Flavio Olivieri and Francesco Maria Fenici will be the two arrows in Raptor Engineering's bow for the 2024 season of the Porsche Carrera Cup Italia. The Modena team has thus revolutionized all programs compared to expectations. And within a few weeks: “I am thrilled with what we have managed to build in such a short time and just a few weeks before the start of the Carrera Cup – he said Andrea Palma –. Thanks to this renewal the team has strengthened and is aiming for solid progression”.
Strengthening the bond with the prestigious German brand, the young team founded in 2020 by the team principal together with Isabelle Maserati will face the Italian single-brand championship for the fifth consecutive year and will field a pair of Roman drivers from opposite automotive backgrounds who will now become expected protagonists on all the fronts (Guirreri, who last winter raced in the Porsche Sprint Challenge Southern Europe and will now line up in the Super Trofeo, will not be there).
Both current Raptor Engineering standard-bearers therefore represent two new faces in the team, which in the meantime has also renewed the livery that will “dress” the two 911 GT3 Cups managed by the team and expanded the spectrum of Porsche Centers involved, welcoming the Porsche Centers Rome in addition to Porsche Center Cataniawith which the long partnership started in previous editions of the series is consolidated.
At the wheel of the 911 GT3 Cup number 44 “branded” Centro Porsche Catania, characterized by green mirrors, Olivieri it will make its debut in Carrera Cup Italia and GT racing.
The Roman rookie born in 2007 is about to turn 17, comes from preparatory single-seater races (Formula 4 in particular) and will also be included by Porsche Italia in the coaching project called Scholarship Programme and reserved for pilots under 23.
In addition to the absolute one, Olivieri will also be able to compete in the new one Rookie rankingintroduced this year and dedicated to drivers participating in their first season in the Carrera Cup.
However, he is not new to the Italian single-brand circus Phoenicianswho arrives at Raptor Engineering at the wheel of the 911 GT3 Cup number 50 (his “historic” number) “branded” Centri Porsche di Roma and characterized by red mirrors.
For his first season with the Modena team, the 34-year-old Roman driver aims to confirm himself among the absolute protagonists of the Michelin Cupin which Fenici already boasts several triumphs including victories and podiums and is fresh from the excellent third place obtained last year.
Fighting at the top in the Michelin Cup is a valuable objective for the team and standard bearer, also given that Raptor Engineering won the title Michelin Cup in the 2021 and 2022 editions.
Palma welcomed the new arrivals as follows: “We're starting the engines again with a completely new line-up, it's a pleasure to line up two drivers competing for each category and welcome the arrival of a further dealer. Among Pro riders it's never easy, Olivieri is a rookie, he's still 16 years old and will have a long way to go. But he is very determined and likes challenges: we saw this in the test carried out in Vallelunga, where the performances were already interesting and the team understood that it had greater potential available. In the Michelin Cup, however, we start again with Fenici and it would be nice to reconfirm ourselves at the top of the category with a new driver, a guy who has always aimed high, knows the championship and knows where to start”.
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