2026 Italian Gran Turismo Sprint Championship: Jens Klingmann Triumphs at Monza; Titles Decided on the Final Lap

The Monza National Autodrome hosted the grand finale of the 2026 Italian Gran Turismo Sprint Championship, treating fans to a weekend full of thrills, overtaking maneuvers, and outcomes that remained in doubt until the very last meters. The main focus was on the battle for the overall GT3 title, which ended with Jens Klingmann’s third Italian championship victory. Klingmann, driving for BMW Italia-Ceccato Racing Team, shared the wheel of the BMW M4 GT3 Evo with Ugo De Wilde.

It was a heart-stopping finale, with Klingmann and Georgi Dimitrov–Simone Riccitelli both finishing the season with 84 points and three wins each. The deciding factor was the tiebreaker based on the greater number of second-place finishes achieved throughout the championship, which favored the German driver.

Rounding out the results were the GT3 Pro-Am and Am titles, won respectively by Francesco Braschi–Jef Machiels and Fabrizio Fontana–Stefano Gai, both behind the wheel of the Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo. In the GT Cup, Giacomo and Matteo Pollini celebrated their victory in the Pro-Am Division 1, while Francesco Galli was crowned champion of the Am Division 1. Finally, in the GT4 Italy Series, Riccardo Wagner and Mauro Trentin claimed the Am title during a weekend highlighted by a one-two finish for Speedy Motorsport’s Toyota GR Supra GT4 Evo2s.

The 2026 Italian Gran Turismo Sprint Championship was decided by a matter of thousandths of a second, at the end of one of the most hard-fought races of the season. Jens Klingmann, already an Italian champion in 2023 and 2024, claimed his third overall GT3 title at the end of Race 2, in which managing his tenth-place position proved decisive.

On the other hand, Georgi Dimitrov and Simone Riccitelli secured a highly valuable victory in the VSR team’s Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo. On the eve of the race, considering the points-discard system, Klingmann held a 19-point lead: for the drivers of the team led by Vincenzo Sospiri, it was therefore essential to win and hope that their rival would finish outside the points.

Dimitrov and Riccitelli fully rose to the challenge, securing the win thanks to a strong performance and effective pit crew work. Their victory kept the title race alive until the checkered flag, turning the final laps into a highly tense showdown.

Finishing behind them were MacDonald–Cazzaniga, who had already won Race 1 in Raptor Engineering’s McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, while third place went to the other VSR drivers, Cook–Denning. This was an important result for the team, which managed to put two cars on the podium and secure a victory that kept the championship in the balance until the very end.

The final stages of the race presented the most critical moment for Klingmann. Clementi Pisani, behind the wheel of DL Racing’s Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2, attempted to take tenth place—the last position needed to earn the decisive point—away from the BMW. A successful pass would have handed the title to their rivals.

Klingmann held on until the checkered flag, resolutely defending his position and maintaining a margin of just 367 thousandths over the chasing crew. The point earned allowed the German to finish the championship tied with Dimitrov–Riccitelli at 84 points, but to clinch the title thanks to the greater number of second-place finishes achieved during the season.

This conclusion rewards the consistency of the BMW Italia-Ceccato Racing Team driver and underscores the value of a championship fought down to the very last meter.

The GT Cup delivered an equally intense finale, with the last two titles still up for grabs decided at the end of Race 2, which was affected by a safety car deployment and a lengthy red-flag suspension.

The overall victory in the race went to Matteo Sartori and Mattia Simonini, behind the wheel of the Zanasi Racing Ferrari 296 Challenge. Starting from pole position, the duo maintained the lead in the early stages, delivering a solid performance that secured the team’s first win of the season.

The most significant result, however, came in the Pro-Am Division 1, where Giacomo and Matteo Pollini clinched the Italian title in Pollini Racing’s Lamborghini Huracan ST Evo2, finishing the championship just one point ahead of their rivals from Best Lap, Postiglione–Comandini and Frassineti–Pegoraro, who were tied for second place.

The victory came at the end of a race full of unexpected twists. Giacomo Pollini, who started from third on the grid, actually slipped back to seventh place in the early stages, forcing him to make up ground on his main championship rivals.

The race was subsequently interrupted following an accident involving Michal Bartoszuk, at the wheel of MM Motorsport’s Lamborghini Huracan ST Evo2, at the Ascari chicane. The incident initially required the safety car to be deployed and, subsequently, the red flag to be displayed to allow for repairs to the guardrails damaged in the crash. Fortunately, the driver was unharmed.

The race restarted behind the safety car, with the driver-change window postponed compared to the normal procedure. Sartori was thus able to hand the wheel over to Simonini, who maintained the lead until the checkered flag.

Behind him, however, the battle for the Pro-Am title remained wide open. After winning Race 1, Postiglione–Comandini had taken the lead in the standings, with a narrow margin over Pollini and Frassineti–Pegoraro, who were still very much in contention.

The balance of the race shifted due to a collision at the first chicane involving Comandini shortly before the driver-change window opened. The damage sustained by the Ferrari 296 Challenge forced the crew to return to the pits for repairs, resulting in a loss of time compounded by the car’s steering issues.

The situation worked in favor of Frassineti–Pegoraro, who virtually took the lead in the championship standings. Despite the difficult start and the additional time lost during the driver change, Giacomo and Matteo Pollini managed to regain the positions needed to secure the title, finishing just one point ahead of the two Best Lap crews.

The tiebreaker—the greater number of wins this season (three versus their teammates’ two)—ultimately awarded Postiglione–Comandini the title of Italian runners-up.

In the 1st Am Division, the title went to Francesco Galli, partnered by Simone Iaquinta in the Krypton by DL Racing Ferrari 296 Challenge. Their class victory in the final round allowed the duo to end the season on a high note.

The Monza race also finalized the title standings for the 2nd Division: the Pro-Am title had already been clinched by Luca Attianese and Paul Meijer in the Apex Competition Porsche 992 GT3 Cup, while Massimo Abbati had mathematically secured the Am title at the end of Race 1, behind the wheel of the SP Racing Porsche 992 GT3 Cup.

The GT4 Italy Series closed out the season with a spectacular one-two finish by Speedy Motorsport’s Toyota GR Supra GT4 Evo2s, making their championship debut. Mees Houben and Tomas Guedes took the win after a race they dominated with great authority, finishing ahead of their teammates Teixeira and Zunzarren, who staged a comeback that made for a thrilling race finale.

The third step on the podium went to Fant-Donanzan, driving the Mercedes-AMG GT4 for Xmotors Trivellato Racing. Behind them were the winners of Race 1, Palazzo–Anagnostiadis, in the Promodrive BMW M4 GT4 Evo, followed by Lasagni–Ziccardi in the CZ Bassano Mercedes-AMG GT4. Canonica–Lodi took sixth place, ahead of Dolischka–Massa.

Houben got off to a perfect start; launching from pole position, he took control of the race and gradually pulled away from his rivals. Behind him, Norbert Siedler, driving the Centri Porsche Ticino Porsche 718 Cayman GT4, had to fend off attacks from the young Donanzan, making his debut in the series.

After the driver-change window, Danilo Arfini, who took over from Siedler, briefly found himself in the lead. Guedes, who got behind the wheel of the Toyota after Houben’s first stint, took just one lap to pass him and reclaim the lead, holding it until the checkered flag.

Even more incredible was the comeback by the other Speedy Motorsport Toyota. A collision in the early stages had relegated Teixeira to last place, seemingly compromising his chances of fighting for the podium. Instead, the Portuguese driver and his teammate Zunzarren gradually made up ground, climbing through the field to second place, just 434 thousandths behind the winners.

The weekend for the Maman–Sandrucci crew—already crowned Italian Pro-Am champions with two races to spare—was marked by several twists and turns. The initial contact between Giacomo Maman and Pedro Ebrahim led to a penalty that ultimately forced the Casals Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 Evo to retire due to technical issues. The Rocca–Schiavone Lotus Emira GT4 was also forced to retire after just one lap.

The battle for the Am class title remained open until the final race, with Wagner–Trentin and Ceresoli–Anastasopoulos vying for it. A close battle that energized the decisive stages of the race. In the end, Wagner and Trentin clinched the Italian title, capping off a season in which they consistently competed at the top of the standings in the Mercedes-AMG GT4 from Xmotors Trivellato Racing. Francesco Polari and Nicolò Manassero, meanwhile, won their class in the Centri Porsche Ticino by Ebimotors Porsche 718 Cayman GT4, finishing eighth overall.