Porsche Cup Sprint Challenge opens season with more than half of the grid made up of rookies

Turning on the lights for a new Porsche Cup C6 Bank Mastercard season always brings with it news on and off the track and in 2023 it was no different.

In the Sprint Challenge, a revamped grid lined up for the first stage of the year, with nothing even than 11 newcomers in the short-lived races out of a total of 21 competitors.

With different histories and journeys within national motorsport, Sadak Leite, Antonio Junqueira, Antonella Bassani, Célio Brasil, Israel Salmen, Arthur Ramos, Luiz Souza, Sebá Malucelli, Américo Lanzoni, Walter Lester and Eric Santos made their debut in interlagos in the most produced competition cars on the planet.

Competing against already experienced drivers in the car and in the category, our rookies didn't do it badly at Interlagos.

Sadak Leite won on Sunday holding Cristian Mohr for a thrilling finish with a difference of less than a tenth of a second. Junqueira was the guy of the Sport class at the weekend, winning one of the races and coming in second in the other. Among the subdivision exclusively composed of rookies, Célio Brazil dominated the weekend in Interlagos with two wins in two races.

One of the most sought-after figures in the malls of Interlagos was also making his debut in the category. Antonella Bassani, just 16 years old, became the sensation of the Porsche Cup weekend. The youngest of the grid took the overall podium on Sunday and showed that age is not a problem to compete with the figurines already stamped in the category.