extend his championship lead and also isolate himself in the historical record as the greatest winner in the category at Interlagos. Pedrosa was second, with Neumann, Caio, and Sadak completing the podium in that order. In seventh, Garfinkel won in Sport. One position behind, Simão won in Rookie.
After the podium ceremony, Gerson drew the number, determining the respective grid inversion for Sunday, with Simão leading the pack.
What they said:
“Unfortunately, it was a short race and we couldn’t see how everyone would perform, but these things happen in motorsport and we have to accept it. This is not how we like to win. It’s a shame about the accident involving many cars, but we feel we did our duty, since during the green flag laps we managed to open a gap. We did our job with pole and victory, even with few green flag laps, we deserve to be here in first place. I don’t even want to think about championship calculations. We go with full focus on a clean race on Sunday starting from pole, and if we have to celebrate, we’ll celebrate after the final race.”
Marçal Muller
“I’m very happy with the milestone. Starting from pole in these conditions is a huge advantage because others stay in the spray. I managed to open a gap in the first two laps and saw the competitors fighting. I pushed hard until the final lap, when I thought about managing but carefully to not lose concentration. I thank my team and I’m very happy with the result.”
Gerson Campos
“A win is a win! I’m very happy because it had been a while since I stood on the top step of the podium, besides it being my first time on the overall podium. It’s a shame we had little green flag time, but my race started way back in qualifying and ended now with the victory.”
Rouman Ziemkiewicz
“It was scary and very challenging. The goal was to stay on the track, you couldn’t see anything and there was a lot of aquaplaning. But I tried to look, tried to avoid crashes and managed to overtake Pipo to get the result. It was survival, but it was great.”
Flavio Sampaio
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