The decision to compete in the Porsche Sprint Challenge Ibérica was made just around ten days before the start of the season, and Patrick Cunha arrived at Monteblanco without any previous experience of the Porsche 992 GT3 Cup and without knowing the circuit. Three rounds later, the Braga driver leads the Bronze Class, sits second overall and in Category 2, and has played a decisive role in Veloso Motorsport’s third place in the Teams’ Cup.
Patrick himself makes no attempt to hide the scale of the initial challenge: “My assessment is positive, considering that we decided to do the championship around ten days beforehand and went to the first race at Monteblanco without any kind of previous experience with the car and without knowing the track.” What inevitably began as an accelerated process of discovery quickly turned into something different. Adaptation brought speed. Speed brought results. And those results placed Patrick Cunha in a position he could hardly have anticipated when he arrived at Monteblanco. After the first three rounds, the Veloso Motorsport driver leads the Bronze Class, sits second in the overall standings and is also second in Category 2.
From learning to overall podiums
Monteblanco was primarily about learning. The Porsche, the championship and a completely new track. When the PSCI arrived at Estoril and, subsequently, Valencia, the reality began to look substantially different. With greater knowledge of the car and competing at circuits he was already familiar with, Patrick managed to move progressively closer to the front: “From then on, it was a learning process and we became fast on track, winning races in the category and always being in the overall Top 3. With tracks we already know, it was easier.”
The results confirmed that progression. Estoril and Valencia repeatedly placed Patrick among the leading contenders. The driver himself acknowledges that every race continues to add something: “With every race we do, we gain more pace and knowledge of the car, and we will always try to win.”
Borja is the benchmark. Patrick wants to get there
The podiums have already arrived. The next step is perfectly identified. Patrick Cunha wants to win an overall race in the Porsche Sprint Challenge Ibérica. He does not ignore the scale of the challenge and points directly to Borja García, who has enjoyed an extraordinarily strong first half of the season: “One of my objectives is to win an overall race, knowing that while I’m in the same races as Borja, it is difficult, because he has five years in this championship and in European championship competition, where he has above-average pace and knowledge of the car. I felt fast at Estoril and Valencia, but with Borja in the same race as me, with the pace he has, it is still difficult. But I will try!”
A statement that perhaps sums up better than any championship position what has changed between Monteblanco and the summer break. Patrick wants to win.
Veloso Motorsport: a long-standing relationship that makes the difference
There is, however, a fundamental element in understanding the speed of this progression. While the Porsche and the Porsche Sprint Challenge Ibérica were new, the team certainly was not. Patrick Cunha has maintained a relationship with Veloso Motorsport for several years, and that mutual understanding has proved important in a season that began with practically no preparation: “Veloso Motorsport has been my team for many years and knows my driving style well. Our work together and Veloso Motorsport’s ability in development and strategy, from practice through to the race, have been outstanding.”
The work naturally extends to the Porsche’s setup, seeking a base that allows the drivers to exploit the characteristics of the car while simultaneously progressing throughout each weekend. That effectiveness is not reflected solely in Patrick’s individual standings. After Monteblanco, Estoril and Valencia, Veloso Motorsport occupies third place in the Porsche Sprint Challenge Ibérica Teams’ Cup, and the results achieved by Patrick Cunha have made a decisive contribution.
First the podiums. Now, victory
Perhaps the best way to measure Patrick Cunha’s progression is to return to the objectives with which he started the season. There were no declarations of a title challenge. Nor any obligation to win. The priority was to get to know the Porsche, adapt to a new competition and progressively discover how far he could go.
Podiums were an ambition. And they have already arrived. Now, three rounds later, reality allows him to raise the bar: “My initial objective was to adapt to the car and try to achieve podiums, which I have already done. In the second half of the season, I will try to win an overall race, and my objective for this first year is to try to win the Bronze Class.”
The equation for the second half of the season is therefore particularly clear. To pursue that first overall victory. And to turn the current Bronze Class lead into a title at the end of the season.