Cecilia Rabelo secures Porsche Sprint Challenge Brazil class win at Portimao
- RACERS
- Jul 1
- 5 min read
Cecilia Rabelo claimed her first Porsche Sprint Challenge Sport class victory and a second-place finish at Portimão, in her strongest weekend yet of her rookie GT season in Porsche Cup Brasil.
Cecilia Rabelo, in her first season of sports car racing after transitioning from single-seaters, secured her maiden victory in the Porsche Sprint Challenge Sport class at Portimão. She followed it up with a second place in class in Race 2, showcasing strong pace throughout her first weekend at the Portuguese circuit.
Rabelo previously contested two seasons in the Brazilian F4 Championship, where she made history as the first woman to secure a pole position in the series. She scored four points finishes in her rookie season and collected 12 top-ten results in 2024, including a personal best of fourth. Toward the end of the 2024 season, Rabelo made her debut in the Porsche Endurance Challenge Brazil, piloting a Porsche 991 GT3 Cup in select endurance rounds—where she immediately showed promise.
In 2025, she made a full-time switch to the Porsche Cup Brazil platform, competing in the Sprint Challenge category aboard the #98 Porsche 991 GT3 Cup entered in the Sport class.
The season began positively at Velo Città, where Rabelo displayed great potential by finishing in the top ten overall and standing on the class podium in both races of the opening round.
The second round at the same venue, however, was marred by bad luck. Despite once again showing impressive speed, Rabelo couldn’t convert her pace into results due to incidents beyond her control.
She bounced back at Interlagos, returning to the top ten overall and collecting valuable points.
Heading into the fourth round at Portimão, Rabelo sat sixth in the Sprint Challenge Sport class standings with 37 points. Next up was the first international round of the season, held at the world-class Circuito do Algarve in Portimão—a new venue for nearly all drivers and renowned for its elevation changes.
Rabelo, however, arrived well-prepared and immediately up to speed. She topped the first practice session with a 1:50.303 and was second in the second session.
“The Porsche is a very hot car, and since the temperatures here in Portimão are high, we need to be in good physical condition to avoid compromising performance", she explained.
"I’m really excited to race on this track," said Rabelo. “We did the track walk yesterday and I already felt that it would be a different and really cool track. I trained a lot on the simulator and have high expectations for this round. I loved it from the first contact—I’ve never driven on anything like it. I’m still adapting, but the result was very positive, and it will be very challenging.”
On Saturday, Rabelo quickly posted competitive lap times in the top three. She kept improving, climbing to P6 overall and third in class. With three minutes to go, she posted a 1:50.080, moving up to second overall just before a red flag halted the session. When the session resumed, no one was able to improve on her time. She advanced to the top-ten shootout.
As the lights went green, Rabelo was the first driver to take to the track; she opened with a 1:51.6 lap, which held as the benchmark until Sadak Leite went faster with three minutes to go. Still, Rabelo retained the top spot in the Sport class. She would start third overall and on pole for her class.
At the start of the first race, Cecilia had a lightning launch and sent it down the inside at Turn 1, but went slightly deep and had to settle back into fourth. Sadak Leite held the lead ahead of Leonardo Hermann and Caio Castro, with Rabelo close behind.
On the second lap, Hermann launched an attack and took the lead at Turn 5. The battle for the front involved Chaves and Rabelo as well, with Rabelo still leading the Sport class. The #177 car ran second in class, already a few seconds behind. The safety car was then deployed soon after, following Ricardo Zylberman’s off-track excursion into the gravel.
The field bunched up under caution and racing resumed with eight minutes to go. Rabelo was immediately aggressive and reclaimed third overall, but Caio Chaves fought back at Turn 2, forcing her off-line and dropping her to fifth. She now had to defend from Matheus Roque, her closest Sport class rival.
Meanwhile, Chaves surged ahead and claimed the race lead with a brilliant double overtake on the main straight. Rabelo held off Roque and then set her sights on the top four, gradually closing the gap with consistently fast laps.
Up front, Chaves, Leite, and Hermann were locked in battle; their fight was neutralized by another safety car, called with two laps to go due to incidents involving Campos and Locatelli.
Caio Chaves took victory under caution, followed by Leite, Hermann, and Rabelo—who claimed her first win in the Sport class with a stellar performance.
On Sunday afternoon, Race 2 saw Rabelo line up third overall and in class, aiming to improve upon her Saturday result. As the safety car pulled in and the race got underway, Rabelo opted for a more cautious approach on the inside line, which allowed two cars to pass her on the outside, dropping her to fifth.
She quickly went on the attack and passed Mario Delara on the second lap to reclaim fourth. Delara tried to fight back a lap later, but Rabelo held firm, with Delara trying to force his way past turn 1 but utimately spinning.
Now in clear air, she chased down George Crispim. Although she lost some time in the earlier battles, she gained a position when Crispim went off one lap later—putting her into third overall and back in the Sport class lead with 15 minutes to go. Cecilia now had to defend from a pack of chasing drivers.
When Delara went off at the final corner while avoiding a spinning car, the safety car came out again, erasing her lead in the Sport class.
Racing resumed with 11 minutes to go. Up front, Hermann and Chaves were battling hard for the lead, with Rabelo close behind and with a safe margin back to her Sport class rivals. As the leaders traded positions, Rabelo now had José Moura Neto closing in. Hermann hit a kerb at Turn 1 and spun, forcing Rabelo to take evasive action and allowing Moura Neto through. Rabelo dropped to third overall but remained second in the Sport class.
Refusing to settle, Rabelo made a stunning move down the inside at Turn 1 on the next lap to retake the class lead; Moura Neto however retaliated at Turn 5, where Rabelo ran slightly wide, and both Moura Neto and Gerson Campos slipped past.
As Caio Chaves began the final lap, the Sport class battle remained intense. Rabelo kept the pressure on Moura Neto but ultimately couldn’t reclaim the lead - she crossed the line fourth overall and second in class, wrapping up her most successful weekend to date in the Porsche Sprint Challenge Brazil.
The next round for the Sprint Challenge category will take place at Autódromo do Estoril, again in Portugal, on 28–29 August.
