Antonella Bassani, 16, has joined the Young Racing Academy program and will enter the Porsche Cup Brazil in the Challenge class, in a Mobil 1-supported entry.
The Brazilian-based Porsche one-make championship confirmed its commitment to the development of local talents, launching the new Young Racing Academy program, which promotes the first selected driver of the initiative: it will be former FIA Girls On Track - Rising Stars finalist Antonella Bassani to land a seat ub the series, with support of Mobil 1.
Bassani, 16, was a finalist in the FIA Women in Motorsport's promoted global selections for female talents in 2020 and 2021, and is currently mentored by former IndyCar driver Bia Figueiredo.
The new Young Racing Academy initiative is designed to be the first stage of a potential selection within the Porsche Junior Program - which is responsible for scouting talents at national level for global Porsche factory contracts.
"We are proud to launch Young Racing Academy in 2023 and have Mobil 1 support the project", commented Dener Pires, promoter of the Porsche Cup C6 Bank Mastercard.
"The brand is a global partner of Porsche, has been with us for many years in Brazil and shares our values. We are especially happy to debut the program with Antonella Bassani, a competitor who has already shown great potential despite her young age.”
At only 16 years of age, Antonella has already a good amount of experience in the sport: having started her career at the age of 4 in karting, Bassani rose to the national scene, before being selected for the Girls on Track programme.
In 2022, she shared the wheel with her mentor Bia Figueiredo for the Interlagos round of the TCR South America championship, making her race car debut.
With her move to the Porsche Cup Brazil, Bassani makes her debut in GT racing, starting from the opening round in Interlagos.
“I'm very happy to be representing two super important brands like Porsche and Mobil 1", Antonella said. "I can say that now I am officially starting in motorsport!"
"This is an extremely important step in my career on racetracks, and with two very strong brands supporting me. I'm happy to be able to be with Porsche with this opportunity."
Bassani had her first test day on Thursday 2 March, as she gears up for the upcoming season.
In addition to contesting the six sprint rounds in the Challenge class, Bassani will receive support from Porsche Cup C6 Bank Mastercard to further develop off-track skills and training throughout the season.
The first round is scheduled for 04-05 March in Interlagos.
2023 Porsche Cup Brazil sprint races calendar:
R1: Interlagos / 04-05 March
R2: Velocitta / 15/16 April
R3: Goiania / 27/28 May
R5: Interlagos / 15/16 July
R6: TBC / 02-03 September
R8: TBC / 04-05 November