"It was definitely a good weekend, with a nice adrenaline kick and energy for the next races" - Vicky Piria converted two pole positions in two dominant victories at Mugello in the Porsche Sprint Challenge Suisse, bringing her total to three wins out of four starts in the series.
On her second weekend in the series, Vicky Piria claimed two victories at Mugello, converting pole positions into dominant runs to the top step of the podium – her second and third wins in the series in just four starts.
Piria, who raced in the Italian GT Championship in 2022 and 2023 after transitioning from single-seaters, joined the Porsche Sprint Challenge Suisse in the Open GT category at Imola, the third round of the season. After overcoming a tyre gamble in changeable weather that left her sixth in Race 1 at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, the EF Racing driver claimed her first win of the season in Race 2, leading from lights to flag.
The Italian racer, who is also balancing her commitments behind the wheel with her job as F1 presenter for Sky Sports Italy, returned for the Mugello round, a circuit where she previously collected her first class podium in Italian GT during her rookie season, and where she also has significant experience in the Porsche 992 GT3 Cup car.
In her second season with Enrico Fulgenzi Racing, Piria quickly got up to speed during Thursday's testing day, although rainy conditions made for mostly unrepresentative times.
Vicky, however, was consistently in the top three of the 21-class, laying the foundation for the rest of the weekend.
She continued to run among the front-runners in Friday practice, benefiting from the series' remarkable amount of track and testing time. Over the four official practice sessions, again in mixed weather, Piria steadily climbed the order and led the final session, clocking a 1:52.134 lap – nine tenths clear of the closest competitor – ending the day on top.
Qualifying marked another important step, as track conditions continued to evolve.
"The weekend started in wet conditions, then the track slowly dried up," Piria told us. "So we didn't have much time to prepare for qualifying. Obviously, I had raced at Mugello before; it’s a track I really like, but it’s definitely not an easy one, especially in a GT car and in a Porsche."
Despite this, Vicky utilized her experience to place the #200 EF Racing Porsche on pole position in class, with a 1:51.147 lap that also placed her ahead of several GT3 R cars. Her second-best lap, a 1:51.371, was enough to claim pole for Race 2, eight-tenths ahead of the closest GT3 Cup car.
"I'm really happy, not just for pole position but also for the lap time, which was really good," Vicky said. "In relatively green track conditions, I wasn’t far off the lap times from other series, so I was really happy about that."
Piria lined up from pole in class, fourth overall, between some GT3 cars as the lights went out. She had a good start, retaining the lead in class and opening a two-second margin over Sebastian Schmitt on the first lap.
The gap remained stable on the second lap, as Piria ran solidly in the 1:53s and gained a few more tenths, while Merab Mekvabishivili took third on lap 3, passing Joel Monegro.
Piria’s gap evaporated on lap 4, as the race was neutralized after contact between Pierre Ehret and Stephan Heim. This promoted Piria to third overall, but she would have to survive a restart.
As the race resumed, Piria held off class contender Schmitt, now right behind her.
However, Piria set consistent laps, dipping under the 1:53 mark with a 1:52.451 that remained the fastest lap of the race, pulling away and rebuilding a two-second margin over Schmitt, who attempted to respond with a 1:52.6 but couldn’t keep up.
Piria's consistency shone as she stayed in the 1:53s, while Schmitt came under pressure from Mekvabishivili on lap 11. Their battle for second allowed Piria to extend her lead further.
By lap 15, the gap had grown to six seconds. With one minute left, an accident between Mekvabishivili and Monegro triggered a second safety car, and the race ended under caution.
Vicky Piria would therefore celebrate her second win in as many weekends after a superb and confident drive, securing pole, win, and fastest lap.
The final race of the weekend got underway in the afternoon, with Piria again leading the Cup class, with a few GT3 cars between her and the nearest 992 Cup car.
Piria had a trickier start, initially losing the top spot but quickly regaining the lead at Turn 1. She held off pressure from Schmitt in the opening stages before the German driver was passed by Massimo Froio for second, allowing Piria to gain a crucial two-second gap.
Schmitt and Froio traded positions again, enabling Piria to extend her lead to over three seconds. As in Race 1, Piria displayed consistent lap times, lapping in the 1:54 range and increasing her margin to six seconds by lap 10. She was now almost a full second faster than Schmitt, who had cleared Froio as the latter also slipped behind Monegro.
Unchallenged, Piria continued her dominant run and won by an impressive eight-second margin ahead of Sebastian Schmitt and Joel Monegro, completing a clean sweep at the Mugello Circuit that resulted in three wins out of four starts in Porsche Sprint Challenge Suisse.
"I mainly focused on pace in Race 1, which was really positive," the EF Racing driver told us after her successful weekend. "In Race 2, I lost the position at the start but managed to regain it with a pass at San Donato corner. It was definitely a good weekend, with a nice adrenaline kick and energy for the next races," she concluded.
Having contested just two rounds out of the five completed by the Swiss series, Vicky Piria now sits sixth in the Open GT 992 GT3 Cup class standings, with 101 points to her name.
The former W Series driver is set to return behind the wheel for the Misano round on October 24-26.
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