Miguel Paludo isolates himself as the biggest winner of the Porsche Cup C6 Bank Mastercard

A sunny morning, but with a low temperature for the start of the Carrera Cup: in the environment, only 19ºC; on the asphalt, 28ºC. Crowded grandstands at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace for the race that had the reversal of seven positions of the result of the first race on the grid. With that, the pole went to Raijan Mascarello, from the Sport class, with Alceu Feldmann next to him.

At the start, Raijan Mascarello kept the lead, but Miguel Paludo jumped very well and moved up to second position. And in the outline of Pinheirinho, Paludo overtook Mascarello and took the lead just before the race direction triggered the safety car because of a huge confusion at the back of the peloton.

Alceu Feldmann and Marçal Müller vied for space after the Descent of the Lake. When Feldmann returned to the track, he ended up hitting Werner Neugebauer's car hard, which spun in the middle of the Laranjinha. The gaucho's car was crossed and ended up hit by Nelson Monteiro. With that, the two ended up abandoning the race at that point and Feldmann collected his car for the pits. The incident went on to be evaluated by the CBA's sports commissioners.

The restart was allowed on lap four, just over 18 minutes from the end of regulation time. Paludo retained the lead, with Mascarello second. Müller overtook Peter Ferter, took third place in Senna's S and attacked Mascarello on the Lake Descent to move up to second position. Mascarello and Ferter were surprised in the sequence in Laranjinha and, with that, ended up ceding the leadership of the Sport class to Lucas Salles. And Nicolas Costa, the championship leader, took third place.

Meanwhile, in the Rookie class, Piero Cifali, then the leader, had to enter the pits. And the first position of the subcategory passed into the hands of Bruno Campos, with Paulo Sousa in his glue, less than two tenths, in the second position.

At the start of lap seven, the fight for the lead involved three cars. The leader Paludo began to be under a lot of pressure by Marçal Müller and also by Nicolas Costa, who began to score good race times. Only a second and a half separated the top three finishers from the Carrera Cup race.

In the Rookie class, Bruno Campos crashed head-on into the inside of the Lake Descent and caused the safety car's second entry in the race. With this, Edu Guedes took the lead of the subcategory.

The second restart was allowed on lap 12, just over five minutes from the end of regulation time. Miguel Paludo had no trouble maintaining the lead, but with Marçal Müller and Nicolas Costa very close. Further back, Peter Ferter ended up spinning in the middle of the peloton as he rounded the Sun Bend alongside Costa and Raijan Mascarello. Luckily, he wasn't hit by whoever was coming behind. Another incident to be evaluated by the sports commissioners.

Marçal Müller still tried to press in the last two laps of the race, but Miguel Paludo took his 40th victory in the Porsche Cup, becoming the lone record holder for victories in the category. Müller was second, with championship leader Nicolas Costa third. Lucas Salles came fourth overall and won in the Sport class, with Raijan Mascarello fifth. In the Rookie class, Paulo Sousa still tried a boat on Edu Guedes on the last lap, but ended up taking the change. In the end, victory of Edu Guedes.

The second half of the 2023 Porsche Cup C6 Bank Mastercard sprint championship season started hot at Interlagos, with intense contests in the two races held on Sunday. At the end of the day, after a festival of overtaking and some safety-car interventions, Miguel Paludo prevailed in the Carrera Cup and Eduardo Taurisano in the Sprint Challenge.

Paludo took the lead on the first lap and drove the #7 Porsche safely the entire race to isolate himself as the biggest winner in the series' 19-year history. The seven-time champion has reached 40 victories and is once again accredited to fight for a title.

In second place in the Carrera Cup came Marçal Muller, once again battling intensely for positions.

He crossed the finish line ahead of Nicolas Costa, winner the day before. Costa leads the championship after four of the six stages held.

Carrera Sport drivers Lucas Salles and Raijan Mascarello completed the overall podium in this order. The victory in Carrera Rookie fell to Edu Guedes.

The Challenge race had championship leader Marcelo Tomasoni taking the lead at the start. He then battled with Antonella Bassani and Eduardo Taurisano. The rookie, winner the day before, knew how to drive the #88 Porsche well to stage in style.

The victory in Challenge Sport went to Sadak Leite, while Celio Brasil also repeated Saturday's triumph.

The Porsche Cup C6 Bank Mastercard holds its next stage, the penultimate sprint in 2023, at the Argentine track of Termas de Río Hondo on the first weekend of September.

What they said: Check out the quotes from the protagonists of Sunday's races

"I spoke yesterday after qualifying. It's hard to leave back there, we knew our potential. But nothing happens by chance. In the inversion of the grid, there were seven in the draw, we started fourth, on the outside. For me, a position of advantage at the start, yesterday I lost several positions because I came out on the inside and got an excellent start. Alceu squeezed me a lot. He instead of making the turn, he eliminated my car, but I didn't take my foot off. And there he defined the race. My car misaligned, the steering wheel warped. I was walking as fast as I could, not making any mistakes. It's a very special Sunday, with this wonderful audience, I wanted to thank Brandt, Rick is here. 40 wins, especially for me, I hope there are still many to come. Today was very good and now it's using this moment for the end of the season, that we are in the fight for the championship." Michael Paludo

"It was another race that had a lot of tension in Turn 4. There was a little misalignment, but we kept strong in the race, came recovering I managed to put pressure on Miguel Paludo. Too bad there were a lot of safety car entries and we couldn't grow more in the race because our setup was about to improve at the end. So, patience, but we scored well. Now it's focus on the championship." Marçal Muller

"The scenario has changed from yesterday to today. I was first, took a little touch and ended up third in the category. At the start, I was worried about hitting someone and falling to last place. And I knew I needed to do a recovery run, but I was feeling like I was faster. So I had been calculating how many I needed to go through and what was the best time to pass. So, I ended up fine. It's very exciting. Before the start, I was pretty focused, but to see the bleachers packed like that is too much." Edu Guedes

"The stage was very positive. I'm pretty happy with the result. It was two clean runs, with no contact with anyone, with the head. In this second heat, in the first few laps it was a matter of survival, I was trying not to be hit so as not to compromise the car. He had no rhythm to attack Paludo and Marçal. So I tried to stay there. If there was anything left for me, I'd try to capitalize on it. It didn't happen, so congratulations to Miguel, he made a run, he led, I believe, almost from end to end. But I'm very pleased with the result." Nicolas Costa

"The car was perfect. We had a problem when we started, when Peter Ferter ended up touching us on the side and we went off the track. Unfortunately this happens, but we try to avoid it. That ended my run. I was going to come out of here a winner, but second place is a good result. What matters is the championship as we've been talking about for years. But the car was very good, I think now, we will start to evolve a lot. Half the championship is over. Going forward is another story." Raijan Mascarello

"The whole weekend was very busy. Everyone was very close in qualifying, we started a little further back this time, but we were able to maintain a good pace of the race. The start was good. And I had to accelerate until the last lap, Raijan was very fast behind. I'm very happy to have won at Sport." Lucas Salles

"It's never easy, because we are in the middle of many professional drivers who are already here with great experience. I can't even tell you why it was so fast. I'm a rookie in the category and only train in the simulator. The rest I think is the same gift. In the race, first I had a warm-up of the water, the water pressure, and then it was the temperature of the oil. I had to dose the foot, I ended up taking it out and losing the position, but it worked out in the end." Edward Taurisano

"What a blessed year! I learned a lot last year and this year this evolution has shown an effect. We always have to compare one year with the next when we comment on the evolution of the race car. We adjusted the car and it was very balanced today. Taurisano came in at a very strong pace, weightless and out of championship contention, so I didn't worry about him. One more podium, one more second place and finish ahead of my direct competitors. We're building this championship step by step. Very happy with the result and the solidity of the year." Marcelo Tomasoni

"Very happy with the result, we are gradually moving up in the championship and that is our goal. Unfortunately I could not pass Marcelo, he was in a better condition than my tire. But we're moving little by little." Antonella Bassani

"Yesterday I did a conservative race, thinking about the championship. Today the goal was to go up and think about winning. Overall podium and class win today and we go to Termas, a track I love." Sadak Milk

"What a delight by day! Another victory and this a tranquility! I was in a good position to win in the class all day and I kept going until the end without disrupting the race of the other drivers in other categories as well." Celio Brazil