Tresor Attempto Audi wins chaotic Monza thriller as crashes overshadow GT World Challenge Europe race

Text: Rick Kiewiet

Images: SRO/JEP

Tresor Attempto Racing claimed one of the most unlikely victories in GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup history at Monza, with the Silver Cup-entered #66 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II of Ariel Levi, Sebastian Øgaard and Rocco Mazzola triumphing from 29th on the grid. It was Audi's first Endurance Cup win since Hockenheim 2022, and a result shaped entirely by chaos — at the start, and again at the finish.

Qualifying

HRT Ford Racing took its maiden GT World Challenge Europe pole position, with the combined efforts of Arjun Maini, Fabio Scherer and Thomas Drouet earning the #64 Mustang GT3 Evo the ROWE pole position award. Ben Dörr was the quickest individual of the session, however, clocking a 1:45.323 in Q3 with the #23 Team RJN McLaren — two tenths faster than Drouet's benchmark — though the combined-time format left the Mustang on pole.

SRO / JEP

The #99 Tresor Attempto Audi lined up second after the #3 Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG was dropped seven places for a yellow flag infringement, with the second HRT Mustang of Finn Wiebelhaus, Eduardo Coseteng and Maxime Oosten starting third and taking Silver Cup pole.

Start

The race lasted approximately one corner before the leading order was torn apart. Maxime Martin moved the #17 GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG onto the track from the pit exit at the start, making contact with Alessio Rovera's #51 AF Corse Ferrari, which then collected Nicki Thiim's #7 Comtoyou Aston Martin and the #10 Boutsen VDS Porsche of Gilles Magnus. Rovera then rebounded into the #59 Garage 59 McLaren of Marvin Kirchhöfer, which slid uncontrollably across the grass and directly into the path of the leaders.

SRO / JEP

Polesitter Maini, the #65 HRT Mustang of Wiebelhaus, Ricardo Feller's #80 Lionspeed Porsche and the #99 Tresor Attempto Audi were all eliminated on the spot, with the #3 Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG and several others sustaining damage that led to later retirements. Martin, who briefly led following the chaos, was handed a three-minute stop-go penalty for causing the collision and his team subsequently withdrew the car.

Mid-race

With Martin removed, Maro Engel led in the #48 Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter from Alessio Picariello's #2 Boutsen VDS Porsche, and the pair ran nose-to-tail through the driver changes, Luca Stolz and Dorian Boccolacci inheriting those positions. Strategy split them towards the end of the second hour when a full course yellow triggered the main pit sequence.

The #32 WRT BMW, having made an early stop under the opening safety car, emerged at the front with Jordan Pepper at the wheel, while Stolz pitted one lap after the FCY gave way to a full safety car, leaving Lucas Auer rejoining 28th. The #23 Team RJN McLaren, with Dörr driving, had meanwhile cycled into contention and assumed the lead when the #32 BMW and #2 Porsche made their final stops with 49 minutes remaining.

Finish

Dörr's lead was undone in the closing stages when a stricken #222 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG and a separate incident involving the #44 Greystone GT McLaren triggered a full course yellow just as he was in the pits for his final stop. The #66 Audi of Mazzola and the #87 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG of Marvin Dienst — who, along with Rinat Salikhov and Gabriele Piana, had led the Gold class throughout — both pitted one lap later and jumped the RJN car.

At the restart, with seven minutes remaining, Dienst attacked Mazzola at the first chicane but couldn't make it stick. One lap later, Kelvin van der Linde's #32 BMW rear-ended the #9 Pure Rxcing Porsche of Aleksei Nesov, launching it into a roll and into Dienst's #87 Mercedes-AMG, which had been on course for second overall. The safety car came out and did not return to the pits, ending the race. Van der Linde was subsequently handed a 155-second post-race time penalty for the collision, dropping the #32 to 30th overall.

The #48 Mann-Filter Mercedes-AMG of Engel, Stolz and Auer — who had recovered from 28th to the front of the field in the final stint — took second, with the #555 CSA Racing McLaren of Romain Andriolo, Baptiste Moulin and Lorens Lecertua completing the podium, having recovered from their own first-lap incident to gain 38 positions from their grid slot. Boutsen VDS finished fourth with Morris Schuring at the wheel, ahead of the #98 ROWE Racing BMW of Jake Dennis, Raffaele Marciello and Augusto Farfus in fifth. Dörr, Lynn and Horatio Fitz-Simons were sixth, with the #96 Rutronik Racing Lamborghini Temerario GT3 seventh — its best result to date in SRO competition.

Kessel Racing took Bronze Cup honours in eighth overall with Dustin Blattner, Lorenzo Patrese and Dennis Marschall, ahead of the #56 Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn Aston Martin of Giacomo Petrobelli, Jonny Adam and Lorcan Hanafin in second in class. Gold Cup victory went to the #71 Selected Car Racing Ferrari of Simon Birch, Malthe Ebdrup and Frederik Schandorff in 15th overall, with the #58 Garage 59 McLaren retaining its class championship lead in second.

The Engel/Stolz/Auer #48 crew have moved to the top of the drivers' standings with a 10-point advantage over the #7 Aston Martin crew heading to the season's centrepiece event, the 24 Hours of Spa, on 25-28 June.