Results only partially positive also due to some contingencies and unfortunate episodes on the track, but, scrolling down the team note, “certainties undoubtedly increased at Raptor Engineering in the light of the first round of the Porsche Carrera Cup 2022”, held last year weekend in Imola with 37 members at the start.
The Modenese team, for the first time in action with three 911 GT3 Cups “branded” Centro Porsche Catania, returns from the Santerno circuit with a good haul of points and above all with greater knowledge of the two new 992 models entrusted to Aldo Festante and Marco Cassarà, as explained well by Andrea Palma, head of the team who on Friday evening in the Porsche hospitality also held a promotional evening with the new partner Merida, a bicycle manufacturer.
In short, a 360-degree weekend with a lot of work and more appointments than the two previous seasons experienced by the team in the Italian series. Looking at the track, at the wheel of the new car used this year in the Italian single-make, Festante finished in the top-10 in both races. Author of a solid performance, the 21-year-old driver from Capua finished tenth in race 1 and ninth in race 2, obtaining the first valid points for the overall.
The weekend in Cassarà, on the other hand, has two faces. The Roman driver got on the podium of the Michelin Cup (category of which he is the reigning champion together with the team from Palma), thanks to the third place conquered in race 1 at the peak of a good comeback. In race 2, due to a puncture, in the first laps Cassarà had to make a pit stop which compromised any chance of repeating the exploit.
With the third 911 GT3 Cup, the oldest and most used until last year, the Raptor team is entered in the Silver Cup, where Max Donzelli collected points thanks to the top-5 on Saturday in race 1, while on Sunday the driver from Milan had to retire in the second race due to contact with a rival.
The summary of the weekend is in the words of Palma released after the seasonal debut: “Managing three cars in such a selective series for the first time is complex and requires a lot of work behind the scenes as well. We are satisfied and in terms of performance our Porsches were competitive in every category. It was not an easy weekend for the drivers, we always found different conditions between rain, humid, dry and in the end also hot, but it was important to have been able to gather a lot of information on the 992. Festante kept a great pace without making mistakes and collected points, too bad for Cassarà’s race 2, but the pace was there, as well as in the Silver Cup. Now we are more aware and with experience we can improve. We aim to do it already in Misano and then redo the point “.
Cassarà therefore concluded: “Third place in the first race was an incredible result, considering how far back we were starting on the grid. In the second race, however, we had a good pace and could do very well. Hopefully we have already paid the seasonal toll on bad luck! “.
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