After two stages in three weeks at Velocitta, the Porsche Cup C6 Bank leaves the interior of São Paulo with two memorable rounds in its twentieth anniversary season. Sunday held three very competitive races and showed that the most produced racing cars on the planet are capable of putting on great shows even on the track famous for being the most complicated for overtaking negotiations on the calendar. In the Carrera, the victory went to Alceu Feldmann, after starting in first place, losing the lead in contact with Thiago Vivacqua and overtaking the rookie Miguel Mariotti.

The victory in the Challenge went to Leonardo Herrmann, secured after a memorable two-lap battle involving Lucas Locatelli, Gerson Campos and Caio Chaves. It was the first victory for the #23 car this year.

Neto Carloni converted pole position into victory in the Trophy, also starring in a memorable battle with Lucas Villela to defend his position. He has two pole positions and two victories this year, leaving Mogi Guaçu as the king of his division.

Another rookie who made it through the 3,438m track was Daniel Neumann, a Challenge Rookie. He won every race he took part in and was especially pleased to have made it onto the podium on Sunday minutes after his father, Josimar Junior, had made it onto the overall podium in the Carrera.

In the Rookie Race, Leonardo Sanchez came very close to replicating Neumann's feat in Mogi Guaçu. The driver of the #15 Porsche won three races (two of them in this stage) and came in second in another, emerging as the name to beat in his second championship. He is going through his best phase in the Porsche Cup.

In addition to winning the Carrera race, Feldmann triumphed in the Sport class. Lucas Locatelli came close to doing the same, after controlling the pressure very well until the final lap. But fourth place in the race also brought victory in his division, in the most exciting race of the year so far.

After two rounds, as is usually the case in the championships of the biggest GT event in Latin America, consistency has made the difference. Nine-time champion of the event, Miguel Paludo has a 100% podium finish in the Carrera Cup. The lesson seems to have been learned very well by the current Challenge Rookie champion, Caio Chaves, who is competing in the overall Challenge this year: the rookie in car #54 also made it to the podium in every race.

Another driver who deserves a lot of attention for what he has done so far is the current Carrera champion, Marçal Muller. Just like in the season opener in Mogi, he led free practice and took pole position (this time, with the absolute record for the track). Just like in his debut, he suffered a flat tire on Saturday while leading and climbed the field in a cinematic fashion on Sunday. In stage 2, he jumped from 27th on the grid to fourth at the checkered flag.

So much action, battles and drama will not be missed, as the category returns to the track in just three weeks.

The stage could not be better: Interlagos, where the category started in 2005, will host the Porsche Cup C6 Bank for the first time this year.

The races

Race
Starting from first position, Alceu Feldmann positioned his car well in the middle of the track. Chris Hahn tried to attack Miguel Mariotti on the outside, but there was no space and he had to pull back. Antonella Bassani was boxed in in the middle of the race and the main winner was Thiago Vivacqua, the previous day's winner, who jumped from sixth on the grid to second place.

Hahn ended up in the Turn 2 tyre barrier and the safety car was deployed.

Feldmann was leading, followed by Vivacqua, Mariotti, Antonella and Paludo. In 13th after starting in twentieth, Leo Sanchez was leading in the Rookie category. Another considerable jump on the first lap was made by Matheus Comparatto, from 18th to ninth place.

The restart came at the start of lap 3, while an investigation into the incident between Antonella and Hahn at turn 1 was announced. The top five remained unchanged, with strong pressure from Vivacqua on Feldmann. The two entered the braking area of the Corkscrew together and there was no space.

Mariotti was grateful and took the lead on lap 4. Feldmann managed to follow and was in second place. Paludo, Josimar Junior and Lineu Pires completed the podium zone. Antonella had to take evasive action and also ended up losing positions. But the biggest loss was to Vivacqua, who had to go back to the pits with the #10, unable to continue in the race.

At the start of lap 7, Marçal Muller was already in tenth place while the others fought it out.

Mariotti was still in the lead, but Feldmann was shortening his advantage. Paludo was following closely, followed by Josimar and Lineu. Inside the top 10, Feldmann Neto closed the door on Muller at turn 1, but was unable to hold off the #544 behind him at the end of Caipirinha.

On lap 8, Feldmann began to signal an aggressive trajectory to match Mariotti. At that point, the Sport class duo had some margin over Paludo, who was third overall.

Feldmann opened lap 11 0.277s behind Mariotti, but last year's Challenge champion was not giving him any space. Then, on the next lap, Alceu came in tight on the straight and dove inside at turn 1. Mariotti tried to retaliate, but Alceu didn't let it spread and kept the lead.

The race entered the final five minutes and Paludo caught Mariotti. Muller, in turn, continued to climb and was seventh at the start of lap 14.

Then, at the exit of the Mata curve, a competitor stopped at the tire barrier and the safety car was activated, neutralizing the pace of the race.

The race restarted for a one-lap sprint

Feldmann held the lead well and Paludo made a great attack on the outside of Mariotti. Muller also shone, putting his car in fourth on the Caipirinha climb.

Feldmann won overall and in the Sport category, with Paludo in second. Mariotti was third, with Muller and Josimar completing the podium. In 16th, Leo Sanchez won another in the Rookie category.

Challenge
Lucas Locatelli made the most of his advantage of being in front and was joined by Mario Delara. Caio Castro lost positions, while Gerson Campos and Caio Chaves moved forward.

Lap 1 ended with Locatelli in the lead, already under a lot of pressure from Chaves. Gerson was third, with Leonardo Herrmann in fourth and Jose Moura Neto in fifth.

Then on lap 3 Herrmann surprised Gerson at the entrance to turn 5 and made a great maneuver to take third. Chaves continued to put pressure on Locatelli, but would soon be caught by Herrmann as well.

And #23 drew the line well to pass Chaves at turn 1 at the start of lap four. In ninth, Daniel Neumann led in Rookie.

After ten minutes of racing, Locatelli was leading in Sport and overall, managing to free up a 1.824s gap over Herrmann. He was 1.145s ahead of Chaves. Gerson and Caio Castro were next.

At the start of lap 9, Gerson attacked Chaves on the outside at turn 1 and, just behind, Moura Neto also replicated the maneuver on Caio Castro. But neither of them had any effect.

Then the runner-up caught up with the leader, the fourth-placed driver caught up with the third-placed driver, and the sixth-placed driver caught up with the fifth-placed driver in three separate, very competitive races. Locatelli skillfully blocked the advances of Herrmann's silver car. Gerson tried to find a line to catch up with Chaves, and Moura Neto ended up being overtaken by Sadak Leite when he tried to attack Caio Castro.

Herrmann opened the penultimate lap close to the leader. Chaves and Gerson arrived to compete.

And they went for two electrifying laps at Velocitta.

Herrmann dived decisively into turn 1. Chaves followed in the slipstream and moved into second. Gerson followed expertly. But Chaves wanted the win and was hounded by Chaves all the way to Saca-Rolha.

Herrmann was the first to see the checkered flag. Chaves and Gerson passed with a 0.3s gap between them next. Locatelli was fourth, winning in the Sport category. Caio Castro held the last available place on the podium and, in ninth, Daniel Neumann maintained his 100% performance in the Rookie category.

Trophy
When the green flag waved, Neto Carloni held the lead with ease after starting first. Nicholas Garfinkel surprised Gabriel Guper after the Caipirinha and advanced to sixth place.

The top five after two laps were Carloni, Pedro Villela, Sergio Laurentys, Denis Ferrer and Leticia Bufoni. Guper was next, leading in the Sport.

On lap 3, Garfinkel tried to repeat the same maneuver on Bufoni that he had done on Guper. But he braked too hard and the world skateboarding champion applied an “X”, in a trajectory that was followed by Guper. But on the back straight Garfinkel again passed his competitor in car #3.

The first four were separated by about 3s between them after 4 laps. So the main disputes of the race were between the Sport competitors, involving Lucas Lucco, Paulo Reales, Adriano Valverde and Guilherme Figueiredo.

Then, on lap 6, Reales lost the rear of his car at the exit of turn 5, and Valverde, who was in reference, also ended up spinning. Figueiredo then advanced two positions, rising to fifth in the division.

Halfway through the 20 minutes of the race, Pedro Villella began to close the gap on leader Neto Carloni. They opened lap 8 separated by 1.840s. Guper was seventh overall and leading in Sport, trying once again to pass Garfinkel.

Lap 9 opened with a lead margin of less than 1s between the top two in the race. And Carloni soon had to resort to defensive lines to avoid opening the door to an attack from Villela.

At the start of lap 11, Villela dove inside at the entrance to turn 1. Carloni read the maneuver shrewdly and left the door wide open, to resume acceleration well before and apply an “X” from the almanac and take the lead.

Carloni tried to keep the car always within the white lines, blocking any attempt, while Villela used every inch of the Velocitta asphalt and even something beyond it, shaking the #12 car in an attempt to attack. He even managed to draw level, but Carloni had the preferred trajectory and stayed ahead.

The battle continued until the final lap of the Corkscrew. Villela attempted a dive, and the cars made contact laterally. Carloni continued to the checkered flag to win for the second time this year and third in a row. Laurentys finished second, taking advantage of Villela's run off the track in his final attack. He was third. Denis Ferrer and Leticia Bufoni, in that order, completed the podium.

For Sport, Gabriel Guper won with seventh place overall, followed by Eldo Umbelino and Luis Eduardo Lopes.

What they said:
“Experience wins during the race, because the young guys are faster but wear out the tires and equipment. We, the older guys, are slower but we preserve the tires better. I am very happy with the victory”
Alceu Feldmann

“That was a tough one! I got a great start, as expected, and I saw that I had the pace because I had new tires. I managed to overtake Gerson and Caio and I was aiming for Lucas. I was getting closer, but I lost a bit of the pace because I was tired. In the end, I found an opportunity and I felt it was the chance to dive in. So I went for it and it worked out.”
Leonardo Herrmann

“Pedrinho deserves congratulations: he’s young and he put pressure on the old guy, who gets tired… The young guy doesn’t get tired (laughs). I’m very happy with the result and I dedicate the victory to my family. My plan this year is to continue here, and maybe move up a category later”
Neto Carloni

“I won in Sport and started in front of the general classification and drove very well throughout the race. But I was one of those without new tires and it was very difficult at the end. I knew that the other three were not in my division, so I thought about winning in Sport. In the end it worked out, I got fourth overall and first in my category”
Lucas Locatelli

“Very competitive race. Nicholas was doing well and I held the lead in Sport until the end. The important thing is to always improve, it was my second race in my life and in this one I did much better. We will work to improve, I am very happy”
Gabriel Guper

“This stage was very good. I started today in a better position and managed to get off to a good start again, especially without getting involved in any accidents. I managed to create a good strategy both today and yesterday and maintain a good position, keeping pace with the Sport and Carrera drivers. I made a few mistakes, wearing out the tire, which made me lose a few positions, but not to anyone in my category. Now I have to keep this pace for the next stages and stay in the lead.”
Leo Sanchez

“It’s very special when everything goes right. Today was an incredible day, first with my father’s [Josimar Junior] race, making sure that he was the only one. And then with everything going right in my race. We’re going home very happy today.”
Daniel Neumann

“The weekend was very positive for our team. In yesterday’s race we had excellent pace and finishing second today, after starting in fifth, was great. We had a smart race, after the safety car I saved the car more, because I knew that if it went green at the end I would need my tires, today is hotter than yesterday, so wear is greater. I was able to take advantage of the restart to take second place and increase my score further. We left very happy and satisfied, we had a very good pace and put it together well in qualifying. I want to thank everyone on the team and my partners at Brandt. I can’t wait for Interlagos”
Miguel Paludo

“You have to be level-headed, score points and think about the championship as a whole, not just the race. I finished all the races, all on the podium and I know that this will make a difference in the end”
Caio Chaves

“I can consider this podium a victory because we started from 27th place and got to the podium cleanly, without crashing into anyone. It was difficult to drive the car at the end because of the tire pressure, but we are alive and we will fight for the championship as long as there is a chance”
Marçal Muller