GTWC MONZA, BMW ONE-TWO AFTER A CLOSE INCIDENT-FILLED RACE
Multiple leader changes in a race that was hard to follow because of the additional pit stop
Maserati won Race 1 and KTM X-Bow won Race 2, while Audi R8 won both GT4 races
Braga: “The versatility of the P Zero ensured reliability even with the unexpected additional pit stop, which shuffled the order a bit”
The third from last round of the GT World Challenge Europe was expected to deliver close racing and plenty of excitement and the big crowd that packed the Monza circuit were not disappointed. Ahmad Al Harthy, Sam De Haan and Jens Klingmann in a BMW M4 entered by the OQ team won a race that was rather confusing because of the need to introduce a third pit stop to allow refuelling on a track that is now much faster since being resurfaced. Second was another BMW M4 driven by Dries Vanthoor, Sheldon Van der Linde and Charles Weerts, while coming home third was the Ferrari 296 crewed by Alessandro Pierguidi, Alessio Rovera and Vincent Abril (team AF Corse). There were several changes to the order at the front of the field, with quite a few cars going off the track, and collisions, which led to several yellow flags.
Confirming the fact that the track is now much faster, a new Monza track record for a GT3 car was set in qualifying in a time of 1:44.727 by the Team GRT Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO 2.
Matteo Braga, Pirelli Circuit Activity Manager: “Following its recent resurfacing, Monza confirmed its status as a high speed track, enhancing its reputation as the Temple of Speed. The additional pit stop introduced for this race ended up making it more difficult for the teams to work out the best strategy in terms of tyre management and meant the tyres were run over a longer stint. The versatility and wide working range of the P Zero nevertheless ensured reliability even in these unexpected circumstances, allowing teams to attempt new strategies to deal with the extra mileage, without compromising performance.”
As for the other categories, in the GT2 European Series, the LP Racing team’s Maserati GT2, driven by Carlo Tamburini won race 1, while in race 2, victory went to Martin Koch in a KTM X-Bow GT2 (team MZR Motorsportzentrum Ried). In the GT4 European Series, Benjamin Lariche and his Audi R8 LMS (team Speedcar) won both races in this category.