Porsche Cup: plenty of variety in Imola
TURBULENTE RACING At the third weekend of the Porsche Cup Suisse in Italy, the drivers provided top entertainment. In the sprint of the GT3 king class, guest driver Fredy Barth won ahead of Cup leader Antonio Texeira. Actually, Fredy Barth was the fastest in qualifying for the sprint race of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge at the Autodrom of Imola. Because the racing professional and instructor [...]
Fredy Barth was actually the fastest in qualifying for the sprint race of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge at the Imola Autodrom. But because the racing pro and instructor had disregarded the track boundaries, he saw his fastest lap cancelled.
Nevertheless, it was not Antonio Texeira, who had moved up to P1 on the qualifying timesheet, who was on pole, but the guest driver. The GT3CC-sponsored junior had new front tires fitted for the sprint that lasted a good 30 minutes, for which he accepted being moved to row 2 behind Barth, Carlo Lusser and Jean-Paul von Burg.
Barth wins and Texeira scores
Although the sprint started in light rain, all the top teams opted for treadless slicks in view of the high asphalt temperatures. Teixeira returned from the first of 14 laps in second place and opened the chase on Barth from lap 5. Shortly afterwards, the junior with Portuguese roots stuck to the rear of his rival, who as a guest entrant played no role in the championship.
In the penultimate lap, the up-and-coming driver managed to miss, but he didn't want to risk anything. Even as second ahead of Lusser and von Burg, Teixeira bagged the maximum points thanks to the best qualifying time and the fastest race lap.
Antonio Texeira: "After the drizzle I didn't know exactly how much grip the track had at the beginning, but only one or two places were really wet. I still tried to attack Fredy Barth, but he defended very well."
Von Burg wins turbulent endurance race
Teixeira was at the front of the starting grid for the 33-lap endurance race, with Lusser next to him and von Burg and Andreas Corradina behind him. After the starting lap, which was dominated by yellow flags, Carlo Lusser returned as the leader of the Cup standings ahead of Teixeira, Corradina and von Burg.
Then it went from strength to strength: In the sixth round, von Burg passed Corradina and Teixeira Lusser. However, the attempt to attack Marco Galassi in front of him in a 991 II GT3 from Class 7a ended in retirement for both.
Von Burg took advantage of the mandatory pit stop on lap 12 to move ahead of Lusser. The former Swiss automobile champion and GT3 Cup Challenge winner had to park his car a short time later. Corradina thus moved up to second place and brought this home in the GT3 Cup class behind Jean-Paul von Burg and ahead of Dominik Fischli.
The right time matters
In the sprint race of the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport, 21-year-old newcomer Linus Diener celebrated another victory from pole position. Even a safety car phase did not upset the former motorcycle racer. Honorary places went to Marcel Wagner and Laurent Misbach.
Eric Schmid and Antoine Leclerc then secured the best starting position for the endurance race by nine thousandths of a second. Behind them were Diener, Wagner, the duo Takahashi/Baccani, Misbach and Pampanini. Marcel Zimmermann/Markus Humbel even had to settle for position 8 within the GT4 category. Thanks to their tactical skill, however, they emerged as the big winners from the endurance race, which was characterized by numerous yellow phases.
While the leading group with Diener, Wagner, Takahashi/Baccani, and Thomas Herbst took advantage of a safety car deployment for a routine pit stop as early as lap 15, Zimmermann/Humbel waited two laps longer - apparently the perfect time. Misbach stopped on lap 18, and for him, too, patience paid off with third place behind Alberto Franceschetti in the Cayman GT4 predecessor. Meanwhile, Linus Diener had to settle for fourth in the field and third in class this time.
In the Porsche 991 I GT3 sub classification, Rolf Reding won the sprint race solo and, together with Alexander Fach, also the endurance race.
Fast and constant Salamanca
In the evenness test, the fastest on the Imola GP circuit was also the most consistent. (PDC) won the overall classification with his Porsche, repeating his success from the season opener. The ten laps driven by Massimo Salamanca in a 911 GT3 RS deviated - each considered individually - by a total of only 2.45 seconds from the cumulative average time. Thus, as at the season opener, he won the Porsche Driver's Challenge ahead of Andreas Ritzi (deviation 3.33 seconds) and defending champion Peter Gafner.
