Francisco Mora was untouchable in the fourth round of the Porsche Sprint Challenge Ibérica, at the Spanish circuit of Navarra, and this Sunday afternoon he won his second victory of the weekend, in which he signed, in addition to two pole positions, the lap record faster, which earned him the maximum score.
The podium of this second race was a copy of the previous day, but this time the Veloso Motorsport driver emphasized his superiority in relation to Pedro Salvador and Manuel Alves. “In fact, today the car was a little better than yesterday, which allowed me to gain a considerable advantage.
For three or four laps I tried to manage, but then the Safety Car came on and I had to go faster again. In any case, it was a perfect weekend, but we’re still going to try to improve the car’s set-up a little, not least because the Estoril journey is coming, a track that the opponents know well and, therefore, will be close again… ”, confessed Francisco Mora. Pedro Salvador, the runner-up, recognized: “We are not progressing and there is a lot of work to be done to improve…”. In turn, Manuel Alves, ranked third, commented: “My pace was similar to Salvador’s, but Kiko [Francisco Mora] is at another level. It was very hot and I still made some mistakes, but the result ends up being positive, given my lesser experience”.
Fourth from the first lap, Ricardo Costa did not hide his satisfaction at having the opportunity to have a quiet race (which also allowed him to manage the tires) and add another victory in the AM category, not least because José Barros received a penalty (drive through ) following the incident with Vasco Barros in the first race and dropped to the last position, then made a brilliant recovery, from back to front, to the final fifth place. Very straight, Nuno Inocêncio added the second podium in this category of the weekend.
Vasco Barros, who had an unlucky journey from Navarra, who after the accident suffered in the race on Saturday, forcing the Lob Motorsport team to work “overtime” so that the young driver could line up this Sunday, ended up giving up on the fifth lap, when the oil pressure light on the Porsche 991.2 came on. The Safety-Car entered the track 5 minutes from the end of the race – to remove Jorge Brioso’s car, which had gone off the road and ended up in a gravel area –, but it didn’t last more than two laps.
In the GD category, Chris Hillaby surprised everyone and everything, after being relegated to the last place on the grid, for having caused an accident in qualifying, but even that didn’t slow him down. Aloísio Monteiro managed to lead, but when he made a mistake he was irretrievably behind, while Rui Miritta did everything he could to bring his 911.1 to fruition, winning his second podium of the weekend, after second place in Saturday’s race .
The next round (4th) of the Porsche Sprint Challenge Ibérica is scheduled for Autódromo Fernanda Pires, in Estoril, on the next 29th and 30th of July.
Final classification (unofficial)
1st, Francisco Mora (Veloso Motorsport/PRO-AM), 30.43.949
2nd, Pedro Salvador (PRO-AM), at 3,506
3rd, Manuel Alves (LOB Motorsport/PRO-AM), at 6,343
4th, Ricardo Costa (Monteiros Competition / AM), at 17,260
5th, José Barros (Veloso Mortorsport / AM), at 20,548
6th, Nuno Inocêncio (AM), at 31,385
7th, Chris Hillaby (RGB Racing Team/GD), at 36,284
8th, Jorge Ramirez (RGB Racing Team/AM), at 38,594
9th, Rui Miritta (Monteiros Competition / GD), at 45.404
10th, Tiago Gonçalves (AM), at 59,592
11th, Aloísio Monteiro (GD), on 1.04.474
Fastest lap: Francisco Mora, with 1.43.181