Antonella Bassani takes pole, scores podium at shortened Brazilian GP round

Antonella Bassani had a strong weekend at the Porsche Cup Brasil season finale, claiming pole position and finishing second in Race 1, but the title-deciding Race 2 was then postponed due to the F1 schedule changes, leaving the championship showdown set for November 13th.

Antonella Bassani had a strong weekend at Interlagos, where the season finale of the Porsche Cup Brasil Sprint Challenge championship took place in support of the F1 Brazilian GP.

The 18-year-old racer, reigning champion after storming to the title in her first-ever season in race cars in 2023, led the sole practice session, claimed pole position, and finished second in Race 1 on Saturday. However, the weekend was cut short when heavy rain delayed F1 qualifying, ultimately forcing the cancellation of the second race on Sunday, postponing the title showdown.

Bassani has been the protagonist of another remarkable campaign in Porsche Cup Brasil, with four race wins in as many rounds to start off her season. A victory at the season opener in Goiânia set the stage, followed by wins at Velocittà, Interlagos, and Estoril, in the series' first trip to Portugal.

However, in the penultimate round, Bassani lost the championship lead after an extremely unlucky weekend at Interlagos. She faced technical issues from the practice sessions and was forced to recover from the back of the field in both races, eventually securing a best finish of eighth in Race 2.

The season finale in São Paulo was set to be a duel between 26-year-old Miguel Mariotti, in search of his first title, and Antonella Bassani, the defending champion aiming to repeat her success, with just 4 points separating them on the eve of the Brazilian GP. Additionally, Célio Brasil, Gerson Campos, and Sebá Malucelli had mathematical chances of claiming the title, with 56 points still up for grabs at the final round.

Due to the tight F1 schedule, only one qualifying session was scheduled in the final round: the two best laps of each driver would determine the grid for the two races.

In free practice, Bassani quickly moved up to third in the opening minutes of the session, as all drivers were still getting up to speed. With times getting faster, Célio Brasil led Mariotti, with Antonella in third and with the top five separated by less than a second.

Mariotti broke into the 1:39 mark less than two minutes before the checkered flag, but it was Antonella Bassani who ended the day on top of the timing sheets, setting a 1:39.894, which remained unbeaten.

“I thought the new asphalt was really good, much better than what we were used to", Bassani commented after practice. "The track has a lot of grip, especially since we were racing in the Formula 1 races, so it had an even greater impact."

"It’s not a big factor, tomorrow our qualifying session is early in the morning, while the track is still cold. It was a really positive day, it took me a while to get my confidence up on the track, but what really matters is tomorrow.”

As qualifying got underway on Saturday, Bassani was immediately competitive, moving up to third in the first few minutes, half a second down from Mohr. Mariotti then took provisional pole with 5 minutes to go, but Bassani snatched the top spot with 1 minute to left on the clock with a stellar 1:36.516 lap.

A crash for André Rosario on the final run brought out the yellow flag, securing Bassani’s pole position by 0.053 seconds ahead of title rival Miguel Mariotti. They would shared pole positions, with Mariotti’s second-best lap giving him the top spot for Race 1, and Bassani’s benchmark securing her Race 2 pole position.

The two championship contenders lined up on the front row for Race 1. When the lights went out, Mariotti held the lead as Bassani took the outside line, defending from Mohr, who then had contact with Feldmann Neto at Turn 4, causing Neto to spin.

Bassani held second after one lap and started hunting down Mariotti, the two separated by just half a second. Cristian Mohr also kept up with the leading duo.

While big battles unfolded in the midfield, Mariotti and Bassani soon put a second between themselves and the rest of the pack, trying to pull away.

There were plenty of scraps behind, until Louis Souza and Feldmann Neto collided under braking at Turn 4, sending Souza into the wall. The safety car was deployed with 15 minutes to go.

After the restart with just over 9 minutes remaining, Bassani had a good start, aided by the duel for third between Mohr and Herrmann. Antonella had strong pace but couldn't quite get close enough to attempt a pass. With 5 minutes to go, she then had to defend from Mohr, who had shrugged off Herrmann and rejoined the leading trio.

It became a three-way battle for the win, with Bassani trying another attack in the final minutes. With 1 minute to go, she made a move at Turn 1 and almost made it stick, but Mariotti fought hard, sending her wide into Turn 2, causing the #72 black-and-gold Porsche to fall also behind Mohr, who then took the lead a couple of corners later.

Mariotti and Mohr traded positions again on the final lap, with Bassani ready to pick up the pieces. Miguel Mariotti eventually took the checkered flag to win race 1, with Bassani finishing second after Mohr was handed a penalty for the first-lap incident.

Antonella Bassani was set to start the second and final race of the Sprint season from pole position, with her championship ambitions alive for what would have been an exciting title showdown. However, heavy rain on Saturday afternoon resulted in significant delays for Formula 1 qualifying, which was rescheduled for Sunday morning.

The schedule changes snowballed, affecting the support series, and the promoters opted to cancel the second race of the Porsche Cup Brasil.

While it was a disappointing end to the weekend, the championship announced that Race 2, the championship decider, will be held on November 13th, with Antonella Bassani aiming to defend her title in two weeks' time.