Two days of great competition were expected and that was it. “Overall, it was very positive, not only because of the number of entries, but because of the races, which were very competitive and closely fought”, José Monroy, manager of P21 Motorsport, the company organizing the event, tells NiT. The first race on Saturday, April 13, “was spectacular”, with interesting fights, but “always with sportsmanship”, which resulted in a clean race with drivers Rui Miritta (991.1), Manuel Alves (991.2) and Protasov (992) to win the test. Also noteworthy is the debut of driver Luís Aguiar in the Porsche Cayman GT4.
“On Sunday, extra excitement was expected, with several overtakes and more crashes, which led to more safety car entries”, says the organizer. The winners were the same, with the exception of driver Ricardo Costa, who triumphed with the 992. For this first race, 24 cars were registered with drivers of different nationalities.
From Spain, for example, Daniel Garcia Balboa, Jorge Ramirez and Pedro Silvero Castilla arrived. Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia and Germany were also present at the Porsche Sprint Challenge Ibérica. The trophy is for all ages (from 16 years old) and is aimed at different types of drivers, from semi-professionals to gentleman drivers.
The competition is divided into different categories: Pro Am, drivers who are not completely professional but are faster; AM, who are amateurs; and Gentleman Driver, amateurs over 45 years old. “It was an excellent weekend and I feel that now everything is looking forward to the next race, which takes place at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, on the weekend of the 8th and 9th of June”, he says. The competition continues to Motorland, in Alcañiz (July 27th and 28th), Valencia (September 14th and 15th), Jerez (October 5th and 6th) and Barcelona (November 9th and 10th).
The person responsible for bringing a competition with Porsche 997 cars to Portugal, in 2021, is José Monroy. At the time, I had no idea that the event would reach the brand specializing in sports cars so quickly.
After two editions of “glamour, power and emotion”, the GT3 Cup (the competition’s first designation) went beyond Portuguese borders and was recognized by Porsche Motosport, which gave its approval to the Portuguese trophy organized by P21 Motorsport. “At the time, when the idea came up, I purchased 20 997 models and decided to build this trophy.
Porsche heard about this, followed us and saw that we did a good job”, said the driver and manager of the company that organizes the event. Since 2023, it has been considered an official competition of the brand and has also gained a new name. The Porsche Sprint Challenge Ibérica (PSCI), of which NiT has already achieved a place of reference in speed racing on circuits in the Iberian Peninsula, asserting itself as number one in GT vehicle competitions.