The leader led in the second quali of 2023. Nicolas Costa, new to the Velocitta, repeated the pole of the first stage and will start the first race of the Carrera Cup this Saturday (15).

The competitor of car #999 adapted well to the car with 50 kg of ballast for the lead in the championship and found the best path in a training session that started on a wet track and ended on a dry floor. By his side, Werner Neugebauer leaves.

In the Sport and Rookie classes, the poles were, respectively, with Lucas Salles and Paulo Sousa, with the top five on the grid closing Q2 separated by just half a second.

The Rookie class drivers opened the track, with the test driving ordering the use of Michelin wet tires.

Paulo Sousa was the fastest on his first attempt. Halfway through the session, Bruno Campos took the lead, but the #25 made the switch on the next lap. Gustavo Farah was third in the session, 1.4s behind Sousa's time.

As soon as the track was opened for the Sport riders, Nelson Marcondes took to the track.

There was a risk of the drizzle tightening, deteriorating the grip condition on the track.

Lucas Salles set a precise lap, taking the lead with almost 1s ahead of Georgios Frangulis. Five minutes from the flag, Lineu Pires rose to second place. Franco Giaffone was fourth and Rouman Ziemkiewicz was fifth.

In the final minutes of the session, a drier trail on the track's ideal trajectory began to form and Raijan Mascarello came determined to improve his third position. But he ended up losing time in the second sector of the track, and closed the session behind Salles and Lineu Pires. Frangulis and Ziemkiewicz completed the top5.

In the third group of Q1, the race management allowed the choice of tires at the discretion of the teams. Equipped with slicks, Werner Neugebauer broke the previous mark in more than 3s and took the lead. Miguel Paludo was faster on the next spin. But Neugebauer fit two of the three purple stretches on the timing screen and entered the 1:29 mark.

Nicolas Costa came in and showed his face, beating Neugebauer's time by 0.014. The #8 again struck back, clocking 1:29.195.

Neugebauer, Costa, Paludo, Alceu Feldmann, Marçal Müller, Rodrigo Mello, Sales, Pires, Mascarello and Frangulis advanced to the pole dispute.

In the final phase of training, the track was opened to 30ºC of temperature and the cars were all equipped with new sets of Michelin tires for dry surfaces. The first five minutes of the decisive session were devoted to warming up the tyres. When the competitors actually accelerated, Paludo set a lap of around 1:29, which was surpassed by Neugebauer and Costa. But the #7 to follow set a 1:28.596, taking pole provisionally.

Costa responded with 1:28.417. Werner was 0.100 slower, but also surpassed Paludo's mark. In the sequence Muller rose to third place, ahead of Paludo. In fifth, Lucas Salles took pole in the Sport division.

What did they say:

"I'm speechless! I'm not believing this pole. At breakfast my goal was to be in the top 5, I didn't really expect the pole. I started to understand the track that I didn't know and between the two outings I got along very well with it, where to brake, where to accelerate and I managed to get a lot right here, even more so for carrying 50 kilos of ballast in the car. I'm thrilled!”

Nicholas Costa

“It was difficult because at the beginning of qualifying the track was wet and with rain tyres, in the second part it was dry and on slick, which changed the car's handling a lot. We hadn't done the slick start yet in training, I was surprised by the result and got the pole for Sport.”

Lucas Salles

“Very happy with the result, yesterday I couldn't train because of the rain, but today everything went well! It's a track I know a lot about, so it was cool. I usually ride well in the rain, it was pretty cool. I had choked the pole since the first stage. I led the two races at Interlagos and I couldn't make it happen and now it's here. From here until the end of the year it will be like this!”

Antonella Bassani makes history with pole in the Challenge class

Antonella Bassani, the youngest of the Porsche Cup C6 Bank Mastercard grid, wrote her name in the history of the category this Saturday by becoming the first woman to conquer a pole-position with the most produced competition cars in the world.

The pilot from Santa Catarina starts next to Marcelo Tomasoni. Cristian Mohr and Urubatan Junior leave from the second row. In fifth, Gustavo Zanon is the pole in the Sport class.

The Rookie class cars opened the practice and Israel Salmen soon took the lead. He stayed first for the whole session, despite successive advances by Celio Brasil. Eric Santos closed the session in third.

In the part of the training reserved for Sport class pilots, Gustavo Zanon was the first to set fast laps, taking the lead with 1:33.106. Sebá Malucelli was his closest pursuer. In the final minutes of training, Carlos Campos, Artur Ramos and Sadak Leite challenged Zanon's mark. But the #33 was unbeatable in the session, guaranteeing a place in Q2, along with Campos, Ramos and Sadak. The four closed Q1 separated by just 0.5s.

The six drivers who are not classified in the sub-championships then entered the track, with the goal of overcoming the 1:33.528 mark, set by Seba Malucelli in the previous session, to advance to Q2.

After five minutes of session, Cristian Mohr, Antonella Bassani, Urubatan Junior and Josimar Junior had already done enough. Miguel Mariotti needed two fast laps, as a result of a penalty for crossing the white line at the pit exit on his ticket to the track. He lost the best lap and ended the session in 12th with his second fastest time.

Who saved the best attempt for last was Marcelo Tomasoni, one of the race winners at the season opener at Interlagos. He secured himself in the top ten a minute from the flag.

And Q2 concluded with Mohr's lead. They advanced to the pole dispute along with the leader of the championship: Zanon, Campos, Urubatan, Ramos, Antonella, Sadak, Tomasoni, Josimar and Malucelli.

Josimar crossed the white line at the exit of the pit and was punished with the loss of the best lap in Q2.

Halfway through the final qualifying round, Tomasoni was leading, followed by Antonella and Ramos.

Antonella entered the 1:31 mark three minutes from the flag, temporarily taking pole. Tomasoni was in second, with Mohr in third.

In the final minute #3 was accurate in the first two sectors, but lost performance in the final stretch and was unable to beat Antonella's mark.

What did they say:

"I have no words to describe! First pole in my second stage in the category. I hadn't trained here at sceo, I had a training session that wasn't very good. I was well behind before the top 10, but I managed to catch up and take pole here in Mogi! It was the first pole of many!”

Antonella Bassani

“The last stage was very difficult for me, I crashed in both races. I was very upset, not only for myself, but for Josimar as well. I arrived here in Mogi thinking about having fun, forgetting the bad stage and worrying only about the next corner. When we have a light head, the time comes.”

Gustavo Zanon

“Nice way to start the weekend, we didn't know the condition of the track, whether it would be wet or dry. I couldn't get the best out of the car because I got into traffic on the good laps and lost a little time. Now we are going to seek the victory that did not come at Interlagos.”