Porsche Cup Suisse: Lena makes the most of home advantage

In the GT4 field of the Porsche Sports Cup Suisse, some newcomers prevailed at the start of the season in Austria - including a local hero. Only in the Drivers Competition did the champion prevail.

Valerio Presezzi led the large GT4 field with his new 718 RS Clubsport #181 in both races from start to finish.

We have already reported on the racing action in the top GT3 class. There was also plenty of variety in the GT4 classes and in the Open GT group.

Double winner in the new Cayman
In the overall standings of the GT4 Clubsport group, two participants led the classification with the new 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport. Valerio Presezzi had set the best qualifying time with the 500-hp mid-engine race car and had driven to victory in both races ahead of Paolo Locatelli.

In the hotly contested Class 10 GT4 Clubsport group for the 425-hp Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport with MR package, "Gioga" was only just able to keep Antonio Spavone at bay - in the end, the two were separated by a mere 0.522 seconds. Spavone had been able to fight his way past the lightning-fast Markus Lietzau again on the sixth of 16 laps.

Class victory for an Austrian
The first race in the pure 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport models was particularly entertaining - here, Lena Knötzl was ahead in the end. First, the Austrian had lost her early lead to David Henn on the sixth lap, and a little later she even slipped behind Renzo Kressig to third place.

In the twelfth round, however, the local hero restored the old order and won Class 11 ahead of Kressig as well as Andreas Greiling. As the only participant with the Porsche Cayman GT4 previous generation, Stefan Kipfer drove to 13th place out of 20 starters.

The joy about her strong performance was visible on the podium of Lena Knötzli, even though she had to settle for second place in race 2.

In the second race, Antonio Spavone (gallery left) emerged as a commanding winner in Class 10. "Boga", who had taken over the 718 Cayman GT4 with MR package from "Gioga", had dropped to the back of the field right on the first lap.

Second place went to Giovanni Naldi, who had improved by five positions but also benefited from a five-second penalty for Markus Lietzau for overstepping the track boundary.

In Class 11, Lena Knötzl (center gallery) had to admit defeat to Jens Richter. The German had already scampered past the Austrian in the starting lap and was 1.6 seconds ahead at the finish.

Applause for Calderari and Feigenwinter
In the Open GT group, racing legend Enzo Calderari was the first to be celebrated as the winner in his 991 II GT3 R, followed by Austrian Johannes Kapfinger in a 992 GT3 Cup.

Andy Feigenwinter, the 2019 Swiss touring car mountain champion, placed third overall and second in his class on the podium in both races. His original ten-year-old 997 GT3 R was the oldest model in the field of 28 sports cars.

A true master of regularity
Nicolas Garski continued at the wheel of his standard 911 GT3 in the Porsche Drivers Competition Suisse just as he had left off at the end of last season. New from the 2022 season is that there will be a second race on each of the six race weekends.

Garski's four laps in the first round differed by just 0.24 seconds from his own average time. Second place went to Xavier Penalba, who was hardly less precise at the wheel of his 911 GT3 RS with a difference of 0.94 seconds.

In the second run, for which nine of ten timed laps on the track counted as before, Nicolas Garski remained unbeaten and won the competition with a difference of just 1.31 seconds ahead of Penalba. It was the eighth victory in a row for the defending champion.

In the second race of the Open GT, Philippe Menotti, in the 991 GT3 R previously driven to victory by Enzo Calderari, is finished just ahead of Andy Feigenwinter's 997 GT3 R as class winner.

porsche.com/swiss/en

 

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