PCC Brazil: Antonella Bassani charges to top-5 in wet Interlagos round
Antonella Bassani ended her Porsche Carrera Cup Brasil campaign with a strong recovery drive at Interlagos, climbing from eighth on the grid to fifth in the final race of the sprint season after a challenging weekend dominated by rain. The Brazilian secured fifth place in the championship standings.
Antonella Bassani ended her Porsche Carrera Cup Brasil campaign with a strong recovery drive at Interlagos, climbing from eighth on the grid to fifth in the final race of the sprint season after a challenging weekend dominated by rain. The Brazilian secured fifth place in the championship standings, having collected seven podium finishes across the 12 races contested during the year, completing a season of significant progress in the category.
The final round took place at Interlagos as part of the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend, following the championship's endurance event in Brasília. Bassani returned to the Porsche Carrera Cup Brasil grid after making her NASCAR Brasil debut just one week earlier, with the opportunity to close out her Sprint campaign on one of the biggest stages in Brazilian motorsport.
She began the weekend with a 1:37.752 lap in qualifying, which placed her 13th on the grid for Saturday's opening race. However, torrential rain dramatically affected the first day of competition, with conditions at Interlagos proving too extreme for the drivers to race safely.
The start was initially delayed before the field eventually took to the track behind the Safety Car. Conditions remained treacherous, and André Gaidzinski crashed while circulating behind the Safety Car, prompting further concern over the state of the circuit. After several additional laps under neutralisation, race control brought out the red flag with 14 minutes remaining.
Although the rain eased slightly in the following minutes, the conditions never improved sufficiently to allow the race to proceed under green-flag conditions. The race behind the Safety Car resumed until the end, meaning the drivers completed the event without a competitive lap. Bassani was classified 13th, with Marçal Müller taking the victory and securing the championship title.
Sunday's second race offered a much better opportunity to compete, despite another spell of rain leaving the circuit wet. The conditions were still challenging, but the track was drivable, and Bassani lined up eighth on the grid. Once again, the race began behind the Safety Car, with the field eventually released for the first green-flag racing of the weekend with 22 minutes remaining.
Bassani made a smart start, leaving herself room into Turn 1 as Paludo immediately challenged from behind. She defended her position before turning her attention to Giassi ahead, staying within half a second of her rival while Massa also began to close in behind. Several drivers struggled for grip and ran wide as the wet conditions continued to test the field, but Bassani remained composed and kept close to Giassi.
As the rain intensified, the Brazilian moved up to seventh and continued to pursue the car ahead, while Paludo remained a threat behind. The fight through the field became increasingly unpredictable, with four cars running alongside one another into Turn 1 at one stage, but Bassani emerged unscathed and maintained her position.
With four minutes remaining, she had established a small gap to the cars behind and began closing in on Giassi once again. Finding more pace, Bassani attempted to pass around the outside of Turn 4, but Giassi defended the position. The pair then engaged in an intense side-by-side battle over several corners on the following lap, with Bassani switching back to complete an impressive move and take sixth place.
She gained another position when Comparatto encountered trouble and headed to the pits, promoting her to fifth with just one lap remaining. Bassani held on to the position through the final tour to take the chequered flag, completing an excellent recovery from eighth on the grid in the difficult conditions.
The result brought her Sprint campaign to a close in fifth place in the final championship standings. Reflecting on the season, Bassani highlighted the progress made throughout the year, with seven podium finishes from 12 races representing a significant step forward compared with her previous campaign.
"We finished the championship in P5, after a year of many ups and downs, challenges, learning experiences and, above all, a lot of progress!" she said. "We achieved seven podium finishes in 12 races, a result that shows how much we grew throughout this season. Looking back at last year, we were far from imagining such great progress in such a short time."
The Brazilian also thanked her coach, engineer and mechanic for their dedication and contribution to the team's progress.
While the Interlagos finale marked the end of Bassani's Porsche Carrera Cup Brasil Sprint season, her 2026 campaign is not yet over. The Brazilian has in fact been selected as one of the candidates for the Porsche Junior Shoot-Out, the assessment process that will determine the next driver to join the Porsche Motorsport Junior Programme.
The intensive selection programme in Germany includes a series of evaluations covering physical and mental preparation, simulator performance, communication and media work, as well as on-track performance. It represents an important opportunity for Bassani to take another step in her career following a season in which she established herself as a regular podium contender in the Brazilian championship.
