Leticia Bufoni continued her learning season in sports car racing with another top-five finish in the Sprint Trophy category of Porsche Cup Brazil, completing a solid run in challenging mixed weather conditions at Interlagos with a P4 in class.
Leticia Bufoni continued her learning season in sports car racing with another top-five finish in the Sprint Trophy category of Porsche Cup Brazil, completing a solid run in challenging mixed weather conditions at Interlagos with a P4 in class.
Bufoni, a world-renowned skateboard star turned motor racing driver, is having a highly positive debut season in the Porsche one-make series, which is dedicated to developing up-and-coming talents. She nearly collected a podium on her debut at Goiania, then finished sixth at Velocittà. At the home of Brazilian motorsport in Interlagos, the charismatic racer scored a personal best of fourth in the third round, despite battling through technical issues in the endurance round at Estoril with series champion Antonella Bassani.
With Porsche Cup Brazil returning to Interlagos for the fourth round of the Sprint Trophy series, Bufoni aimed to continue her strong campaign—and did so, delivering another solid result aboard the #13 Mobil 1-sponsored Porsche 991 GT3 Cup car.
The Brazilian-American athlete started the weekend with a seventh place overall and fifth in class in the first official practice session on Friday, recording a 1:45.410 lap. On Saturday, she found significant time and improved to a 1:44.252, retaining fifth in class.
However, weather played a role in the following sessions, with mixed conditions at Interlagos making for uncertain and tricky conditions for the almost 20 Sprint Trophy entries.
Bufoni clocked a 1:49.513 lap in qualifying, placing her eye-catching black-and-gold Porsche in seventh overall and fourth in class.
Silvio Morestoni took pole position, lining up alongside Gui Affonso, with Jose Moura Neto and Ricardo Zylberman sharing the second row.
The race got underway in dry, slightly damp conditions, with everyone navigating cleanly through the first corners. An off-track moment for Ricardo Zylberman saw the #18 Porsche hitting the barriers, but the race remained green.
Bufoni soon gained two positions, settling into sixth overall and fourth in the Trophy class, although she was back to seventh one lap later. She then came under pressure from the recovering Lucas Lucco, who found a way past the black-and-gold Porsche on lap 3, demoting her to fifth in class.
Ahead, Moura Neto had taken the lead, while Morestoni, under investigation for contact with Lucco, had dropped to third.
Bufoni was determined to fight, even as conditions became increasingly difficult with some rain beginning to fall. She lost out to Liber but retained P5 in class, engaging in a five-car group fighting for positions. Gustavo Costa attempted an overtake into turn 4, making contact with Bufoni, but she avoided a spin. Costa, however, spun and was collected by Araujo, bringing out the safety car.
The green flag waved for the final lap, with a four-wide battle at the start/finish line between Neto, Morestoni, Affonso and Arruda, ending in disaster for Gui Affonso, who was spun around.
Bufoni held on to P9 overall and fifth in class. More drama however unfolded when Fernando Arruda spun from third, allowing Leticia to gain a position and take the chequered flag in P8 overall, P5 in the Trophy class. Jose Moura Neto took victory ahead of Silvio Morestoni—though Morestoni was later handed a penalty, dropping to P13. This promoted Denis Ferrer to second and Gabriel Liber to third.
Following the penalties, Leticia Bufoni was classified seventh overall and fourth in the Trophy class, matching her personal best from the previous round. It was another strong result for the championship standings, where she currently sits sixth with 31 points, just two points behind André Cyntrinbaum.
"Another great race weekend with the team and family", Bufoni commented. "Difficult conditions with half of the track wet and half dry, but definitely a fun and challenging race for me."
The next stop will be at the Argentine track of Circuito Termas de Rio Hondo, where Porsche Cup Brasil will host the Endurance round on September 22. Bufoni is set to team up once again with fellow female racer Antonella Bassani.
Comments