Porsche Cup Brazil: Leticia Bufoni ends season with top-6 in Interlagos
- RACERS
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Leticia Bufoni completed her sophomore season in Porsche Cup Brazil with fierce battles for the top five, eventually securing sixth in the first race of the Sprint Trophy category season finale at Interlagos.
Leticia Bufoni completed her second season in Porsche Cup Brazil with a top-six finish at Interlagos, the final round of the year, as the Sprint Trophy category returned to the track for the first time since August, when it last raced at the same venue.
Bufoni, a world-class skateboarder and multi-discipline athlete, ventured into motorsport in 2024 following a long-standing interest in racing. She made huge progress over her rookie season in the Porsche Cup Brazil Trophy championship, the entry-level series of the Brazilian Porsche pyramid, and frequently battled inside the top five as she continued to improve at each outing.
In 2025, Leticia returned behind the wheel of the #13 Porsche 991 GT3 Cup car supported by the Mobil 1 programme for her sophomore campaign. She continued her learning process, again showing promising speed and racecraft with several top-five performances in the first half of the season. Although some misfortunes later on hampered her results, Bufoni arrived at the finale sixth in the championship standings.
At Interlagos, the home of Brazilian motorsport, the Sprint Trophy class staged its final round of the season. Bufoni started the weekend strongly, topping free practice with a 1:42.314 lap in Thursday’s pre-event test. Qualifying followed for the fifth round, now structured as a double-header weekend. Leticia set a 1:42.824 and qualified sixth on the grid, with Pedro Vilella taking pole around 1.2 seconds ahead.
After the formation lap, Race 1 went underway with a rolling start: Bufoni immediately came under pressure from Ferrer and Garfinkel and after a tricky getaway, she slipped to eighth at Turn 3. However, she quickly began fighting back, pushing to close in on the cars ahead.
Just ahead, Tielas and Garfinkel, battling for the overall podium, made contact and went off before rejoining; Ferrer then spun into the barriers, and Bufoni — avoiding the chaos — climbed back into sixth. The race stayed green, and as Garfinkel lost momentum, Leticia completed a stunning overtake for fifth with ten minutes to go.
Garfinkel tried to retaliate one lap later and made contact with Leticia, but she defended firmly, saved the car from a spin, stayed on track and retained the position with a determined move.
More drama followed as leader Pedro Vilella went off, briefly promoting Bufoni to fourth. She then rejoined the battle with Garfinkel — the pair trading places — as the pack behind closed in. Leticia ultimately slipped back to sixth amid the fierce fights for the top five.
On the final lap, she launched another attack on Garfinkel, with Mascari and Neto Heil also just ahead and the podium still within sight. Bufoni had the pace but needed clear air; in the final corners she went side-by-side with Garfinkel and took the chequered flag in sixth. It was a strong, elbows-out run, recovering to her starting position and showing podium-contending speed.
Saturday morning brought dry, sunny conditions for the final race of the Trophy season. Starting again from sixth, Bufoni had a difficult opening lap and immediately came under pressure from Garfinkel as a gap opened ahead. She held sixth by just a tenth, with 1.5 seconds to Heil in front.
Garfinkel then had a big lock-up into Turn 1 on lap two trying to overtake Leticia and fell back, but she was then passed by Ferrer at Turn 4 and slipped to seventh. On lap three she dropped to eighth as eventually Garfinkel found a way through, and Leticia then came under attack from Mascari. The latter attempted an over-optimistic move into Turn 1 and spun; Leticia avoided him well, and Figueiredo also spun behind them in avoidance. Bufoni now held eighth and had a comfortable five-second margin behind.
In clear air she set a personal best of 1:42.814 — the fifth-fastest at that point — showing she had the pace to run at the front but had been boxed into battles. She then closed onto a larger group fighting for fourth.
Ferrer spun at Turn 1 after braking too late, and two other cars — Simoes and Fonseca — also went off after making contact. The Safety Car was deployed, promoting Bufoni back into seventh.
With only 30 seconds left on the clock, the restart meant two final laps: Bufoni immediately attacked, running a strong lap and closing on Heil, as she clocked the fourth-fastest on the restart lap.
On the final lap, Leticia dived to the inside at Turn 4 but unfortunately spun, completing a full 360° before rejoining, with several cars taking avoiding action. She pushed to the flag and ultimately finished 12th, in an unlucky ending after again battling for the top five.
The season finale confirmed that Bufoni, in her sophomore campaign, has the pace to consistently fight inside the top five. Some misfortune prevented her from fully showing her potential — and likely cost her a top-three finish earlier in the year — but it was a positive and promising season overall. She will continue building on this valuable experience as she progresses in her motorsport career.