OCTOBER 2019 MONZA INTERNATIONAL GT OPEN
PHOTO BY DIEGO CROTTI
Copyright (C) Diego Crotti
Costa-Altoè Champions, as Chaves-Kodrić take final win
Albert Costa and Giaomo Altoè are the 2019 Champions of the International GT Open. There was no surprise in the final race of the season and the Emil Frey Racing duo secured the crown with a 4th place in Race 2 at Monza
Teo Martín Motorsport signed a beautiful 1-Valentin Pierburg-Tom Onslow-Cole (SPS Mercedes) were crowned Pro-Am champions for the second year in a row, while Giuseppe Cipriani (Antonelli Motorsport Mercedes) took win and title in the Am class.
THE RACE – At the start, Grenier keeps the advantage of the pole, closely followed by Khodair, Chaves, Rueda, Onslow-Cole, Altoè, Agostini, Tujula and Wilkinson. The first race feat is in lap 5 when Altoè and Agostini touch at first chicane, with the Lambo having to cut the chicane. Things are stable and with minimal gaps (the first eight are covered by 6 seconds) up to the pit stops, which start in lap 12.
After all stops, Kodrić leads with 6 seconds on Saravia, 7 on Siedler, 8 on Hahn (first in Pro-Am), then Costa, Pierburg, Spinelli and Turner. Pierburg leads in Pro-Am, with Schandorff third, while in Am, Hrachowina is first, with Cipriani second.
In the last laps, fight for second between Saravia and Siedler is fierce, while Crestani in tenth does everything possible to hold Schandorff, protecting his team mate Pierburg. Both are passed by
The race ends with no major changes, except that both Schandorff (radiator leak after a contact with Crestani) and Hrachowina stop in the final laps, leaving Pro-Am and Am honours to their rivals.
Win for Ramos-Crestani in Race 1 at Monza
Miguel Ramos and Fabrizio Crestani took a much-awaited maiden today at Monza
Albert Costa and Giacomo Altoè made a giant step towards conquering the 2019 title of the International GT Open by taking fourth today in Race 1 at Frederik Schandorff and Tuomas Tujula took their fourth win in Pro-Am with the VSR Lambo and the Dane now leads the class standings with 3 points on Pierburg-Onslow-Cole (SPS Mercedes), today 6th. Newcomers Oswaldo Negri-Francesco Piovanetti (Spirit of Race Ferrari) won in Am at their debut, after class leader Giuseppe Cipriani (Antonelli Motorsport Mercedes) suffered a puncture in the last lap. The Italian has now a 2-point advantage on Konrad-Hrachowina (HTP Mercedes).
THE RACE – Albert Costa keeps the advantage at the kick-off, with a very compact group passing without big trouble the first chicane. The main happening in lap 1 is that Kodrić, in second, loses the front bonnet after Lesmo, and the Croatian is passed in the straight by Spinelli, although his car doesn’t seem to suffer any trouble. Fourth is Crestani, followed by Siedler, Saravia, Turner and
In lap 2, Kodrić drops to fifth. As far as Pro-Am title contenders are concerned, Schandorff has passed Pierburg and is third, while in Am, Coimbra leads ahead of Piovanetti, with class leader Cipriani in third and Hrachowina in fifth. Abbelen spins but rejoin. Kodrić’s race becomes difficult, he drops trough the order and stops in pits in laps 5.
In lap 9, there is drama at first chicane ad Hahn and Pierburg collide, with the Pro-Am leader ending stuck in the gravel, losing two laps before being able to rejoin. The incident earns Hahn a drive-through. By lap 10, Costa has a 4-second advantage on Spinelli, with Crestani and Siedler very close behind, then Saravia and Turner 10 seconds behind the leader, and
Driver change opens in lap 15, with Costa stopping in lap 20. After all changes, Agostini leads with 3 seconds on Ramos, 7 on Wilkinson, 12 on Rueda, 16 on Altoè and 20 on Grenier. Still, the leading Antonelli Motorsport Mercedes has refueled during the driver change and gets a 5-second penalty. Liang leads in Pro-Am ahead of Tujula. Silva is first in Am ahead of Tujula. Cameron is back to the pits in lap 24, with a possible problem.
Second part of the race will see Wilkinson, Rueda, Altoè and Grenier coming together in the final laps and fight for third. The battle is especially intense between Rueda and Altoè, who makes a perfect move on the McLaren at the first chicane in the last lap. Unfortunately, the McLaren suffers a puncture collecting a carbon piece, finishing sixth. A puncture also deprives Cipriani of the Am win, which goes to the Ferrari Piovanetti.
The Autodromo Nazionale Monza is a race track located near the town of Monza, north of Milan, in Italy, and one of the most legendary tracks in the world. It is the natural home of the Italian Grand Prix since the inception of Formula 1, and is known for the passion of its tifosi (supporters).
Built in the Royal Villa of Monza park in a woodland setting back in 1922, Monza has been the setting of numerous highs in motorsports history, be them great performances, moments of glory and also, tragedies. The site has three tracks: the 5.793 kilometres (3.600 mi) Grand Prix track, the 2.405 kilometres (1.494 mi) Junior track,and a decaying 4.250 kilometres (2.641 mi) high speed track with steep bankings. Major features of the main track include the Curva di Lesmo, the Curva Parabolica, the Variante Ascari chicane and the high-speed flat-out Curva Grande.A very fast track, it rewards cars with a lot of power and low downforce, allowing very high speeds and averages (F.1 of the turbo era used to reach over 370 kmh as top speed).
In addition to Formula One, the circuit hosts almost every other motorsport category, from single-seaters and touring cars to sportcars and GTs, on top of endurance races such as the famous
Copyright (C) Diego Crotti