Antonella Bassani wins Porsche Cup Brazil season finale, secures Vice-Champion title

After a thrilling delayed Porsche Cup Brazil finale, 19-year-old Antonella Bassani concluded an impressive season with her fifth victory with a dominant performance in Interlagos, securing the Vice-Champion title after dropped scores.

Photo credits: Porsche Cup Brasil

Eleven days after rain delayed the Porsche Cup Brazil season finale at Interlagos, reigning champion Antonella Bassani delivered a flawless performance, winning her fifth race of the season after starting from pole and leading every lap. Despite her dominance, a fourth-place finish by title rival Miguel Mariotti secured him the championship due to dropped scores rule.

The 2024 Porsche Cup Brazil delivered a thrilling conclusion at Sao Paulo, following an almost two-week delay caused by torrential rain during Saturday at the Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix. With the title hanging in the balance, reigning champion Antonella Bassani and Miguel Mariotti faced off in the rescheduled second race of the season's final round.

At just 19 years old, Bassani continued to impress in her sophomore campaign. The 2023 champion had a remarkable start to the 2024 season, clinching four victories across the first four rounds. She claimed wins at Goiania, Velocittà, Interlagos, and Estoril—the latter marking the series' first visit to Portugal. Her dominance early in the season solidified her status as a contender to defend the crown.

However, her title defense hit trouble during the fifth round at Interlagos, where technical issues plagued her weekend, resulting in a best finish of eighth in Race 2. With Mariotti delivering consistent performances, the gap at the top tightened heading into the final round to 4 points.

The weekend began with Bassani setting the pace, leading the sole practice session in support of the F1 GP and securing pole position for the second race with a blistering lap of 1:36.516—just 0.053 seconds faster than Mariotti. Her rival’s second-best qualifying lap placed him on pole for race one, where Bassani battled fiercely: she attempted a daring outside pass at turn one but ultimately finished second after a hard-fought duel.

Rain on Saturday night and a reshuffled F1 schedule forced the postponement of race two, setting up a rescheduled finale on November 13th under dry, cloudy skies with a cooler temperature.

Bassani entered the finale needing not just victory but also for Mariotti to finish outside the top five due to the dropped-score rule. Heading into the final race, in fact, Mariotti led with 225 points, while Bassani sat at 208.

Photo credits: Porsche Cup Brasil

Antonella lined up on pole for the final race, with Mariotti beside her. At the rolling start, she executed flawlessly, holding the lead into turn one. Behind her, Christian Mohr capitalized on an opening to pass Mariotti for second, pushing the championship leader into third.

Chaos ensued at Descida de Lago, where Sadak Leite misjudged his braking, causing a multi-car collision that eliminated both Leite and Seba Malucelli and forced Caio Castro into the pits with damage. The incident brought out the safety car, but the cleanup was swift, allowing the race to resume with 18 minutes on the clock.

Bassani faced immediate pressure from Mohr on the restart; a slight over-commitment into turn one nearly cost her the lead, but she held on firmly, slowly building a gap once again. Meanwhile, Mariotti found himself defending from Herrmann, with Feldmann Neto and a group of pursuers also joining the battle for third.

By lap five, Bassani set the fastest lap of the race with a 1:37.9, extending her lead over Mohr to 0.8 seconds. Mariotti, under pressure, saw Herrmann closing in to within 0.1 seconds by lap 11. One lap later, Herrmann finally made his move down the main straight, taking third from Mariotti, who dropped to fourth but remained ahead of Gerson Campos.

Campos added to the drama by passing Neto for fifth on the penultimate lap, giving Mariotti some breathing room, as he could secure fourth place after surviving the intense pressure of the closing stages, with the weight of the championship on his shoulders.

Antonella Bassani crossed the line 4.8 seconds ahead of Mohr, wrapping up her season with a dominant performance and her fifth victory in six rounds. Herrmann completed the podium in third, while Mariotti held on to fourth, narrowly holding off Campos by just two tenths of a seconds to secure the points needed for the championship.

Despite missing out on the title, Bassani remained focused on the positives, having done all she possibly could in the final race to attempt the title defense.

“I knew it would be very difficult to win the title today, so I came to this round to do my job and end the year with a win", she commented. "It was a small thing, but it shows my competitiveness, winning the title last year and second place this year. We will have more opportunities to win the title, I am still very young."

"If you compare this year with last season, this year was much better, I had to learn to deal with the problems throughout the year and I improved a lot", Bassani continued. "Now we are going to think about 2025 to fight for the title.”

Bassani’s remarkable season was nevertheless a testament to her talent: with five victories and a constant presence at the front of the competitive field, the young Brazilian established herself as one of the most exciting young GT racing drivers.

Photo credits: Porsche Cup Brasil