Gerson Campos could not have wished for a better start to the championship for the Porsche Cup. In race 1 of the Sprint Challenge class this Saturday (28), he jumped to the lead at the start and, controlling the pace, was the first to cross the finish line.
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The competitor even questioned whether he would be able to race in the 2026 season of the category. The reason was a change of sponsorship, which brought uncertainty, but in the end, it worked out and confirmed his presence on the grid for another year.
So, evaluating his ‘off-season’, he spoke about the issue and did not hide the emotion of having climbed to the top step of the podium in this Porsche Cup opening in Interlagos.
“Last year I had a change of sponsorship, I fought hard to close this year’s season. So, I think every driver has told this story, Formula 1 drivers, Rubinho with Brawn [GP] was without a seat in December and the following year he was winning. So, I had faith in that back in December when I had to chase it and everything worked out, I was very happy, I started the year with a lot of determination knowing it would be a difficult year because I imagined that Daniel, who was on pole, would come very strong,” he said in an interview with F1MANIA.NEt present.
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“Last year, he had a very strong second half, I imagined he would come at me. And it was good, I managed to make a good start, I think I had a slightly better reaction at the lights there, and I managed to get a bit ahead and it gave me confidence to brake later. And then, the Porsche is very difficult to pass, so I focused on maintaining the minimum distance to not give him the chance to overtake, breaking the slipstream on the straight because the car gives a slipstream too, on the restart he had a chance, but he was also prudent and it was very cool to finish first,” he added.
Gerson also said that the uncertain weather in Interlagos, one of the most striking characteristics of the circuit, ended up changing the plans for the weekend, but the outcome ended up being positive.
“This changed our plans. As it is the first round of the year, I usually don’t use new tires in free practice to understand the car’s setup, but this year it was our plan to use new tires in free practice, and it rained in the session we were going to do that, on Friday. So, we couldn’t do it, we went into qualifying somewhat blind, it gave a good result, the front row was great, it was our goal to be there in first or second, and we managed to find a good setup and then it was cool,” he concluded.
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