The qualifying session for the first of the three endurance stages of the Porsche Cup Brasil C6 Bank was marked by intense battles from start to finish. The duo of #544, composed of the sprint championship leader and current endurance champion, Marçal Muller, with Gaetano di Mauro, will start from pole position after recording a combined time of 1:46.296.
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Right behind comes Porsche #118, driven by Matheus Comparatto and Felipe Baptista, whose time was just 0.262 seconds off the pole time.
The session had 17 of the 26 cars within the same second, once again illustrating the high competitiveness of the most produced racing cars in the world. The second row will be composed of cars #21, driven by Miguel Mariotti and Rafa Martins, and #70, driven by Lucas Salles and Rafael Suzuki.
In the Sport class, Porsche #888, driven by Lineu Pires and Beto Gresse, recorded the best average and will start fifth on the grid. The Rookie division had poles set by Jose Moura Neto and Matheus Iorio aboard #45, a car starting in a respectable seventh place overall.
Among the Rookie cars, special mention goes to the Portuguese-Luxembourgish Dylan Pereira. Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup champion in 2022, he twice set the Porsche Cup Brasil C6 Bank record at Algarve, making history in his first participation with a lap time of 1:45.543.
Next, in the Challenge class, history was once again made by the youngest duo on the grid. Teenagers Nicholas Garfinkel, 18 years old, and Vitor Tieri, 17, set the best combined time with Porsche #10 and secured the right to start at the front.
The 300 km or 2.5-hour race is expected to have four stints, with three mandatory pit stops for driver changes. Thus, each crew must decide who starts and who finishes the race, which awards 40% of the points at the end of the first segment, on lap 30.
The race is scheduled to start at 8:10 Brasília time, with live broadcast on the official digital channels of Porsche Cup Brasil C6 Bank.
The quali
The Rookie division opened the track with its nine cars in action. Jose Moura Neto took the lead with #45, followed by Pipo Massa in #19. One minute before the end, Marco Pisani moved up to third in #12. On the final lap, other competitors improved their times but not enough to change the order of the top three in the session.
Then the other competitors of the 992 generation 911 Cup cars entered the track, with the Sport and Carrera cars in the same session. As in the previous phase, most teams chose to start the timed session with the regular championship competitors. With Marçal Muller, #544 led three minutes from the end, followed by #70 driven by Lucas Salles. In the final attempt, Matheus Comparatto moved up to third using Boost in car #118.
Then the Rookie cars returned, with drivers who had stayed on their teammates’ radios in the first session. After six minutes of warming up tires and preparing the cars, lap times began to drop and the timing screens showed the best averages of qualifying.
Renan Guerra took the lead with #12, but two minutes before the end Dylan Pereira stunned with a new reference time, setting the new Porsche Cup Brasil C6 Bank record with #25 at 1:45.7. Then, on the final lap, he was even better, clocking 1:45.543.
In the combined times, the Rookie pole went to the duo of Porsche #45, Moura Neto and Matheus Iorio.
Then the Sport and Carrera cars returned. As in previous sessions, times began to plummet from six minutes into the session. Gaetano di Mauro took the lead with #544. Felipe Baptista immediately responded with #118.
On the final lap, Nelson Piquet Jr ended the session lead with #80, recording 1:45.848. But the best individual time on Saturday was Pereira’s.
In the combined times, pole went to #544, with #118 in second place.
The fifth session of the training had the ten Challenge class cars in action, with Caio Castro showing speed aboard Porsche #22. Sadak Leite was also fast but lost his best lap for crossing the pit exit line when entering the track.
Midway through the session, Nicholas Garfinkel showed strength with Porsche #10 and then recorded 1:49.148, a time that would be unbeatable in the group. Caio Castro finished second and #66, with Sadak, was third.
Read more Comparatto and Baptista duo start on the front row of the 300 km Porsche Cup in Algarve
The final group had a red flag intervention to rescue a car after a spin that ended in the gravel trap. After the rescue team’s service, ten minutes remained on the countdown clock. Victor Tieri was the fastest with #10, ahead of Enrico Pedrosa in #78 and Danilo Dirani in #22. Then Fabio Carbone drove strongly with #66, moving the crew to second place in combined times thanks to the best time in the session. And the pole position went to the car of teenagers Garfinkel and Tieri, the duo’s first in Porsche Cup Brasil C6 Bank.
What they said:
“I thank the whole team, who made a very good car for us. I made some mistakes in previous sessions, but I managed to get it right during qualifying. Gaetano also did an excellent lap for us to secure this pole in the average times. It’s the 29th pole of my career, so I’m very happy.”
Marçal Muller
“First, I have to thank Marçal for the invitation. It’s very cool to partner with him, who is the current champion. There’s a lot ahead, but it was a great start. We will keep working towards our final goal.”
Gaetano Di Mauro
I have a lot to thank Vitor for; he helped me a lot during the week. I’m very happy with what’s happening here. I’ve been having a lot of fun in these stages and I can’t even put into words how happy I am. Many thanks to Porsche Cup for providing such a great opportunity to so many people.
Nicholas Garfinkel
Today is a very special day for me. Everyone knows how hard this life as a driver is, and today it worked out. I’m very proud of the performance and I just have to thank God for everything that has been happening in my life in less than a year of racing cars. So being able to race alongside these guys is amazing. Now let’s go to the race!
Vitor Tieri
“It was a great kick-off, starting in fifth place overall. A position where we have some margin to manage the race. But nothing is guaranteed, there’s still a lot of track left.”
Lineu Pires
“Happy to complete the first part of the job. I thank Lineu for the fifth year together as a duo in endurance, which helps a lot. The race is long, 300 kilometers ahead, but we will do our best to bring the trophy tomorrow.”
Beto Gresse
“A pleasure to share the track with this heavyweight team in Porsche Cup endurance. I’m happy to have helped José Moura Neto put the car on pole. I didn’t do my best laps; the car was a bit difficult to drive. But the second attempt was good. Now it’s time to think about the race. Pole is important for our morale, but the race is 300 km and there’s a lot ahead.”
Matheus Iorio
“We managed to be efficient, but I think I missed a little on my fast lap. We started off on the right foot, in the top 3, so things are good. We did all this with the maximum possible weight, but we managed to improve. I trust my teammate and we will try to make the best race possible.”
Matheus Comparatto
“I think my performance wasn’t that good, I couldn’t get the lap right. I think in the end, the race is long and it’s important to start in a good position. Pipo did a good job but made a small mistake on his lap, so both of us had errors. In the end, small mistakes impact the result. But we will prepare for tomorrow.”
Felipe Massa
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