Car Collection Motorsport successfully kicked off the International GT Open Championship season with a strong performance in Portimão. At the first race weekend of the prestigious GT3 series, the team celebrated a hard-earned class victory in the Pro-Am category on Sunday, after the driver duo had already secured a podium result with second place on Saturday. The well-deserved reward is the lead in the Pro-Am championship.
The Car Collection Motorsport team is once again taking part in the International GT Open Championship this year with a Porsche 911 GT3 R. This high-class championship held its first race weekend in Portimão. The #31 Porsche competed in the highly competitive Pro-Am class, in which a professional driver shares the cockpit with an amateur.
The practice sessions already showed that the Hessian team has now mastered the Porsche 911 GT3 R perfectly. Thanks to a very good set-up, both professional driver Alex Fontana and his team-mate were able to set very good times on the Portuguese tarmac.
First podium in Saturday’s race
In qualifying for Saturday’s race, a good tenth place on the grid in the Pro-Am class was achieved. After a good start, Alex Fontana took over the Porsche from his team partner towards the middle of the race and made up further places, ultimately celebrating his first podium finish in the first race with second place.
Fontana took this momentum into the second qualifying session on Sunday and took pole position with a clear best time. He was not only the fastest Pro-Am driver, but also set the best lap time of the entire field.
Dominance and victory on Sunday
Even after the start, the Swiss driver did not allow himself to be put under pressure and took a secure lead. His team-mate, who is only contesting his second full GT3 season, was also able to successfully fend off the attacks of the Pro-Am competition in the second half of the race and thus clinch the coveted first class victory of the season, after the duo had already won a race in Barcelona last year.
With this outstanding performance, both drivers are now leading the Pro-Am classification. The next race weekend will take place on 17 and 18 May at the legendary Formula 1 circuit in Spa-Francorchamps.
Romina Schmidt, Team Manager: ‘This was obviously a mega start to the season for us! The whole team worked perfectly and our technicians were able to set up the car perfectly. I’m particularly proud of our two drivers, who delivered an absolutely faultless and impressive performance here. I’d like to see this continue! With this tailwind and the championship lead, we are now looking forward to Spa, where we want to show another top performance.’
