+ Result: Race 1, Monza
Enrico Förderer and Cedric Fuchs claimed their second win of the GT4 European Series season by emerging out front from a crazy opening race at Monza.
With multiple lead changes and several flashpoints, the 44-car GT4 field certainly put on a show on its return to the Temple of Speed, with Förderer and Fuchs extending their championship lead thanks to a calm performance amid the chaos.
After Qualifying the odds looked stacked on Benjamin Lariche and Robert Consani to extend their strong form at Monza, however a late gearbox issue put Consani out of the race lead, and opened the door for the SR Motorsort by Schnitzelalm Mercedes-AMG, which resisted heavy pressure from the TeamFloral Mustang shared by Sam Paley and Mihiel Haverans to register its second win in three races.
Lotus PB Racing scored its first Pro-Am win of the year after Massimiliano Schiavone and Maurizio Copetti worked their way up the order, while Max Kronberg and Daniel Blickle claimed their first Am win since the season finale in Barcelona aboard the #30 W&S Motorsport Porsche.
Lariche started on pole but was immediately out-dragged into Turn 1 by the flying Academy Motorsport Mustang of Cameron McLeod, which rocketed alongside the #1 Audi from the fourth row of the grid. McLeod nearly bagged the lead in one move, but Yani Stevenheydens held the inside line for the second part of the chicane to briefly head the pack in his Elite McLaren, before the Mustang’s sheer grunt put McLeod past. That was the start of Stevenheydens’ troubles as the McLaren’s lack of straight-line pace meant it slipped gradually down the order.
Lariche found a way through to chase McLeod and looked set to inherit the lead when the Mustang was judged to have infringed start regulations and was hit with a 10-second penalty. McLeod’s attempts to get away and limit the penalty were also thwarted when the #4 Speedy Motorsport Supra was tipped around exiting Ascari, making heavy contact with the barriers and summoning the safety car.
When racing resumed, Förderer made his move. The #111 Mercedes-AMG had run fifth early on but a lightning restart and a superb undercut on Lariche out of Turn 2 helped the German driver slot into second by the pit window.
Lariche was the first of the lead pack to pit, handing to Consani from third, and he emerged in second behind Fuchs once all stops had been completed and the Mustang of McLeod/Marco Signoretti had served its penalty.
Racing was then interrupted again after a dramatic collision involving Clement Seyler’s Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin, Lucas Cartelle’s CRT-Sport Supra and Paul Petit’s Team Speedcar Audi shuffled the podium fight. While Seyler was out on the spot, both Cartelle and Petit managed to continue, but a second safety car was needed to clear up the chaos.
This gave Consani his chance to close in, and at the restart he drafted past Fuchs to grab the lead, only for his Audi’s gearbox to cry enough soon after and put him out.
That handed Fuchs back a lead he wouldn’t lose, despite the best efforts of the TeamFloral Mustang of Haverans and Paley, which had picked its way through from ninth on the grid. Haverans attacked as hard as he could, but Fuchs held on to secure the win by 0.1s.
Cartelle recovered from his hit from the Aston to claim third, with Petit somehow following him home despite his Audi suffering heavy rear damage in the same incident.
Schiavone and Copetti claimed their breakthrough Pro-Am win in the Lotus on home ground after a fine opening stint that included a fastest lap of the race for Schiavone helped the car climb the order. That left Copetti in a tight fight with the points-leading Schubert Motorsport BMW of Victor Bouveng and Joakim Walde, with Copetti just getting the better of Walde at the flag by 0.6s. The Ebimotors Porsche of Riccardo Pera and Paolo Gnemmi also shone on local turf, finishing a superb third on the team’s return to the grid after a five-year absence.
Max Kronberg and Daniel Blickle were never really challenged in Am, with the W&S Porsche pulling well clear of Julien Ripert’s Team Speedcar Audi and the Gazoo Racing Sweden Supra shared by Christoffer and Mikael Brunnhagen.
Race 2 is set for 13:50 on Sunday.