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Monza awaits a more exciting-than-ever GT Open 500 GT
Only a fortnight after Hockenheim, the International GT Open is back in action, for one of its most iconic events of the season, the Monza GT Open 500. This will be the second event in the calendar after Spa organized according to the single endurance race format of 500 km. Not only there is the excitement of racing in the legendary Autodromo Nazionale in a ‘longer’ race; this will also be a very important round towards the championship battles, as it awards double points. After Monza, there will be only one round left, Barcelona, another special round in the GT Open calendar, as the two tracks are the only two that have always been visited every year in the 21 editions of the series.
The 5.793-km long ‘Temple of Speed’, a world in itself because its fast layout and particularly suited for longer races, has attracted a 33-car entry. This year, it could play a decisive role in defining the title battles.
PRO: CHALLENGERS NEED TO REACT
In the overall standings, the situation is becoming clearer. Tom Emson and Tom Lebbon, the young British duo at the wheel of the Elite Motorsport Ferrari 296 GT3 are firmly in the lead, thanks to their five race wins. In Germany, last week, the Toms sent again a very clear message.
Twenty-three points behind are Christian Mansell and Maxi Götz, in the Team Motopark Mercedes AMG GT3. They have two wins to their credit, including the Spa 500 earlier this year, but need a top weekend in Italy to keep their title bid alive.
Third in contention, 24 points behind, is Zac Meakin in the Greystone GT McLaren 720S shared with Dean Macdonald, who is not on equal points. The young British-Ukranian has been the most consistent on the podium: eight times, but only one win.
Also still in the title race is the ZRS Motorsport Porsche 911R of Pietro Armanni and Alex Fontana, very competitive throughout the season (3 wins, 3 other podium finishes), but which lost precious points in an unlucky Race 2 in Germany.
Behind the leading quartet, the candidates to race wins are numerous among the 12 entrants in the Pro class, starting from the Villorba Corse Lamborghini Huracán of young guns Leonardo Moncini and Rodrigo Testa, who conquered a well-deserved maiden win last week in Hockenheim and were second in the Spa 500.
At home and on a power track, the Ferraris should be competitive. AF Corse will be aiming at a first win with its leading duo, Rafael Durán-Tommaso Mosca, and will have another good card to play with Vladislav Veselaho-Lorenzo Ferrari. On its side, Al Manar Racing by Dragon, back for a third appearance this year, is also a podium candidate, with Al Faisal Al Zubair associated this time with German star Dennis Marschall.
Mercedes is also well represented in the class, with Team Motopark fielding its regular second car for Marcelo Ramírez-Dominik Baumann and a third, #99, for former F1 driver Nikita Mazepin and a driver to be confirmed.
Two very interesting novelties will show up in Italy. Leipert Motorsport is back to the series for a selected appearance, with a Lamborgihini Huracán GT3 EVO II for a pair from the Soouthern hemisphere formed by New Zealand’s Brandon Leitch, already seen in the GT Open, and Australian young gun Nicolas Stati.
On its side, FAEMS Team by Nova Race are making their GT Open debut. Both entities are well known in GT Sport competitions, with FAEMS being the reigning Drivers’ and Teams’ champion in the GT Cup Europe. The Italian outfit fields its BMW M4 GT3 EVO contesting the Italian GT, with Giuseppe Forenzi and Guatemala’s Ian Rodríguez, the 2025 GT Cup champion.
PRO-AM: A PORSCHE UNDER SIEGE
With 13 cars entered, the Pro-Am class is again the best-attended class. Games are completely open for the title battle. Swiss young gun Alexander Fach, associated with Alexander Schwarzer in the Fach Auto Tech Porsche, is still in the lead, thanks to his four wins, but has only a 4-point advantage on the Blackthorn Aston Martin of Charlie Bateman, who won 3 races. For the last two rounds of the season, the Brit will again have as a teammate former GT Open champion and Portuguese star Henrique Chaves.
Not far, ten points from the top, is the Olimp Racing Ferrari of Marcin Jedlinski and Karol Basz, with the Polish outfit being champions of consistency. In fourth is the ISR Racing Audi R8 LMS of Libor Milota and Filip Salaquarda, 18 points from the leader. The ‘old’ Audi is still very competitive, as proven also by the win last week of the Saintéloc Racing car of Michaël Blanchemain and Jim Pla.
BMW is well represented in the class, with both the 4F PTT Racing Team car of Hubert Demetko-Fabian Dybionka and the Pedersen Racing machine of Mikkel and Lars Pedersen making their return.
There will be three other Ferraris entered in the class, on top of Olimp’s one: AF Corse fields its regulars Lauren De Meeus-Vincent Abril and Norikazu Shibata-Charlie Fagg (in the Norik Racing colours), and Into Africa Racing by Dragon enters regulars Xolile Letlaka-Axcil Jefferies.
As always, two McLarens will be in the starting blocks of the class, with the Kell family in the TrackFocused car boosted by their double first podiums in Germany, and Andrey Borodin-Ollie Webb in the second Greystone GT car. Last but certainly not least, former class champions Dexter Müller and Yannick Mettler always aim at victory in the SPS Mercedes.
AM: THE DUEL AT THE TOP CONTINUES
The Am class, with 8 cars in Monza, has been very entertaining this year and the duel at the top continues. Adrian Lewandowski, driving again the Baron Motorsport Ferrari with his father Andrzej in this occasion, continues in the lead but has seen his advantage reduced to ten points, as Joel Monegro Reyes, the driver of the Domenican Republic in the Fach Auto Tech Porsche, is not ready to surrender. In Monza, he will be paired with Constantin Dressler.
Twenty-three points from the lead but still in contention is the Brazilian duo Marcelo Hahn-Galid Osman, in the AF Corse Ferrari, who have the highest number of race wins (three) together with Monegro.
The field includes faithful contenders such as Stanislaw Jedlinski-Krystian Korzeniowski in the Olimp Racing Ferrari, and Alfredo Hernández, with his endurance partner Stéphane Tirabaudini, in the Grupo Prom Mercedes. Förch Racing by Atlas Racing, after a winning debut at Hockenheim, will try it again with Polish duo Jakub Dwernicki-Tomasz Magdziarz. Back for a second appearance will be Ray Acosta and Marco Bonanomi in an AF Corse Ferrari, while GoodSpeed Racing is back after missing one round with its Aston Martin Vantage and Piotr Wira, with his teammate to be nominated.