Carrera Cup Italia | Vallelunga: 30 ready for today’s test

The fifth round of the Porsche Carrera Cup Italia, the penultimate one on the calendar this year before the grand finale in Monza and therefore full of expectations and ideas with a view to the titles up for grabs, will kick off on the Vallelunga track today from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. with the official pre-weekend test.

Even though anything can happen in the final sprints, the possibility that Ten Voorde, returning after skipping Imola, could close the rankings with a race to spare seems remote. The reigning champion leads with 9 points over Masters and 11 over Klein, both good, especially the latter, author of a double, to take advantage of the absence of the leader in the previous appointment to put him back in his sights.

The other seasonal protagonists will also be there to challenge them, with the Italian contingent in full force and, after the upward trend seen in Imola (Iaquinta and Braschi on the podium, but also others who appeared more on form than in the first half of the season), eager to repeat themselves on a circuit where they boast greater experience than the international competition, which, for its part, in addition to Ten Voorde, boasts further returns, all of them very young representatives of the Scholarship Programme.

The first is that of the other Dutchman and teammate Flynt Schuring, capable (the only “under” together with Braschi) of conquering the first Italian podium in his last appearance (race 2 at Mugello in July). Also returning is one of the most awaited protagonists for confirmation, the 17-year-old Janne Stiak.

The young German, who has already distinguished himself several times in the Porsche Italia single-make series, is fresh from his first success in the German Carrera Cup at the Sachsenring (where the other drivers who were absent from Imola were also present), also with a new record as the youngest winner in the series (beaten by 6 months at 17 years 5 months and 9 days).

Another return is that of the Austrian Horst-Felix Felbermayr, while at the last minute the second consecutive presence of the Belgian Benjamin Paque with Target was not confirmed and a couple of defections were reported in the Michelin Cup, with in the pits (by the way, in Vallelunga this time the teams will have the pits at their disposal instead of the paddock) the 70 of BeDriver (so far Giorgi’s) and the 88 of Dinamic (Pastorelli in the first two of the season; for Vallelunga there had been talk of a possible return of Lodovico Laurini).

Today’s test will be an important first contact in view of tomorrow’s free practice and then the highlight of qualifying and races between Saturday and Sunday. At the moment, no showers are expected over the weekend, while for today Thursday afternoon some rain could disturb the work of teams and drivers before the session and then in the finale. We’ll see.

Those enrolled in the test