The Dutch EF Racing driver wins the second race of the first round and takes the lead after dominating the weekend. The podium is completed by Bertonelli, again on the second step, and by Agostini, third on his return with Villorba Corse. First points of the season for Jorge Lorenzo in the top-10, while De Amicis flies to the Michelin Cup. After an inaugural stage with 35 riders at the start and many spectacular duels, the next act is in Vallelunga on 9-11 June

After the domination of Larry Ten Voorde on Saturday, the Porsche Carrera Cup Italia concluded the first round of the season at the Misano World Circuit amidst new emotions and many spectacular duels experienced in race 2. The 26-year-old driver also led from pole position in the Sunday race of EF Racing reaffirmed its supremacy and the winning attitude with which it inaugurated 2023 at the top of the standings, but in general over the course of the weekend the level of the Italian one-make brand increased considerably and most of the 35 protagonists behind the wheel The 911 GT3 Cups in action on the Romagna circuit lapped on significantly higher lap times than last year. If Ten Voorde also prevailed in race 2, behind the two-time Porsche Mobil1 Supercup champion the odds of Diego Bertonelli grew. The Bonaldi Motorsport – Centro Porsche Bergamo driver maintained a closer race pace than the winner. The Tuscan driver also obtained the same result on Saturday, a fundamental second place in terms of the championship, but in fact he was never able to manage the position held at the start from the front row.

In fact, Bertonelli was the author of an early start and during the race he was notified of a time penalty of 5 seconds. At that point he was forced to force all the way to the finish line to maintain a superior advantage over his first pursuer, Riccardo Agostini. The 2015 Carrera Cup Italia champion celebrated his return on the podium after 8 years in the series and the first weekend together with Villorba Corse – Centro Porsche Treviso thanks to a precious third place finish. The 29-year-old Paduan rider tried to attack second place indirectly, but for almost the entire race he was mainly involved in defending the podium following the forcing by Alberto Cerqui. In turn champion 2021, the BeDriver – Centro Porsche Piacenza driver engaged in a borderline duel with Agostini up to the checkered flag, but did not find the opportunity to overtake him, while the reigning champion Gianmarco Quaresmini (Dinamic Motorsport – Centro Porsche Brescia) never ventured the attack behind them aware of the importance of the top-5 conquered.

Quaresmini therefore preceded his teammate and host Giorgio Amati (Centro Porsche Verona), sixth again at the finish line, best of the youngsters in the Scholarship Program and committed to defending himself against an aggressive Matteo Malucelli, in turn seventh again with the 911 GT3 Cup of Team Malucelli – Porsche Center Pesaro.

Happy at the end of the weekend for the performances shown, Jorge Lorenzo concluded the first round of the season by conquering the eighth place overall. The MotoGP multi-champion is in his second season with the 911 GT3 Cup of the Q8 Hi Perform Team and the first points scored in the standings crowned the Misano round in the best possible way, in which he had already given a show in race 1 with overtaking. An overtaking with contact against the Majorcan driver at the Variante del Parco cost Aldo Festante (Dinamic Motorsport – Centro Porsche Bologna) a 5-second penalty which dropped him to ninth place overall, while the final top-10 is was also conditioned by the two twists that followed one another on the first lap. A contact between them eliminated two leading protagonists like Simone Iaquinta, third in race 1 with Ghinzani Arco Motorsport – Porsche Centers Milan, and the young Lorenzo Ferrari, making his debut in the series with Raptor Engineering – Porsche Center Catania, at that time battling for sixth place.

A little further back, a battle between some cars also involved those of Benedetto Strignano (Villorba Corse – Treviso Porsche Centre), Leonardo Caglioni (Ombra Racing – Padova Porsche Center) and Enrico Fulgenzi (EF Racing), with the first two forced to retire and the consequent use of the safety car, the Porsche Taycan 4S entered the track with the special livery in the colors celebrating the 75th anniversary of Porsche. At the restart of the third lap, as well as for the top, the chase for a prestigious top-10 was also unleashed, celebrated at the finish line by the young rookie Zakhar Slutskii,

Like on Saturday, another double is counted in the Michelin Cup. In this case it is signed by Alberto De Amicis. The standard-bearer of Ebimotors – Centro Porsche Varese managed the first position in the category in a concrete way right from the start. Behind him, the podium changed after the race. Francesco Maria Fenici had crossed the finish line in second position, but during the checks a non-compliance was found in the fuel used in the car and the AB Racing – Centri Porsche Roma driver was consequently excluded from the classification. He then gains a step, finishing second like in race 1, Alex De Giacomi. In race 2 the driver from Brescia of Tsunami RT – Centro Porsche Latina crowned a consistent comeback which in the final allowed him to regain the podium, where Paolo Gnemmi climbed to third place.

The Carrera Cup Italia is now making an appointment for the weekend of 11 June at the Autodromo di Vallelunga for the second round of the season.

Photos: Tommaso Giocondi