Aside from the Rookie championship in the Supercup, Alessandro Ghiretti also claimed vice championship honours in the Porsche Carrera Cup France last season. The Frenchman called on his skill and experience at the wheel of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup at the shootout on the Grand Prix circuit in Portugal’s Algarve. He also impressed Porsche with his ability to collaborate with engineers and deal with the media and fitness tests he was put through.
“As always, this wasn’t an easy decision for us. The twelve candidates were all extremely strong,” said Thomas Laudenbach, the Vice President of Porsche Motorsport.
“Even though the assessment took place on a racetrack, the selection of the new junior is about more than sporting talent and driving ability. We demand much more from a race driver than stepping on the gas, braking late and hitting the apex. It’s always been about the complete package. In this respect, we’re absolutely sold on Alessandro. I’m certain that we’ll be seeing fantastic races from him in 2024. He has the chance to grow into an all-rounder, just like the previous Porsche Juniors have.”
As part of his prize for winning the shootout and becoming the 30th Junior, Ghiretti will receive a sponsorship package of up to 225,000 Euros for his racing activities as a Porsche Junior for the 2024 season. He will target the title in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup next year. He will also benefit from mental training sessions, media seminars, PR appointments and other marketing activities throughout the year.
“When my phone rang and I saw that it was a call from Porsche, I quickly took a screenshot. I immediately got the feeling that I had to capture this moment forever,” said Ghiretti, describing his reaction to project manager Jasmin Steidle-Faas breaking the good news.
“When Jasmin told me that I would be the Porsche Junior for 2024, I was in complete disbelief. I asked her to repeat the sentence one more time. It’s a huge dream come true for me. My whole family loves the Porsche brand – and now I’m going to be a small part of it. The news blew me away, I was speechless. I was grinning from ear to ear for the rest of the day and of course, I let my parents know straight away.
“It was a moment I won’t be forgetting in a hurry.”
The shootout this year featured a dozen drivers representing nine countries and took place at the Autódromo Internacional Algarve in Portugal. The candidates turned a total of 820 laps in a 911 GT3 Cup car which was powered by nearly potential CO2-neutral fuel from the Chilean eFuels pilot plant “Haru Oni”.
The Porsche Junior programme was established in 1997 and has bolstered Porsche’s ranks with a number of hugely successful drivers that have gone on to win world titles, DTM championships and the Le Mans 24 Hours overall.
“We’re immensely proud of the Porsche Junior initiative,” states former Le Mans winner and FIA WEC champion Marc Lieb.
“It’s one of the most prolific junior programmes in motorsport and sets us apart from other manufacturers. This programme gave my career a decisive boost and paved my path into professional motorsport 23 years ago.
“Without this support, my dream of winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans would probably never have come true.”
This year’s candidates:
- Callum Hedge, 19, New Zealand (Carrera Cup Australia winner)
- Riley Dickson, 21, USA (Carrera Cup North America winner)
- Valters Zviedris, 22, Latvia (Sprint Challenge Northern Europe winner)
- Aldo Festante, 23, Italy (Carerra Cup Italy)
- Hampus Ericsson, 21, Sweden (Carrera Cup Scandinavia and Sprint Challenge Southern Europe)
- Adam Smalley, 22, United Kingdom (Carerra Cup GB winner)
- Johannes Kapfinger, 20, Germany (Sprint Challenge Switzerland)
- Alessandro Ghiretti, 21, France (Carrera Cup France and best rookie in Mobil 1 Supercup)
- Dirk Schouten, 22, Netherlands (Carerra Cup Belelux)
- Robert de Haan, 17, Netherlands (Sprint Challenge Southern Europe and Carerra Cup GB)
- Morris Schuring, 18, Netherlands (Carerra Cup Deutschland and Mobil 1 Supercup)
- Loek Hartog, 21, Netherlands (Carerra Cup Deutschland and Mobil 1 Supercup)
Previous Porsche Juniors:
- Matthias Wolf (†) (1997)
- Dirk Müller (1997 – 1998)
- Marc Basseng (1997 – 1999)
- Lucas Luhr (1999)
- Timo Bernhard (1999 – 2001)
- Marc Lieb (2000 – 2002)
- Mike Rockenfeller (2002 – 2004)
- Patrick Long (2003)
- Christian Mamerow (2004)
- Lance David Arnold (2005 – 2007)
- Jan Seyffarth (2005 – 2006)
- Martin Ragginger (2007 – 2009)
- Marco Holzer (2008 – 2009)
- Klaus Bachler (2012 – 2014)
- Michael Christensen (2012 – 2013)
- Alex Riberas (2013 – 2014)
- Connor De Philippi (2013 – 2015)
- Jean-Karl Vernay (2013)
- Sven Müller (2014 – 2016)
- Earl Bamber (2014)
- Matteo Cairoli (2015 – 2016)
- Dennis Olsen (2016 – 2017)
- Mathieu Jaminet (2016)
- Matt Campbell (2017)
- Thomas Preining (2017 – 2018)
- Julien Andlauer (2018 – 2019)
- Jaxon Evans (2019 – 2020)
- Ayhancan Güven (2020 – 2021)
- Laurin Heinrich (2022)
- Bastian Buus (2023)
