The duo formed by Cedric Fuchs and Enrico Förderer had a splendid weekend in Monza, achieving two consecutive victories in the competition. These victories came largely due to a penalty imposed on the drivers who were initially leading, Robert Consani and Benjamin Lariche.
The race, which was marked by two safety car periods, saw the Audi from Team Speedcar take control. However, a 10-second penalty for speeding in the pits curtailed Consani and Lariche’s chances of staying in the lead. Lariche attempted to extend his advantage but eventually ended up 8.9 seconds behind Förderer, who finished second. Cameron McLeod and Marco Signoretti completed the podium for the Mustang category, finishing in third position after an intense battle among several cars.
In the Pro-Am category, Sacha Bottemanne and Viny Beltramelli redeemed themselves from a retirement in the first race, achieving victory with the Audi from Team Speedcar and overcoming their own speeding penalty during the pit stop.
In a similar situation, Julien Ripert found himself alone in competition after his main rival, Daniel Blickle, was eliminated from the race due to a spectacular accident. This allowed Ripert to win unpressured in the Am category.
In the first lap, Consani, starting from pole position, led the group through the first corner, with Audi from Paul Petit in second place. Events took an unexpected turn when the #30 W&S Porsche and the #11 Borusan BMW collided, causing the first appearance of the safety car. Petit, who had been affected by a previous bump, suffered a puncture and had to retire from the competition.
Despite some setbacks, Consani continued his race until he was penalized for speeding in the pits during his stop. Thus, Lariche resumed the race in first place, although with an impending penalty.
Fuchs kept his Mercedes-AMG among the top four before handing over to Förderer. With rivals pressuring, Förderer managed to cut Lariche’s lead to just over a second, but could not achieve victory.
McLeod and Signoretti overtook the second Mercedes-AMG shared by Marcel Marchewicz and Julien Apotheloz to complete the podium, while Hudson Schwartz and Lucas Cartelle finished fifth with their Toyota CRT-Sport. Upon their return to service, Charlie Hart and McKenzy Cresswell ended up in sixth position with their McLaren. Ripert achieved his first victory of the season in the Am category, allowing Team Speedcar to celebrate a categorical double victory.
The next event of the GT4 European Series will be at the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, which will take place over the weekend of June 25-27, one of the highlight events in the GT racing calendar.
