Double top-10 for Antonella Bassani on Porsche Carrera Cup Brazil return
- RACERS
- Mar 3
- 4 min read
At the home of Brazilian motorsport, Antonella Bassani launched her sophomore campaign in Porsche Carrera Cup Brazil with an eighth-place in Race 1, followed by a superb recovery drive from 17th to 10th in Race 2.
The 2026 Porsche Carrera Cup Brasil season got underway at the iconic Interlagos circuit, the home of Brazilian motorsport, where Antonella Bassani launched her sophomore campaign in the highly competitive championship with a strong double top-ten finish. An eighth-place result in Race 1 was followed by a superb recovery drive from 17th to 10th in Race 2, allowing the young Brazilian to collect valuable championship points at the opening round.
After winning the Porsche Sprint Challenge Brazil title on debut and finishing vice-champion the following season, Bassani stepped up to the main class of Porsche Carrera Cup Brasil in 2025 and immediately made significant progress. While still chasing her maiden victory in the category, she established herself as a consistent front-runner, regularly fighting inside the top five and securing solid top-ten finishes throughout the year.
Returning for 2026 in an ultra-competitive field, Bassani unveiled a new livery celebrating 30 years of the Mobil 1 partnership with Porsche, marking the start of an important second season in the series.
Bassani showed promising speed already during pre-event testing at Interlagos, consistently running inside the top ten and confirming her competitiveness early in the weekend. She carried that momentum into official practice, where she set the third-fastest time overall with a 1:37.459 lap, just one tenth of a second shy of the top of the leaderboard.
Qualifying further reinforced her strong form. Advancing comfortably through Q1 with a 1:37.067 lap, Bassani secured a place in the pole position shootout among the fastest drivers of the 37-car grid. In the decisive session, she improved again to a 1:36.846, earning eighth place on the starting grid.
Starting eighth overall, Bassani launched aggressively into the opening corners, navigating hectic early battles as the tightly packed field fought for position. The race was neutralized almost immediately when a stranded car at Turn 2 triggered a safety car.
Keeping it clean during the restart, Bassani held position before gaining one place to move into seventh. With the top ten running closely grouped, she settled into a competitive rhythm while chasing Giassi ahead, closing to within half a second while simultaneously building a small safety margin over the cars behind.
As Giassi attempted to challenge Comparatto ahead, Bassani patiently waited for an opportunity to capitalize on any opening. However, with five minutes remaining, the race was interrupted again following contact involving Paulo Sousa.
The late restart with just two minutes to go set up a tense sprint to the finish: Bassani remained cautious into Turn 1, avoiding unnecessary risks, but drama unfolded shortly afterward when Alceu Feldmann attempted a late move that forced her wide. With Paludo also diving into the battle, Bassani dropped to ninth position.
The fight was far from over: on the following lap, contact between Paludo and Feldmann allowed Bassani to regain eighth place, and after running side-by-side with Paludo through several corners, she completed the decisive move entering the final lap. She crossed the finish line in eighth position, securing a solid and well-earned result to begin her season.
Sunday’s second race presented a different challenge: Bassani now faced a recovery mission from 17th on the grid. As expected at Interlagos, chaos erupted at Turn 1 when multiple cars made contact and several were pushed into the tyre barriers in the midfield. Bassani produced an excellent launch and demonstrated outstanding awareness, expertly avoiding the incidents and climbing to 14th place by the end of the opening lap, with all cars ultimately able to rejoin and the race continuing under green.
Immediately switching to attack mode, she passed Christian Mohr on lap two to advance into 13th place. Carlos Campos soon became her next target, and after rapidly closing the gap, Bassani executed another clean overtake within a lap to move into 12th. Running in clean air, her pace proved especially strong. Francisco Horta quickly came into range, and only minutes later Bassani completed another decisive move to climb into 11th place, placing the top ten within reach.
Her impressive charge was temporarily halted with 12 minutes remaining when Marco Billi was spun into retirement, prompting a safety car period that interrupted not only a fierce battle for the race lead between Feldmann and Comparatto but also Bassani’s momentum.
The neutralization, however, allowed her to close onto the leading pack. When racing resumed with nine minutes left, only Miguel Mariotti stood between Bassani and a top-ten finish.
With the field tightly bunched, Bassani seized her opportunity. Using the slipstream down the straight, she overtook Mariotti exiting the final corner with four minutes remaining to break into the top ten.
Ahead, Regadas and Malucelli battled intensely, offering a potential chance for further gains, but Bassani also had to defend as Mariotti fought back at Turn 1 on the following lap. Demonstrating cool head and racecraft, she reclaimed the position one lap later with a decisive counterattack.
The pair remained locked in a close duel until the chequered flag, but Bassani held firm under pressure. After a remarkable recovery from 17th on the grid, she crossed the finish line in tenth place.
With eighth and tenth-place finishes across the two races, Antonella Bassani completed the Interlagos season opener with a double top-ten result, confirming her continued progression in Porsche Carrera Cup Brasil. The consistent performances provide an encouraging foundation for her second season in the championship as she continues her pursuit of podium finishes - and potentially her first victory - in Brazil’s premier Porsche one-make series.
