Two different winners in the two GT3 Cup races, a still unbeaten Dragos Buriu in the Open GT class and an unexpected outcome in the final endurance race: the second race weekend of the Porsche Sports Cup Suisse once again delivered thrilling motorsport at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza. Following the season opener in Portugal, Jack Sherwood faced a challenger in Felix

Neuhofer on the 5.793-kilometre Grand Prix circuit, who was able to prevent another one-two finish for the Briton. In the endurance race, Levin Gelf and Jannes Fittje surprisingly took first place.

Porsche Sprint Challenge Suisse: GT3 Cup

Following his two commanding victories in Portimao during the first race weekend of the

Porsche Sports Cup Suisse, Jack Sherwood faced stiff competition at Monza: Felix Neuhofer was determined to prevent another runaway victory for the Briton. Right from the first race in the 510 hp

992.1-generation Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – which compete in the GT3 Cup without traction control or racing ABS – the Austrian seized the lead on the opening lap. Pole-sitter Sherwood was not about to accept this and fought his way back to the front on the twelfth lap. Six laps later, he crossed the finish line with a razor-thin lead of 0.9 seconds.

Things were looking good for the Lancashire-born Englishman in the second race too: Neuhofer had to start from fifth place instead of second because he’d changed tyres. However, this seemed to spur the experienced Porsche driver on all the more. He completed the first lap in third place, by the second lap he was already in Sherwood’s rear-view mirror, and by the fourth lap he was in the lead. In the end, his lead was more than three seconds. Two days before his 29th birthday, Neuhofer had thus given himself a lovely present.

Gregor Burkard was delighted to finish third in both races – even though the Swiss driver had started from seventh on the grid in each. In the first race, the Sportec boss first had to overtake Christian

Caramuscia and Moritz Weber before it was Peter Hegglin’s turn. However, Caramuscia was able to get his own back on lap seven and reclaim third place. Weber also overtook Burkard again. Shortly afterwards, however, the race was over for him prematurely, with Caramuscia dropping back to tenth place. Simon Mathys, Peter Hegglin and Sebastien Pidoux also benefited from this, engaging in a thrilling three-way battle for fourth place – and crossing the line in that order, separated by just three-quarters of a second.

Burkard finished the second race with a comfortable lead of over 18 seconds ahead of

Caramuscia. The Italian, in turn, managed to hold on to fourth place against Weber. The

Swiss driver had to start at the back of the grid due to his newly fitted Michelin racing tyres,

but used this to his advantage to stage an impressive comeback. On the 18th and final

lap, he overtook Mathys, finishing just 0.62 seconds behind Caramuscia.

Porsche Sprint Challenge Suisse: GT4 Clubsport

In Class 10, reserved for entrants driving the 500 hp Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS

Clubsport, the racing action centred on the duel between David Dias from Switzerland

and Germany’s Marcel Clausen. In both races, Dias took first place.

Porsche Sprint Challenge Suisse: Open GT

As at the season opener in Portimao, Portugal, Dragos Buriu once again secured

overall victory in both races of the Open GT group. In the first race, the Romanian had to work

hard for this success. Although starting from pole position, he initially let Patrick Dinkeldein

take the lead.

The German was also driving one of the 992-generation Porsche 911 GT3 R cars,

which deliver up to 565 hp. On lap seven, Buriu managed to close the gap again, but

Dinkeldein remained hot on his heels – at the finish line, just a quarter of a second separated the two. Race number two was decided early on for the Romanian, as Dinkeldein fell

two laps behind right at the start. Second place thus went to Stephan Heim and his 911 GT3 R of the 991.2 generation.

In Class 21, in which the 992.1-generation Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race cars with racing ABS and

traction control compete, the first winner was Marcus Graichen. He managed to get the better of

Nico Gründel on the very first lap and take the lead. In second place was Tarek Fahmy, who crossed the finish line 0.436 seconds ahead of Levin Gelf. Fourth place went to Alessandro Cenedese ahead of Mike Alonso, who had started the race in twelfth place in his class and led a whole pack – Nico Gründel, Stefan Kracht and Enrico di Leo were all within a second of him.

The second race in Class 21 was clearly won by Gründel: starting from pole position, the German crossed the finish line as the winner, setting the fastest lap in the process. Second place went to Graichen ahead of Cenedese and Fahmy, who managed to hold off Alonso by three tenths of a second.

Porsche Sports Cup Suisse: Endurance

In the two-hour endurance race, which once again rounded off the

Porsche Sports Cup Suisse weekend at the Royal Park of Monza, Levin Gelf and Jannes Fittje pulled off a surprise: in their 911 GT3 Cup, the duo prevailed against Patrick Dinkeldein’s 911 GT3 R. The German driver, racing solo, was once again forced to drive through the pit lane and was unable to make up for this setback despite setting the fastest lap of the race. However, Gelf/Fittje only took the lead in the final metres when the Porsche driven by Corrado Costa and Enrico Fulgenzi had to stop for a third time due to a puncture. The two Italians ultimately finished in fourth place behind Marcus Graichen and Nico Gründel. Stefan Kracht and former professional driver Alex Fontana had also led the endurance race for long stretches. They crossed the finish line in fifth place.

“The Autodromo Nazionale di Monza has once again thrilled us with its unique atmosphere –

our participants are always delighted to come to Lombardy every year,” emphasises Richard Feller, President of the Porsche Motorsport Club Suisse. “The special high-speed characteristics of this

Formula 1 circuit guarantee exciting motorsport, as was once again demonstrated last

weekend.”