Italian Gran Turismo Endurance Championship: Liberati, Michelotto, and Zanon Win the 3-Hour Race at Monza

The second round of the Italian Gran Turismo Endurance Championship, held at the historic Monza circuit, delivered three hours of spectacular racing. Emerging victorious at the end of an extremely hard-fought race were Edoardo Liberati, Matteo Michelotto, and Mattia Zanon, who staged an extraordinary comeback behind the wheel of the VSR team’s Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2. Starting from just the fifteenth position on the grid, the three drivers built their success through a perfect balance of speed, strategy, and management of the numerous neutralizations that punctuated the race.

In the early stages, it was the CSA Racing McLaren 720S GT3, driven by Rougier, Moulin, and Sanjay, that set the pace. After securing pole position, Moulin managed to maintain the lead even after the first neutralization, before losing ground during the mandatory pit stop sequence.

The turning point came thanks to Matteo Liberati’s extraordinary first stint. The Roman driver staged a spectacular comeback, making up numerous positions to bring the VSR Lamborghini back into the lead and hand it off to Zanon. The team’s strategy was made even more effective by the absence of a time penalty in the pits, which allowed them to make the most of the work done on the track. From that moment on, Zanon and, later, Michelotto held onto the lead with great authority, managing the numerous restarts that characterized the three-hour race in Brianza.

The race was more challenging, however, for the winning crew from the opening round at Misano—Balzan and Medler—who were penalized with additional time as per the regulations for their victory in the previous race and were forced to mount a long comeback.

The decisive moment came in the closing stages, when a five-second penalty imposed on Liberati for an irregular procedure at the restart following the final Safety Car period turned the race for victory into a race against the clock, with the DL Racing Lamborghini driven by Segù, Donno, and Pollini now hot on the heels of the lead car.

In the closing stages, Michelotto further increased his pace, building up the necessary lead to absorb the penalty. At the finish line, the lead they had built proved sufficient to secure the victory even after the five-second penalty was added, crowning a comeback destined to remain among the most memorable of recent seasons in the Italian Gran Turismo Endurance Championship.

Behind the winners were Segù-Donno-Pollini, finishing second by just 1.816 seconds and delivering a top-notch performance that allowed the team to secure a prestigious one-two finish. The third step of the podium went to Alatalo-Nilsson-Ugran, behind the wheel of the BMW M4 GT3 Evo from BMW Italia-Ceccato Racing, who remained consistently among the leaders throughout the race.

Fourth place went to Rougier-Moulin-Thirugnana in the CSA Racing McLaren 720S GT3, who staged a convincing late-race comeback that saw them overtake first Petrov and then Spinelli. The latter, along with Bowen and Salmenautio, finished in fifth place, ahead of the Rinaldi Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo driven by Balzan and Medler and the Oregon team’s Lamborghini driven by Geraci, Luchetti, and Petrov. Rounding out the top ten were Cuhadaroglu-Fumanelli-Pulcini, behind the wheel of Kessel Racing’s Ferrari 296 GT3 and winners of the GT3 AM class; Cola-De La Iglesia-Denes, in the Imperiale Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 and first in GT3 PRO-AM; and Barberi-Cimenes-Cirelli in the BMW M4 GT3 Evo from BMW Italia-Ceccato Racing.

Starting from the front row in Spirit of Racing’s Ferrari 296 GT3, Braschi-Ponzio-Rackstraw consistently held the top positions until initially finishing sixth. However, a ten-second penalty for an in-race incident dropped them to twelfth place in the final standings.

Among the most impressive performances was that of the Audi R8 LMS GT3 from Audi Sport Italia, driven by Lambrughi-Bracalente-Soffiati. The crew from the Nibbiola-based team remained in contention for the GT3 AM victory for a long time, demonstrating an extremely competitive pace. However, a stop-and-go penalty and a subsequent technical issue in the closing stages compromised their result, though they still had a top-notch weekend, highlighted by Nicolò Soffiati’s fastest lap of the race in 1’46”544—the fastest time of the entire race.

There was also great excitement and dramatic twists in the GT Cup. In the PRO-AM Division 1, victory went to Barbolini-Al Rifai-Patrinicola in the Spirit of Racing Ferrari 296 Challenge. The crew delivered a solid and consistent performance, remaining among the leaders throughout and skillfully managing the neutralization phases all the way to the checkered flag. Finishing behind them were Agoglia-Bucci-Cremona in DL Racing’s Lamborghini Huracán ST Evo2, followed by Vitale-De Marco in Rossocorsa’s Ferrari 296 Challenge, who in turn delivered one of the day’s most impressive performances.

Starting from the front row of the GT Cup, the two drivers managed to consistently join the fray with the GT3 cars, even climbing as high as fifth place overall and leaving several cars from the top category behind them. It was a top-tier performance that could have yielded an even more significant result had it not been for a broken driveshaft, which forced them into a lengthy pit stop. Thanks to the mechanics’ quick response, the crew was still able to return to the track and secure third place in their class. It was a decidedly more unfortunate day, however, for Franca-Roccadelli-Trebbi: after setting the fastest time in qualifying with the SF Squadra Corse Lamborghini Huracán ST Evo2, they were forced to retire in the very early stages of the race due to a technical issue.

In Division 1 AM, Ferrara-Galli secured their second consecutive victory of the season in the Krypton Motorsport by DL Ferrari 296 Challenge. It was a bitter day, however, for Postiglione–Mari–Gallo (Best Lap), who led for much of the race thanks to Vito Postiglione’s stint, during which he made numerous passes and maintained a race pace that allowed him to compete even with several GT3s. However, the Best Lap crew was forced to retire due to a mechanical issue, paving the way for the Krypton by DL Racing drivers, who now have a perfect record in the standings.

In the PRO-AM Division 2, Bodellini-Riva-Schofield took the win in the SR&R team’s Ferrari 488 Challenge, leading from start to finish and skillfully managing their lead all the way to the checkered flag, ahead of Benedetti-Lanza-Santi (Porsche 992 GT3 Cup – Apex Competition) and Coldani-Bernoni-Cardinale (Porsche 992 GT3 Cup – SP Racing).

Finally, Bolzoni-Contessi-Guidi secured victory in the 2nd AM Division with ZRS Motorsport’s Porsche 992 GT3 Cup, delivering a solid performance. Also finishing on the podium were Di Benedetto-Nicolosi-Carboni (Tsunami) and Trione-Trione-Veronesi (Apex Competition).