Porsche Cup: Everyone can be satisfied

SUCCESSFUL SEASON At the season finale of the Porsche Sports Cup Suisse in Misano, Francesco Fenici, as a three-time Cayman GT4 winner, did not show any signs of weakness. Above all, praise is due to the organizers of the one-make cup. We reported on the exciting title decision in the top GT3 class on Sunday. The finale in Misano was practically just a formality for Francesco Fenici [...].

Editorial - 21 October 2020

Only in qualifying and in the first race laps of Sprint 1 Francesco Fenici #109 left his compatriot "Gioga" in the black Cayman #111. In the end, the latter only finished fourth (Photos: Dirk-Michael Deckbar).

We reported on the exciting title decision in the top GT3 class on Sunday. The final race in Misano was practically just a formality for Francesco Fenici in the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR.

Including the additional points for the fastest race laps, the Roman again scored almost the maximum number of points at his third home race after Imola and Mugello.

Impressive balance sheet
Only in qualifying did the new champion in the GT4 category have to bow to his compatriot "Gioga". However, Fenici rocked the conditions in the first sprint again on the fourth lap and took the lead.

In the second race, the 31-year-old Italian, who is housed in the AMAG First Rennsport team, managed an unchallenged start-finish victory. The new champion's season record is impressive: apart from the Mugello endurance race (2nd), he decided all races in his favor.

Francesco Fenici: "I am enormously happy about the title win, the course of the season and the steady progress. We never had any technical problems or damage due to foreign contact. In qualifying we were not quite sorted out in Misano, but then found a perfect set-up. Now I'm trying to enjoy this success before we start planning for 2021."

Mirror image of the championship: Champion Francesco of the two identical Gulf cars of Laurent Misbach and Alexandre Mottet.

Runner-up title to Geneva
Second place in both sprint races and in the championship went to Laurent Misbach of Orchid Racing.

The title in the 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport class without MR package went to Renzo Kressig. After his incredible drive in the Endurance race at Mugello, a sixth and a third place were enough for him in Misano despite contact with a competitor and the associated drive-through penalty, while his closest rival Patrick Schetty took two victories.

In the standings for the predecessor model, Thomas Herbst was at the front in the end. Former Formula 3 driver Pierre Hirschi, father of LMP2 endurance driver Jonathan Hirschi, took second place at the end.

The most modern is the fastest
In the GT Open for various Porsche GT3 race cars, the Lebanese Habib Fadel with the most modern car was superior to the competition in all three races. The closest to him was Enzo Calderari from Biel in his 997 GT3 R, also classified in Class 23, 30.1 seconds behind.

As third and second Swiss rider in this small international field Beat Ganz celebrated a nice class win over 14 competitors in the first sprint.

In the final endurance race, Fadel Habib set the pace from the start.

Two-hour endurance night race
The traditional end of the season was a two-hour race with a finish after dark. Fadel secured victory with a lead of almost 44 seconds.

Fifth place went to Sweden's Mike Knutzon and Dutch pro Jaap van Lagen in the GT3 Cup class. Alex Fach and Dominik Fischli no longer took part. Instead, GT4 champion Francesco Fenici and his compatriot Max Busnelli were once again the best Cayman drivers.

Chase in the Drivers Competition. Peter Gafner, who took the tiel, ahead of Peter Meister and Fabio Resico.

Porsche Drivers Competition Suisse (PDC)
In the Porsche Drivers Competition Suisse, a fourth place was enough for Peter Gafner in his Martini Porsche 991 GT3 to successfully defend his lead in the standings after victories at Le Castellet and Imola. As runner-up in the regularity final, Robert Schwaller narrowly overtook Fabio Resico after deducting the strike result.

The smallest deviations from his own average time, which was also the fastest of all 15 participants, were made by Daniel Bütler. His nine laps in the 991-II GT3 RS varied by a mere 1.79 seconds.

Bütler had already won at Mugello, but with only three results was no longer in contention for the title.

All's well that ends well: Richard Feller (2nd from left) presents the trophies to the best GT4 drivers in the endurance race. Champion Fenici is also the biggest when it comes to cheering.

General success for all
Richard Feller of the Association of Swiss Porsche Clubs and his helpers can feel like the biggest winners of all. Against the backdrop of the Covid 19 situation, the 2020 season, which included five of the six planned events, presented them with major challenges. The fact that they were able to master them was due not least to the great cohesion within this series.

Richard Feller: "Drivers, teams, race track operators and everyone within the organization pulled together and didn't let anyone get in their way. I would like to thank everyone for that. Despite the difficult conditions, we experienced great motorsport right up to the final round. The exciting battle of our three highly talented junior drivers for the GT3 Cup title was the highlight. We are already looking forward to the 2021 season with great anticipation."