Porsche Cup Suisse: Full fields according to proven concept
SEASON START IN AUSTRIA Following the departure of the two strongest drivers from 2022, a new GT3 champion is being sought in the Swiss Porsche Cup. The six race weekends following the proven pattern in nearby countries also offer newcomers a chance.
The concept of the event series organized by the Porsche Motorsport Club (PMSC) has proven its worth since 2021. The Swiss one-make cup with international participation consists of the Porsche Sprint Challenge Suisse for GT racing sports cars and the Porsche Drivers Competition Suisse for drivers with road-tested production cars (center gallery).
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Successor to Jasin Ferati wanted
The Sprint Challenge is divided into three groups: GT3 Cup, GT4 Clubsport and Open GT. Within the groups, classification is based on the generation and specification of the vehicles. Half-hour sprint races are held separately, while endurance races over 100 miles are held in a joint field.
The top class is formed by the 911 GT3 Cup models of the latest 992 vehicle generation, which entered the Porsche Sports Cup Suisse in 2022. After Alexander Fach (2020 and 2021), last year's champion Jasin Ferati is also moving to the international arena (Carrera Cup Deutschland), so a new champion will be sought.
Two official juniors from Germany
Perhaps it will end up being one of the two new juniors sponsored by the PMSC and Porsche Switzerland (gallery left)? The 20-year-old Bavarian Johannes Kapfinger won the big Class 40 of modified GT3 Cup cars in 2022 in the Open GT group with Huber Racing and the GT Winter Series in Spain in spring 2023. On the other hand, his German compatriot Jocelyn Langer (22), who drives in the championship-winning Fach Auto Tech team, is still a barely described hand.
With runner-up Jürg Aeberhard once again concentrating on coaching private drivers and only taking the wheel occasionally, Gregor Burkhard, Alexander Schwarzer and Ernst Keller are likely to be the strongest Swiss drivers. Last season, they finished 3rd, 4th and 5th in the championship behind Ferati and Aeberhard.
Uniformity tests new in two classes
In the Porsche Drivers Competition Suisse, the aim is to reproduce one's own reference lap time as precisely as possible. Each weekend, after practice and qualifying, one shorter and one longer race are held over almost twice the number of laps.
The division into two groups is new: so-called Classic participants race exclusively by feel - cell phones, stopwatches, timing systems and the like are prohibited for them. In the Chrono classification, on the other hand, the starters are allowed to use modern aids to determine their own lap times.
Six racing weekends in Styria, southern France and Italy
While the season kicks off next weekend at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg with a double sprint, a sprint and an Endurance event are scheduled at Le Castellet and Imola as well as at Mugello. At Monza, as at Misano, the drivers can even contest two sprint races as well as a two-hour Endurance race, but this is not part of the championship. At the finale, it takes place at night.
Michael Glinski, CEO Porsche Schweiz AG (gallery on the right): "Motorsport is an inseparable part of Porsche's DNA. Many of our customers love to experience the performance of a Porsche on the race track. The Swiss one-make cup offers the perfect stage for this: it combines a professional environment with a family atmosphere."
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