Season 2006 – Exponential growth
Having started with 12 cars in april 2005, Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge doubled in size in under one year. By july 2006, during the fifth round of the season the series had 24 Porsches 911 GT3 Cup.
Having started with 12 cars in april 2005, Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge doubled in size in under one year. By july 2006, during the fifth round of the season the series had 24 Porsches 911 GT3 Cup. A very fast growth rate yet perfectly sustainable due to the seriousness of the organizers with supplying cars with identical performance to all drivers.
The successful experience of racing in Paraná in the previous year resulted in the definitive inclusion of the Curitiba racetrack in the calendar. Eight events took place, six in São Paulo and two in the International Curitiba Racetrack (which is in fact in the neighbour city Pinhais). All those where double round events for a total of 16 races. Like 2005, Porsche GT3 Cup was included in the Formula 1 GP schedule only this time with two races, one on saturday right after the F1 qualifying session and one on sunday, a couple hours before the GP.
With one year of existence, Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge was already very attractive to experienced drivers from other racing series both national and international. Constantino Júnior, vice champion of the south american Formula 3 in 1992 and contestant of the F3000 Intercontinental Championship in 1993 chose Porsche’s championship as his return stage. He did two races and achieved his best result as a third place in Curitiba. Constatino programed himself to be a contender in every round of the 2007 season. The other, Alexandre Negrão who came from Stock Car and three decades experience, seized the season title in the next-to-last race of the year, with Tom Valle as closest opponent all year. Valle took the second place overall, slightly ahead of Ricardo Baptista, winner of one the races held in Curitiba.
Roberto Posses, winner of the previous year, won three races throughout the year. Yet he did not score points in three other rounds and finished the championship fifth overall, just behind Otávio Mesquita. Luís Zattar, greatest adversary to Posses in the fight for the title came in sixth overall. In total, 28 drivers attended the 2005 season with argentinian Hugo Pulenta writing his name as first foreigner to participate in a Porsche GT3 Cup race. Pulenta raced in the support race to the Formula 1 Brazilian GP and scored one point in the championship.
