The hunt for a … truly “hot” October (even with the risk of rain) in the Porsche Carrera Cup Italia, now in its decisive month, the first of the two final acts represents a real crossroads for the major protagonists.
And after the success marked by the Porsche Festival 2022 last weekend at the Porsche Experience Center Franciacorta, the fulcrum of the “made in Porsche Italia” events remains in Lombardy: the fifth, penultimate round of the season of the prestigious single-brand is staged from Friday to Sunday on Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, which will also be the stage for some interesting beginnings, with a first glance towards next season.
In the year of the centenary of the Temple of Speed, the evolution of the protagonists at the wheel of the new 911 GT3 Cup, the “992” model that inaugurated its “Italian” era in pre-season tests at Monza last April .
Six months ago it was the current leader Gianmarco Quaresmini to score the best time in 1’49 “426. Thanks above all to the two victories scored in the last races, the Brescia-born Ombra Racing – Porsche Center Brescia leads the general classification with 33 points ahead of his immediate pursuers, both points of Ghinzani Arco Motorsport – Porsche Centers Milan: the reigning champion Alberto Cerqui (who has so far only lacked the high-step sharpness this year) and 23-year-old driver Giorgio from Rimini Belovedat the moment the best with a victory and a pole position among the young people of the Scholarship Program.
Since this is the equivalent of a victory with pole position and fastest lap in race 1, it is clear that the furrow dug by the leader of the classification who was already champion in 2018 represents the opportunity to make a definitive turn right in Monza to then be able to face the final of Mugello with the calculator in hand and above all in the head rather than in the right foot.
On the other hand, his opponents are also at the crossroads which would allow to reopen all possible scenarios for the title. The multiple MotoGP champion also ranks among the 31 riders expected at the start in Brianza Jorge Lorenzoin marked growth in his first year on four wheels as an official driver of the Q8 HI Perform Team and already in the Vallelunga round capable of dueling in the top-10 with the best.
The two 28-minute races + 1 lap scheduled in Monza will be held on Saturday at 4.10 pm with live TV on Sky Sport Action and Sunday at 12.00 again on Sky Sport Action and in the clear on Cielo. Both are also available in live streaming in HD on the official website www.carreracupitalia.it.
Surprises and regrets
In addition to Quaresmini, Cerqui and Amati, Giammarco will go in search of confirmations at the top Levorato, another young promise of the Scholarship Program. The 19-year-old from Padua from Tsunami RT – Centro Porsche Parma, more brilliant and often concrete in his second season in the Carrera Cup, achieved his first personal victory in the last race held in Vallelunga and settled in fourth place in the standings, dreaming big (also from a young point of view …) and bypassing Diego Bertonelli.
The 24-year-old Tuscan standard bearer of BeDriver – Centro Porsche Piacenza in Monza returns with renewed ambitions after a couple of complicated appointments, a little for little good luck a little for some flaws that at this point force him away from the title ambitions after a promising start to the season.
He then pursues an interesting trio led by the talented Leonardo Caglioni, the Ombra Racing – Porsche Center Padova born in 2003 from Bergamo who paid a heavy price in Vallelunga for an infringement concerning tires (more unfortunate than technical and actually not so serious). With 74 points to recover from his teammate at the top, the 2022 laurel is now more of a chimera than a possible goal for him, although in all there are still 120 points up for grabs.
We were talking about the trio with Caglioni, completed by the solid Lodovico Laurini (Centro Porsche Latina), by far the most convincing in Dinamic Motorsport so far, and by the surprising Keagan Masters, a guy who caught the eye from the start. In the last race the 22-year-old South African rookie of AB Racing – Porsche Centers Rome finally got his first personal podium, just on the day when another promising driver like Benedetto Strignano (Villorba Corse – Porsche Center Treviso) has in turn hit the first podium of the season (and the first absolute of the young man from Puglia was celebrated in Monza last year, it goes without saying that he will try again …).
Delli Gloves and Riccitelli in …
Speaking of rookies, the Brianza circuit will be the setting for Pietro’s debut in the Carrera Cup Gloves and Simone Riccitelli: Delli Gloves, 18 years old from Vico del Gargano and coming from the preparatory formulas in single-seater, is a new-entry in perspective and will defend the colors of Dinamic Motorsport – Porsche Center Verona; Riccitelli, on the other hand, will be competing for the first time in the 911 GT3 Cup of Ebimotors – Centro Porsche Varese.
With the same Lombard team, the 2002-class driver from Fabriano won the GT4 title of the Tricolore GT Sprint 2019 at the wheel of a Porsche Cayman. At the beginning of that same season he participated in the pre-season tests of the Carrera Cup in Imola.
Returning to the usual protagonists, the already 2013 champion Enrico will go hunting for revenge and important points in Monza Fulgenzi (EF Racing), which aims to regain feeling and bite with the “992”, the 22-year-old driver from Campania Aldo Festant (Raptor Engineering – Porsche Center Catania), who achieved his first success in 2020 on the Autodromo Nazionale, and Andrea from Belluno Fountainstandard bearer of Bonaldi Motorsport – Porsche Center Bergamo in pursuit of the first podium of the season.
… Malucelli, Giardelli, Monaco out
Among those who will forfeit for the Monza round after the very difficult weekend in Vallelunga appear three names of great protagonists of the recent past and present of the Carrera Cup.
The first is that of Matteo Malucelli after the unfortunate crash of race 1 of the last appointment. A race to be truly forgotten for the expert driver from the family team from Romagna and which has definitely marked his run-up to the title.
Moreover, alternated in their respective teams (Ebimotors and Dinamic) by the two rookies mentioned above, in Monza the reigning vice-champion Ale Giardelli and the Italian-Swiss Stefano Monaco leave the “ring”, both never really “in tune” with the season, which up to Vallelunga did not give him even a podium satisfaction.
Michelin Cup of fire
Scrolling through the category, challenges to the limit for the title are also expected in the Michelin Cup. The Roman driver Marco restarts from the top of the standings after the brilliant results obtained at home in Vallelunga Cassarà. The reigning champion and squire of Raptor Engineering – Centro Porsche Catania has overtaken by 15 points (also in this case the equivalent of a victory) Alberto De Amicisthe Ebimotors standard bearer particularly unfortunate in recent appearances when he was innocently involved in a couple of carom.
In the team, the driver from Guidonia will be joined by Paolo Gnems and from the returning Gianluca Giorgi, expected at the appointment at home. The driver from Brescia Alex is also in contention for the crown De Giacomithe two-time champion deployed by the Tsunami team and lurking in the wake of De Amicis.
With podium ambitions, they then reappear at via Francesco Maria Phoenicianswho celebrated his first victory of the season at home in Vallelunga with AB Racing – Porsche Centers Rome, Piergiacomo Randazzo (Shadow Racing – Porsche Center Turin) and the German Alexander Schwarzer, twice third on the previous occasion with BeDriver – Centro Porsche Piacenza. The “Michelin” line-up is completed by Marco from San Marino Galassi (Team Malucelli – Porsche Center Mantua), by Pablo Biolghinireturning to the 911 GT3 Cup from Racevent, and Johannes Zelger (Tsunami RT).
Silver Cup
Among the slightly older 911 GT3 Cups (model 991.II) of the Silver Cup, the duel for the title is announced with the vice-champion Davide in the front row Scannicchio (ZRS Motorsport) and the expert Tuscan driver Paolo Venerable Little Fishes (Ebimotors – Porsche Center Florence). Between the two will try to fit the reigning champion Max Montagnese, returned last round with Raptor Engineering – Porsche Center Catania and immediately on the podium. On the other hand, two passionate drivers like Luigi are candidates for the role of outsider Peroni (Ebimotors), already winning this season at Mugello, and Marco Parisini (Team Malucelli).
The complete program.
The penultimate round of the season in Monza kicks off on Friday 7 October with the free practice session scheduled from 15.00 to 16.20. On Saturday morning, the decisive official test rounds will be disputed for the deployment of race 1: from 9.20 a green light for the 35 minutes of PQ1 and from 10.05 the adrenaline-filled final quarter of an hour of PQ2, reserved for the best 15 of the first session. on the track they will compete for pole position. Race 1 is therefore scheduled in the afternoon at 16.10 with live TV on Sky Sport Action (Sky 206). With the inverted grid of the top 6 finishers, race 2 completes the weekend Sunday at 12.00 with live broadcast always on Sky Sport Action and also free-to-air on Cielo (26 on digital terrestrial). Both races are also available in live streaming in HD on the official website www.carreracupitalia.it.
The rankings
Absolute: 1. Quaresmini 161 points; 2. Amati and Cerqui 128; 4. Levorato 104; 5. Bertonelli 90; 6. Caglioni, Laurini and Masters 87; 9. Malucelli 78; 10. Fulgenzi 74.
Michelin Cup: 1. Cassarà 86; 2. De Amicis 71; 3. De Giacomi 68; 4. Gnemmi 48; 5. Phoenicians 45.
Silver Cup: 1. Scannicchio 63; 2. Venerosi 49; 3. Donzelli 40; 4. Rovida and Peroni 37.
Team: 1. Ghinzani Arco Motorsport 253; 2. Shadow Racing 245; 3. Dinamic Motorsport 120; 4, Tsunami RT 108; 5. AB Racing 94.
Entries for Monza
N. | Pilot | Team |
1 | Alberto Cerqui | Ghinzani Arco Motorsport |
3 | Keagan Masters | AB Racing |
7 | Pietro Delli Gloves | Dinamic Motorsport |
8 | Jorge Lorenzo | Q8 Hi Perform |
9 | Andrea Fontana | Bonaldi Motorsport |
11 | Leonardo Caglioni | Shadow Racing |
15 | Aldo Festante | Raptor Engineering |
17 | Enrico Fulgenzi | EF Racing |
21 | Diego Bertonelli | BeDriver |
25 | Simone Riccitelli | Ebimotors |
27 | Lodovico Laurini | Dinamic Motorsport |
28 | Giorgio Amati | Ghinzani Arco Motorsport |
30 | Benedetto Strignano | Villorba Corse |
32 | Gianmarco Quaresmini | Shadow Racing |
33 | Giammarco Levorato | Tsunami RT |
50 | Francesco Maria Fenici | AB Racing |
51 | Paolo Gnemmi | Ebimotors |
52 | Alberto De Amicis | Ebimotors |
53 | Gianluca Giorgi | Ebimotors |
54 | Luigi Peroni | Ebimotors |
59 | Marco Parisini | Team Malucelli |
60 | Marco Galassi | Team Malucelli |
66 | Paolo Venerosi Pesciolini | Ebimotors |
67 | Alex De Giacomi | Tsunami RT |
77 | Pablo Biolghini | Racevent |
78 | Davide Scannicchio | ZRS Motorsport |
79 | Johannes Zelger | Tsunami RT |
81 | Marco Cassarà | Raptor Engineering |
86 | Max Montagnese | Raptor Engineering |
88 | Piergiacomo Randazzo | Shadow Racing |
89 | Alexander Schwarzer | BeDriver |
#Carrera #Cup #Italy #Monza #hunting #hot #October