With 35 cars lining up, the fifth and penultimate round of the Porsche Carrera Cup Italia season took place in the most prestigious and passionate of settings – the Porsche Festival 2023, the eighth edition of Porsche Italia’s large-scale event, held this year at the Misano World Circuit.

The season’s most eagerly anticipated round lived up to expectations, with the thousands of fans who flocked to the circuit rewarded with constant thrills and plot twists. In the end, the results from the Porsche Festival leg mean that all the titles will be decided in the final act of the season, scheduled for Imola in late October. Larry Ten Voorde is again leading the overall standings. He put in a record performance (1’35”043) in qualifying for the latest-generation 911 GT3 Cups and secured double pole position. However, the Dutchman, driving for Enrico Fulgenzi Racing, was forced to retire in Race 1 with a steering problem. Keagan Masters took full advantage with an excellent, solid performance to outshine the rest of the field in a race that was contested at nighttime on Saturday.

Ombra Racing’s young South African also had a touch of fortune in coming back from sixth place, with Simone Iaquinta (Ghinzani Arco Motorsport) going into a spin after battling for top spot with Ten Voorde and a challenging end to the race for Matteo Malucelli (Team Malucelli), who was also hit with a jump start penalty. Masters overtook Diego Bertonelli to secure a well-deserved nighttime win in the Porsche Festival ahead of the Bonaldi Motorsport driver and Riccardo Agostini. The Scuderia Villorba Corse racer claimed a valuable third place, which he followed with a fourth-place finish in Race 2.

The driver from Padua is now third in the standings, ahead of Alberto Cerqui (BeDriver) and only three points behind reigning champion Gianmarco Quaresmini (Dinamic Motorsport), who will arrive at Imola with a 12-point gap to close on Ten Voorde after his two sixth-place finishes in the Porsche Festival. Meanwhile, the leader in the standings saw an immediate reversal in his fortunes in Race 2, aided by Malucelli, who had overtaken him from the front row at the start, going too wide towards the end of the first lap. Ten Voorde then set an unbeatable pace and, with a series of fast laps, overcame Masters (second) and a spirited Giorgio Amati, whose home race ended in an excellent podium finish and valuable points to edge Dinamic Motorsport closer to the Team title.

The Michelin Cup winner will also be crowned at Imola after an indomitable Alex De Giacomi returned to secure a double win in the class. In Race 1, the Tsunami RT driver from Brescia finished ahead of Francesco Fenici (on the podium again with AB Racing) and Alberto De Amicis, who then took second place in Race 2 with Gianluca Giorgi claiming third and his first podium of the season with BeDriver. Ebimotors driver De Amicis, however, still has a significant lead in the standings and only needs two points to be crowned champion.