A great classic of crime literature is “The sign of 4”, the mystery of the grand finale of the Porsche Carrera Cup Italia, however, in Monza this weekend it will live entirely under the sign of 3. Or of the 3, both for the champion title both for the Michelin Cup title. The “case” that will be resolved from Friday to Sunday promises to be one of the most exciting ever, culminating an important season which is increasingly establishing the Italian single-brand brand on an international level.
In the Temple of Speed, Keagan Masters, Larry Ten Voorde and Marvin Klein will compete for a highly coveted 2024 crown, while only one between Francesco Maria Fenici, Alberto De Amicis and Paolo Gnemmi will lift a Michelin Cup that has perhaps never been so balanced. And in the middle, Kalle Rovanpera’s debut in the Carrera Cup Italia is highly anticipated.
After a few appearances in the equivalent Benelux series, embellished with two victories, the 24-year-old Finnish ace, twice world rally champion, will be among the 34 drivers registered at the start of the weekend (seasonal record) at the wheel of the 911 GT3 Cup of Prima Ghinzani – Centri Porsche of Milan, a team also expected at the home test. A new entry of maximum prestige that joins other interesting innovations expected on the track, where the challenge that awards the 2024 champion title comes to a head.
Masters, the 24-year-old South African from Team Q8 Hi Perform, arrives at the final showdown as the current leader of the standings, while the Dutch reigning champion Ten Voorde trails by just one point with Enrico Fulgenzi Racing – Centro Porsche Udine and Klein, already twice titled in the Carrera Cup France, is aiming for the role of third wheel to achieve what would become his first title in Italy with Target Competition – Centro Porsche Bolzano.
If Klein chases Masters with 12 points to recover, Target Competition leads the team classification and in a further intersecting challenge will compete for the Team title with Ten Voorde’s Enrico Fulgenzi Racing.
In Monza the two decisive final races of the 2024 Carrera Cup Italia will be held on Saturday at 3.50pm and Sunday at 12.40pm with live and on demand broadcast on Dazn (also in free mode). Both over a distance of 30 minutes + 1 lap, they will also be available in live streaming in HD on www.carreracupitalia.it.
Amazing pros and youngsters
Masters arrives as leader at the decisive event on the 5793 meters of the Brianza circuit thanks to the victory and the 5 podiums obtained so far and in Monza he boasts notable precedents, including his first victory in the Italian single-brand championship centered in his debut 2022 season and the pole position obtained last year. Ten Voorde instead won his third Porsche Supercup title in Monza during the stage held during the Italian GP weekend on 1st September.
In the challenge that also involves Klein, the “discards” factor could weigh in (the worst result of the season will not be considered in the final score), while mathematically Lirim Zendeli would also be in the running for the title. The 25-year-old German driver of Ombra Racing – Centro Porsche Bergamo is chasing the leading trio quite far behind (33 from the Masters), is fresh from the two podiums achieved in Vallelunga and is actually involved with Francesco Braschi (Dinamic Motorsport – Centro Porsche Verona) in duel for the Rookie title established for the first time by Porsche Italia and reserved for drivers facing their first season in the Carrera Cup without previous experience behind the wheel of the 911 GT3 Cup.
Zendeli is just a handful of points away from winning the laurel, while for Braschi the horizons of Monza also include the internal competition in the Scholarship Programme. At the end of race 2, on Sunday in Monza, one of the under 23 talents of the Porsche Italia coaching project will be nominated, that is, he will be chosen to participate in the selection which will involve the youngest drivers from the various national Carrera Cups, with the possibility of becoming Junior Porsche driver.
Eleven under 23s from the Scholarship Program are present on the Brianza circuit: in addition to Braschi, a 19-year-old driver from Cattolica in his debut season already capable of conquering the podium at Misano and Imola, Janne Stiak, the 17-year-old German from Target Competition – Centro Porsche Bolzano winner of his first Italian race in the last round in Vallelunga, the 18 year old Dutch Flynt Schuring, also the first winner in race 1 held on the Roman circuit with Enrico Fulgenzi Racing – Centro Porsche Udine, the 21 year old Australian Bayley Hall, who instead climbed to his first podium in Vallelunga with BeDriver – Centro Porsche Napoli, and the 19-year-old British Oliver Gray (Ombra Racing – Centro Porsche Torino, while the German Daniel Gregor (Centro Porsche Parma) lines up with the team The Driving Experiences ) and the Austrian Horst Felix Felbermayr (Centro Porsche Bari), with Prima Ghinzani – Centro Porsche Firenze the 19 year old Pietro Armanni from Brescia, with Raptor Engineering – Centro Porsche Catania the 17 year old rookie from Rome Flavio Olivieri and with Villorba Corse – Centro Porsche Treviso the 21 year old Steven Giacon from Padua and Nicholas Pujatti from Pordenone, still 16 years old and the youngest ever.
In the Italian patrol, relaunching the challenge for a finale worthy of their palmares are the two-time champion Simone Iaquinta, on the podium in Imola with the 911 GT3 Cup of Prima Ghinzani – Porsche Centers of Milan, and Diego Bertonelli, who is also in Vallelunga back on the podium with The Driving Experiences – Porsche Centers in Rome. An exploit in pursuit of the first podium of the season is instead the objective of Aldo Festante (Dinamic Motorsport – Centro Porsche Bologna), of the 2021 champion Alberto Cerqui (BeDriver – Centro Porsche Piacenza) and of the double champion Gianmarco Quaresmini (Tsunami RT – Centro Porsche Brescia).
Among the new features, at the 2024 grand final, in addition to Rovanpera, the Dutch Robert De Haan, recently winner of the Rookie title in the Porsche Supercup at 18 and at the start in Monza with Target Competition – Centro Porsche Bolzano, and the 25-year-old Huub Van Eijndhoven will make their debut in the Italian single-make series. , at the first with BeDriver- Centro Porsche Piacenza.
Returning after his debut in Imola last month will be the Florentine born in 1999 Cosimo Papi, who returns to the ranks of Ebimotors – Centro Porsche Varese completing the Pro line-up together with Filippo Fant (Team Malucelli – Centro Porsche Pesaro) and the returning Lodovico Laurini, who won his first race in the series in Monza in 2019 and now makes his season debut with Dinamic Motorsport – Centro Porsche Modena.
Michelin Cup thrilling
Monza also decides everything in the balanced chase to the Michelin Cup. The main challenge is thrown at the current championship leader Francesco Maria Fenici, who is playing for the title for the first time at the wheel of the 911 GT3 Cup of Raptor Engineering – Porsche Centers of Rome.
The Roman driver boasts only a handful of points ahead of expert and competitive competition represented by the reigning champion Alberto De Amicis and, a little further behind, by the host Paolo Gnemmi, teammates in Ebimotors – Centro Porsche Varese.
Cesare Brusa with Ghinzani Arco Motorsport – Centri Porsche di Milano and Stefano Stefanelli with Team Malucelli – Centro Porsche Mantova are then expected to fight for the podium in Monza. Finally, the Romanian driver of Villorba Corse – Centro Porsche Treviso Horia-Traian Chirigut is a candidate for the role of outsider, while the new entry in the category is the Japanese Takami Motoki with Ombra Racing, making his debut in the Carrera Cup Italia coming from commitments in the single-brand championship Swiss.
Complete program
The final in Monza is the sixth seasonal round of the 2024 Porsche Carrera Cup Italia and will start the engines on Friday 4 October to take part in the free practice session scheduled from 2.10pm to 3.10pm. Saturday’s qualifying will decide the starting grids for the weekend starting from 9.20am, with race 1 ready to start on Saturday at 3.50pm.
Race 2 will therefore crown the season on Sunday from 12.40 pm, while at 3.00 pm in the Porsche hospitality area the winner of the Scholarship Program will be announced. Both races will be broadcast live on Dazn also in free mode and in live streaming in HD on the official website www.carreracupitalia.it.
The rankings
Absolute: 1. Masters 167 points; 2. Ten Voorde 166; 3. Klein 155; 4. Zendeli 134; 5. Bertonelli 91; 6. Braschi 86; 7. Stiak 82; 8. Schuring 80; 9. Festante 76; 10. Iaquinta 72.
Rookies: 1. Zendeli 134 points; 2. Braschi 86; 3. Gray 47; 4. Gregor 32; 5. Pujatti 16.
Michelin Cup: 1. Phoenicians 104 points; 2. De Amicis 96; 3. Gnemmi 88; 4. De Giacomi 72; 5. Brusa 53.
Team: 1. Target Competition 262 points; 2. Enrico Fulgenzi Racing 240; 3. Shadow Racing 199; 4. Dinamic Motorsport 189; 5. The Driving Experiences 154.
Those registered for Monza
No. | Pilot | Team |
1 | Larry Ten Voorde | EF Racing |
3 | Alberto Cerqui | BeDriver |
4 | Huub Van Eijndhoven | BeDriver |
7 | Bayley Hall | BeDriver |
8 | Keagan Masters | Q8 Hi Perform |
10 | Pietro Armanni | First Ghinzani |
11 | Oliver Grey | Shadow Racing |
12 | Lirim Zendeli | Shadow Racing |
14 | Steven Giacon | Villorba Corse |
15 | Aldo Festante | Dynamic Motorsport |
17 | Flynt Schuring | EF Racing |
18 | Cosimo Papi | Ebimotors |
21 | Diego Bertonelli | TDE |
22 | Robert De Haan | Target Competition |
24 | Filippo Fant | Team Malucelli |
25 | Daniel Gregor | TDE |
26 | Marvin Klein | Target Competition |
27 | Lodovico Laurini | Dynamic Motorsport |
28 | Francesco Braschi | Dynamic Motorsport |
32 | Gianmarco Quaresmini | Tsunami RT |
33 | Horst Felix Felbermayr | TDE |
38 | Simone Iaquinta | First Ghinzani |
40 | Janne Stiak | Target Competition |
44 | Flavio Olivieri | Raptor Engineering |
46 | Nicholas Pujatti | Villorba Corse |
50 | Francesco Maria Fenici | Raptor Engineering |
51 | Paolo Gnemmi | Ebimotors |
52 | Alberto De Amicis | Ebimotors |
53 | Takami Motoki | Shadow Racing |
54 | Stefano Stefanelli | Team Malucelli |
56 | Cesare Brusa | First Ghinzani |
69 | Kalle Rovanpera | First Ghinzani |
99 | Horia-Traian Chirigut | Villorba Corse |
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