The Club Division offers a wonderful platform for racing entrepreneurs
Start of the 2025 season on 18 and 19 January in Portimão (POR)
Zonhoven, 9 January 2025. On 18 and 19 January, the third edition of the Porsche Sprint Challenge Southern Europe will start in the south of Portugal, on the beautiful Portimão circuit. The season counts four race weekends, with two races in Portugal and the same number in Spain. Each race weekend has two competitions, with the Sport Division and the Club Division, two categories in which the sporting competition will be very intense. The Club Division is open to racing entrepreneurs with a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – Type 992 –, while in the class for the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport both young talent and gentlemen drivers will be competing.
The first green lights of the 2025 season of the Porsche Sprint Challenge Southern Europe will be seen in the Portuguese Algarve during the weekend of 18 and 19 January.
"This will be followed by three more weekends, mainly at the Estoril circuit, also in Portugal, and then Valencia and Barcelona in Spain," says the Series Manager of the Porsche Sprint Challenge Southern Europe, Lars Plato. "The Club Division offers the ideal opportunity for racing entrepreneurs to fight for the overall victory, in wonderful conditions. Because while King Winter is in charge here in our region, the weather in Spain and Portugal is much more pleasant. In addition, we offer our participants in the Club Division the opportunity to get behind the wheel of their Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – Type 992 – or Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport for almost ten hours per weekend. There are two test days with 3.5 hours of driving time each, followed by free practice, a qualification and two sprint races, good for another 2.5 hours of driving pleasure on the asphalt in the south of Europe. Between the sessions and races, everyone is of course welcome in the Porsche Hospitality, which will provide a suitable welcome. Last but not least, this season, there is also strong global TV coverage of the races, which ensures the necessary exposure.”
Strong field of participants
The battle will be intense in terms of sport, with many strong names from 2024 who will make an appearance again in 2025. First and foremost, it concerns the vice-champion of 2024, Philippe Wils (Proton Huber Competition), who in the meantime also won the title in the Porsche Sprint Challenge Benelux 2024. He can certainly count on competition from Michael Cool (Belgium Racing), who has extensively demonstrated his skills at the wheel of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – Type 992 – in recent years.
Also, the bronze medalist of the Porsche Sprint Challenge Southern Europe 2024, Javier Ripoll Sanchez (Est1 Racing), will try to do better than last season, and we can therefore count him among the title contenders. Another fast man from 2024 is the Bulgarian Merabi Mekvabishvili, also in the colours of Proton Huber Competition, who showed himself to be fast and consistent in 2024. Lee Mowle is also back, representing Team Parker Racing. He is one of the strong names from the Porsche Carrera Cup GB and won the AM category in 2024. Angelo Fontana (Est1 Racing) ended the 2024 season in the Porsche Sprint Challenge Southern Europe with a second place in the final race and will certainly want to continue that momentum, while Andrea Buratti (Enrico Fulgenzi Racing) is back. Another name to keep an eye on is Lennart Hiemstra (Triple & Crown Racing), a strong driver from the Porsche Sprint Challenge Benelux. From the US, there is Dominique Bastien (Proton Huber Competition), who took his first steps in the European winter competition in 2024. There will also be some great competition in the class for the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport.
It is clear that many drivers and teams find the Southern European Porsche competition an excellent basis for a strong start to the season.
“All in all, the starting field for the opener in Portugal consists of more than twenty cars, with drivers from Europe, but also from the US and Canada. However, many other names are showing interest in joining the starting field during the season, and there are still a few starting places available for drivers in the Sport Division,” adds Lars Plato.
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