Manuel Alves wins Race 2 in Jerez after intense duel with Juan Vega

Manuel Alves’ (Porsche 991.2 GT3 Cup) triumph in Race 2 of the Jerez de La Frontera stage of the Porsche Sprint Challenge Ibérica was one of the hardest-earned victories of the LOB Motorsport driver’s time. The Portuguese faced strong opposition from Colombian Juan Vega, who led the first six laps, staying close to the future winner until the end. Vega won the Group 992 GT3 Cup. Filipe Nascimento was the best in the 991.1 GT3 Cup.

With 28 degrees of ambient temperature (39 on the asphalt) and an afternoon of sun and few clouds, Race 2 of the Porsche Sprint Challenge Ibérica started early Sunday afternoon at the Circuito de Jerez Angel Nieto with the usual ‘extra pinch’ of interest provided by the inversion of the first eight places on the starting grid in relation to the final overall classification of Race 1.

Hadeca Racing enjoyed exclusive front row seating, with Oleksandr Dobik the pole man, with Juan Vega alongside him. Gonçalo Fernandes and Manuel Alves, second and first in Saturday’s race, started on the fourth row, knowing that there were fast drivers ahead of them who would try to make the expected recovery of the two Portuguese drivers as difficult as possible.

The start went off without incident, but with the drivers arriving very close together at the first corner. Juan Vega was the fastest and, seeing his teammate serving a bit of a buffer, he soon gained an advantage of more than a second over the pursuers, where Manuel Aves stood out who, with another fabulous start, was already third and would not lose time. overtaking Dobik, chasing after the race leader.

It took six laps for Alves to close the gap on Vega. He defended himself firmly, but was unable to prevent the already champion of Group 991.2 from overtaking him, braking at the limit, which crowned a bold maneuver.

But when Manuel Alves was expected to quickly start gaining an advantage, this did not happen and Juan Vega put a lot of pressure on the LOB Motorsport driver until, towards the end, he threw in the towel, possibly because he did not have the 992 GT3 Cup tires. from Hadeca Racing in the best conditions. However, the final difference between the two was just 9 tenths of a second, attesting to the great fight that the two had. Vega also won Group 992 and Class AM. Manuel Alves added to his 9th overall victory in 2024, another triumph in Group 991.2 and in the PROAM Class.

Jorge Ramirez (RGB Racing Team) secured 3rd place, finishing second in Group 992. The Spanish driver never had the pace to compete with the top two, but was able to hold off the many attacks he faced, especially from Gonçalo Fernandes (Veloso Motorsport) and Yuri Protasov (Hadeca Racing), who tried everything to dislodge the Spaniard from the podium, but ended up fighting for 4th place, with an advantage for the Portuguese driver. Gonçalo Fernandes would still be 2nd in Group 991.2. Protasov added 5th place overall to 3rd place in Group 992.

André Fernandes (Veloso Motorsport) was once again 6th overall. Starting from the second row of the grid, the Portuguese tried everything to get involved in the fight for the Top 5, but, in the final part of the race, the tires of his 992 GT3 Cup were already very worn and 6th place was the possible position for him. Portuguese .

As happened in Race 1, the fight for primacy in the GD Class was again very interesting, with the same two drivers as the protagonists: Rui Miritta (Monteiros Competições) and Oleksandr Dobik (Hadeca Racing).

As previously mentioned, the Ukrainian driver had started from pole position and remained in the top positions of the race in the first part of it, until an incident threw him almost to the back of the pack. There, Rui Miritta took the lead in the GD, seeing Dobik gradually approaching and, in the final laps, they had an intense duel, which ended in favor of the Portuguese driver who, in addition to winning the GD Class, secured 7th place overall, while Dobik had to settle for 8th place.

In a race in which, in the initial phase, he was among the top five, Ignacio Cabezas lost competitiveness and, little by little, fell in the classification, finishing in 9th place. However, it is worth highlighting that the debut in this championship of the Spanish driver from CD Heads Racing Team was positive, as he also made it onto the podium in Group 991.2, coming in third.

Francisca Queiroz once again produced a flawless performance, repeating the result of Race 1. The Portuguese driver from the Orbital Ignition Racing Team placed her Porsche 992 GT3 Cup in 10th place overall, once again achieving a double Top 6 finish in the standings. of Group 992 and Class AM.

Right behind him, Filipe Nascimento finished the race, securing not only 11th place, but also victory in Group 991.1.

The Porsche Sprint Challenge Ibérica now heads to Barcelona for the championship to come to a close. The final round will take place at the Catalan circuit on November 9th and 10th.