+ Result: Qualifying 1, Monza
+ Result: Qualifying 2, Monza
Benjamin Lariche and Robert Consani made it four consecutive pole positions at Monza with a dominant double display in their Team Speedcar Audi.
The #1 car may have endured a terrible opening round, but Consani and Lariche got the ball rolling on their title defence with two superb drives to pole, with both drivers well underneath the existing qualifying lap record and almost equalling their personal bests in the process.
It proved a strong session for Team Speedcar as a whole, as Viny Beltramelli and Sacha Bottemanne also doubled up in Pro-Am aboard the #3 Audi, while Max Kronberg and Daniel Blickle shared the Am poles with Julien Ripert’s Audi.
.jpg)
Q1: Lariche lowers the bar
Coming into the opening session Lariche already held the honour of being the fastest GT4 driver ever at Monza thanks to his record from 2024, but the Frenchman went even better this time around, shaving another few tenths off the benchmark.
Lariche laid down an early marker before championship leader Enrico Förderer displaced him in the #111 SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm Mercedes-AMG, and then Yani Stevenheydens took a turn out front aboard his Elite McLaren.
However, that was just the warm-up for Lariche, whose second effort clocked in at 1:53.474s, almost three tenths under his record. It was also enough to put the #1 0.5s clear of Stevenheydens, while a final-lap improvement from Beltramelli vaulted the #3 Team Speedcar R8 up to third overall and top of the Pro-Am class.
Gregory Guilvert was fourth in the #8 ahead of Pedro Garcia’s Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin. Förderer was shuffled back to sixth ahead of Charlie Robertson, who will start second in Pro-Am in the #71 Elite McLaren.
Max Kronberg shone on his return to the grid to snatch Am class pole for W&S Motorsport, the final flying lap from the reigning class champion proving enough to displace Ripert and deny Team Speedcar a clean sweep.
Q2: Consani improves further
Anything Lariche can do, Consani can too. And arguably better as he not only secured the #1 car’s second pole, but also edged his team-mate to the fastest time of the day.
Cedric Fuchs led the early times for Schnitzelalm before Paul Petit looked to lead the Team Speedcar line only to be quickly bettered by Consani’s first effort. Fuchs fought back to put the pressure on, but Consani clearly felt none of it, pulling half-a-second clear of everybody to seal the deal. Not only does it mark the pair’s fourth consecutive pole at Monza, it’s also their fifth from the last six races here. In addition, Consani’s 1:53.459 was 0.015s up on Lariche’s time, giving him the new record.
Fuchs had to settle for second after holding off Petit and McKenzy Cresswell’s Elite McLaren. Michiel Haverans put the TeamFloral Ford Mustang into the mix in fifth ahead of Georgi Dimitrov in the new CMR Ginetta.
Ripert more than made up for missing out on race 1 pole by scorching to a superb seventh overall in Q2 to top Am. Bottemanne then made it a triple for Team Speedcar by going fastest in Pro-Am ahead of Julien Briche in the JSB Competition Porsche that has switched into the class from Am from this weekend.
Race 1 is scheduled for 17:40.