The 20th anniversary season of the Porsche Cup C6 Bank began with the teams failing to convert pole position into victory at Velocitta, a track where the frontrunners traditionally have a wide advantage to finish in the lead. The Carrera Cup race was won by Christian Hahn, who started from third on the grid. And the Challenge race was won by Gerson Campos, who started second but dropped to fourth at the first corner.

Both races were very eventful, with a clear sign that the balance of power could change in both categories.

In the 992 generation cars class, second place went to Matheus Comparatto. The current F4 Brazil champion showed good familiarity with the Porsche in his first race with a touring car and survived a very aggressive journey for the Michelin tires, which left behind seasoned drivers such as pole-sitter Marçal Muller, Thiago Vivacqua and Cristian Mohr.

The race also saw good recovery runs by Miguel Paludo and Antonella Bassani. Neither the multiple champion nor the Carrera Cup debutant advanced to Q2. Miguel started in 14th and finished on the podium in fifth. Antonella jumped from twentieth to tenth in her first race in the main class.

The victory in the Carrera Sport went to Lineu Pires, who placed fourth overall. In the Carrera Rookie, the winner was Leonardo Sanchez, who also climbed respectably from 27th on the grid to 12th on the grid.

Sunday's race is scheduled to start at 2:30 pm, with Nelson Marcondes on pole.

The Challenge race was equally eventful, with Gerson Campos exerting psychological pressure on his competitors. Leonardo Herrmann emerged as the favorite after starting on pole and finishing the first lap in front (after momentarily losing the lead to Lucas Locatelli). But the driver of the silver car ended up spinning as Gerson approached, who safely took the #82 car to the checkered flag, received behind the safety car. Caio Chaves came in second, with rookie Mario Delara in third, winning in the Sport class. Matheus Roque and Herrmann completed the podium, with Daniel Neumann in ninth, winning in the Challenge Rookie class.

Pole position on Sunday went to Cecilia Rabelo, who came seventh in Saturday's race.

The day ended with the Trophy qualifiers, which placed Neto Carloni in the position of honor.

The Carrera Cup races

Pole-sitter Marçal Muller made the most of his advantage of starting in front, while Christian Hahn moved from third to second, overtaking Lucas Salles. Thiago Vivacqua jumped from fifth to fourth, also overtaking rookie Matheus Comparatto. Vivacqua even caught Salles in the corkscrew on lap 1, determined to go for third place.

Muller led the first lap of the year, followed by Hahn, Salles, Vivacqua and Comparatto. In sixth, Rodrigo Mello led in Sport and, in 22nd, Leo Sanchez led in Rookie.

On lap 3, Vivacqua passed Salles on the first leg of the Museu curves. Comparatto tried to follow the #10's line, but had the door closed. The rookie, however, insisted and passed Salles on the approach to turn 1 at the start of the fourth lap.

On the seventh lap, Marcos Regadas and Miguel Mariotti made contact at the Museu corner in the dispute for second place in the Sport class. Both lost positions, but the race continued without the need for a safety car.

Ten minutes into the race, the race was in its eighth lap, with Muller opening up a gap of 2.5s over Hahn. Vivacqua, Comparatto and Salles completed the top five. Mello was in sixth, leading in the Sport class with Alceu Feldmann right behind (but already under some pressure from Miguel Paludo, who was recovering after starting in 14th overall). Leo Sanchez, in 19th, was in first place in the Rookie class.

On lap ten, Muller had to bring his car into the pits with a flat right rear tire, abandoning the race. Hahn took the lead, with a good advantage over Vivacqua. Comparatto was third, Salles fourth, and Rodrigo Mello entered the top five. In 15th, Sanchez held the lead in the Rookie class with authority, even battling with other cars in the Sport class.

The race entered the final five minutes with a dispute between Feldmann, Mello and Paludo. Mello's car then appeared spun at the end of the opposite straight and Lineu Pires in front of Paludo.

At the start of lap 16, Marco Pisani and Paulo Sousa collided, with the #25 car ending up across the track. Edu Guedes, with great sagacity, avoided the car at the last minute. The safety car was then activated, but Vivacqua entered the pits with a flat tire, also losing positions.

The cars were under safety car conditions, with Hahn leading, followed by Comparatto, Salles, Feldmann and Lineu Pires. Feldmann led in Sport, with Leo Sanchez in 13th leading in Rookie.

The race restarted for one lap, with Hahn favored by Sousa's car between him and Comparatto. The #26 led with authority, but there was a scuffle at the end of the straight involving Feldmann, Paludo and Salles. Feldmann even had a penalty announced for the collision with Mello a few laps earlier.

At the checkered flag, Hahn prevailed with class. Comparatto debuted in second place. Salles was third and Lineu Pires fourth, winning in the Sport category. Paludo completed the top 5. In 12th, Leo Sanchez won in the Rookie category.

After the podium ceremony, Hahn drew the number 7, determining the respective inversion for Sunday's starting grid.

Challenge
At the start, pole-sitter Leonardo Herrmann put the car in the middle of the track and avoided Gerson Campos, who was trying to get past him on the outside. Lucas Locatelli came out on top, jumping from third to the lead. Gerson was also hit during braking, dropping to fourth behind Matheus Roque.

Locatelli widened his path on the entry curve of the straight and left the door open for Herrmann to retake the lead. On lap 2, Gerson went up Caipirinha alongside Roque, prevailing at the entrance to turn 5. He then set off in pursuit of Locatelli.

On the second lap, the top five were Herrmann, Locatelli, Gerson, Caio Chaves and Mario de Lara. But on the third lap, in the same section where Roque had passed, Gerson overtook Locatelli. Locatelli soon came under attack from Chaves.

The #54 passed Locatelli entering Turn 1 on lap 4, with Delara following the move.

Herrmann opened lap 5 with a 1.855 advantage over Gerson. Chaves, Delara (leading in Sport) and Locatelli completed the top 5, while the lead in Rookie was held by Daniel Neumann, in ninth overall.

With ten minutes of racing gone, Gerson tried to get closer to Herrmann, but the two leaders were running at very similar paces. Caio Chaves was more relaxed in third, while Locatelli spun at the Museu corner when he tried to attack Delara. Roque was immediately behind and got away from the car that was in the middle, showing good reflexes.

On laps 7, 8 and 9, Gerson gradually closed the gap to the leader, opening the 10-minute mark to the end of the countdown with less than 1 second of gap to the silver car that had led every lap.

On lap 12, Gerson caught Herrmann, who spun on the second leg of the Caipirinha. The #82 took the lead and moments later the safety car was activated after contact between Markenson Marques and Jose Moura Neto.

The top five were Gerson, Chaves, Delara (leading in Sport), Roque and Herrmann. In ninth place was Neumann leading in Rookie. And so they went to the checkered flag, escorted by the safety car driven by Ricardo Landi.

After the podium, Gerson drew number 7, determining the respective grid inversion for Sunday.

Quali – Trophy
The session opened with the 11 Sport class cars on the track and a series of position changes at the top of the timing screen. Pedro Vilela, Nicholas Garfinkel and Sergio Laurentys alternated in the lead.

In the decisive phase, with 3 minutes to go, Pedro clocked 1:34.100 to secure a good lead. Laurentys then beat Garfinkel. Gabriel Guper and Luis Lopes completed the top 5.

The remaining seven cars then took to the track, with Neto Heil, Denis Ferrer and Leticia Bufoni showing speed from the middle of the session.

Neto Carloni then took second place with 5:20 remaining in the session. On the following lap, he beat Vilela's time, setting the new session benchmark.

But he would be penalized with the loss of his fastest lap for crossing the pit lane, so another fast lap would be needed to secure pole position in the first race of the year. And Carloni achieved it with class.

Car #111 starts on pole on Sunday morning, with Vilela in second and Denis Ferrer in third. Neto Heil and Sergio Laurentys complete the top five.

What they said:

“Starting the season with a win is always great, especially here in the Porsche Cup, where the championship is very balanced and you can’t afford to waste points. Our car is very competitive and now we have to focus on tomorrow’s race to score a lot of points and start building a good campaign early to win the title at the end of the year.”
Christian Hahn

“Thanks for everyone’s support, what a race! I think I lost about 5 liters of water, it was incredible. At the start, we had a bit of a collision, but I tried not to get discouraged, because I could have gone onto the grass or spun out. I managed to control the car and stay calm, because I knew I had a good pace and that the most important thing was to avoid any problems. I think the category is at an excellent level, we only had one safety car at the end, and for those who followed, it must have been an incredible race. We started the year on the right foot, I’m very happy. Thanks to all my supporters, my wife and my children!”
Gerson Campos

“The first race was sensational. I suffered a lot with the heat at the end, but I managed the tires well. Maybe I lacked a little bit of pace to get the first and try to win, but for the first race it was very good. It's great and tomorrow we're very motivated for the next one”
Matheus Comparatto

“We started with a bad qualifying, but it ended up being a race of survival. I was in the right place at the right time, and I kept gaining positions. The projection for this year is very strong; last year, we were fighting for the championship, but there were some incidents in the final stretch. This year, we're going to try to be more consistent and fight for the title”
Lineu Pires

“It was an epic day, one to remember. I'm very happy with the start of the year. We were very confident, it was very exhausting, but I'm happy and motivated to try harder tomorrow”
Leo Sanchez

“First of all, being here is a dream come true for me. I never imagined that I would reach this level to compete, and debut with a victory in the category, besides “To have come third overall is simply incredible. I couldn’t be happier! The car is amazing, the category is fantastic, and I’m so grateful for this opportunity.”
Mario Delara

“I couldn’t have made a better debut! I’m so happy with the win. It was a tough race, and during the safety car I was a bit nervous about the tire wear, but thank God it all worked out in the end!”
Daniel Neumann

“It was a really productive day. The category is very competitive and the staff is extremely professional. I gave it my all and with the time trial at the end of the day, the sun was lower, and the light was shining on my face. So I ended up losing my bearings a bit on the curves and it made it harder, but in the end everything worked out and I thank the coach and engineers of the category”
Neto Carloni