Kaká Magno and Bruna Tomaselli completed their rookie season in the Stock Series at Interlagos - with both drivers having their highlight of the weekend in Race 3, when Magno started from pole position and Tomaselli scored her season's best of P4.
The Stock Series held the final round of the 2023 season at the Interlagos Circuit, in São Paulo, with the presence of the two women on this year's grid: Bruna Tomaselli and Kaká Magno. Magno had missed on-track action in the previous round due to health issues, but returned to wrap up her first season in the Brazilian series, joining former W Series racer Tomaselli, who also made her debut in the competition this year.
In the free practice sessions, held between Friday and Saturday, Magno and Tomaselli had similar performances, with Bruna Tomaselli reaching the top 5 in FP1 - in the exclusive session for rookies. She then recorded her best time in FP3 - 1:46.604, placing 9th overall. Kaká Magno - who was back in her #25 RTR Sports machine, also improved her best time and was in the top 10 in the last session.
The results in the qualifying session for races 1 and 2 saw Bruna Tomaselli P9 and Kaká Magno P10 for the first race of the weekend. For race 2, Tomaselli took 10th position on the grid and Magno was right behind, in 11th.
Race 1
The first contest of the final round of the Stock Series in 2023 turned out to be not an easy one for the two women on the grid, who had to overcome challenges to score points. After gaining a position on the first lap and moving up to P8, Bruna Tomaselli didn't have many chances to extend the gap to the competitors behind and was overtaken by Vinicius Papareli and Felipe Papazissis. At this moment, Tomaselli was in 10th place and Kaká Magno was in 11th.
At the beginning of lap 3, Bruna Tomaselli's #97 car suffered a tire puncture and she had to return to the pits. Shortly afterwards, while they were competing for 6th position, Arthur Gama made contact with Vinicius Papareli - which spun and debris from both drivers' cars remained on track. Kaká Magno, who was following behind, ended up being hampered and also suffered a tire puncture. The two women resumed the race and with Papareli's retirement, they could eventually reclaim the same starting positions - Tomaselli in 9th and Magno in 10th.
Further ahead, the championship leader Zezinho Muggiati opened a good gap to the second placed driver and secured the victory, as he got closer to confirming the title of champion.
Without further incidents - and with little chance of improving their positions - Bruna Tomaselli and Kaká Magno remained respectively in P9 and P10 until the end of the race, adding good points for their championship standings.
"After two laps our tire went flat because of debris and I had to go to the pits. We decided to return to the track to try to find the reason for our drop in performance. Our team is looking for answers so that in the two races tomorrow Let’s get back to being competitive!” - said Tomaselli, remaining optimistic about having better conditions to fight in the two remaining races.
Race 2
Just like in race 1, the penultimate race of the season had Zezinho Muggiati on pole position and, with Vinicius Papareli starting in last place, Tomaselli and Magno gained a spot: they would start again in P9 and P10 respectively. Coming from the back of the grid, Papareli managed to gain some positions on the first lap, climbing up to 7th place. Despite this, Bruna Tomaselli managed to overtake Hugo Cibien, and held ninth.
On the following lap, Vinicius Papareli turned Mathias de Valle around while they were fighting for P6 at the "S of Senna". De Valle dropped to 9th place and Papareli was punished by the stewards with a drive-through for causing the incident. Thus, Bruna Tomaselli moved up to P7 and Kaká Magno to P9, after overtaking Hugo Cibien. However, just like the previous day, Tomaselli unfortunately suffered another tire puncture and was forced to pit.
With just over 2 minutes remaining in the race, Enzo Bedani took the lead from Muggiati - and he retained the position until he crossed the finish line. There was still time for the championship's vice-leader Gabriel Robe, who also moved up to P2 by overtaking Zezinho Muggiati - which postponed the title decider to the final race. Kaká Magno finished in 8th place, followed by Bruna Tomaselli in 9th.
Race 3
With the reverse grid system in action considering the result of race 2, the drivers returned to the Interlagos Circuit track just a few minutes later, for one last battle. For the second time this season, Kaká Magno was on pole position. Bruna Tomaselli started 9th in the race that would also decide who would be the 2023 champion.
When the red lights went out for the last time in 2023, Mathias de Valle took the lead from second. Kaká Magno ended up dropping to P8 and thus, Tomaselli completed the first lap in P7. Meanwhile, de Valle received a drive-through penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage as he overtook Magno. After serving the penalty, he fell to the back of the order.
At the beginning of lap 4, Bruna Tomaselli made a great pass on Felipe Papazissis in turn 1, and even though she lost a little time under braking, she defended well, ultimately taking fifth place with the decisive move. Kaká Magno followed in seventh. A few laps later, she ended up being caught by Mathias de Valle and Zezinho Muggiati, dropping to P10.
On the last lap, Tomaselli managed to get another clean pass done into turn 1 - this time over her teammate Gabriel Robe. She moved up to 4th place, but the distance to try for a place on the podium was at this point too big.
Arthur Gama won the last race of the year, followed by Vinicius Papareli in second and Enzo Bedani in third. Kaká Magno completed the top 10.
In the end, Bruna Tomaselli celebrated the result, her best of the season: "P4 in race 3, after the tire went flat again in race 2... Luck didn't help much, but we had a good recovery race and I had a very strong pace, reaching close to the podium."
The result of race 3 gave the 2023 Stock Series season title to Zezinho Muggiati - and also a place to compete in the main Brazilian series - Stock Car Pro, in 2024. Muggiati scored 387 points throughout the championship. Bruna Tomaselli finished in 8th place - with 202 points and Kaká Magno in 11th - with 185.
The Stock Series 2024 season calendar has already been released by the organization and will have 6 rounds - starting in Interlagos, on April 21st. The new feature is an extra race in December, with an endurance format - which will also be held in Interlagos.
The presence of Bruna Tomaselli and Kaká Magno has already been confirmed for next year and Magno has not hidden her expectations of returning to racing soon: "I can't tell how grateful I'm for everything I've experienced this year, for my first season in the Stock Series. I'm very happy with it all! I can't wait to drive my machine again in 2024!"
