Centri Porsche Ticino take 3rd in first race at Monza
In a drama-filled season opener of the SRO GT4 European Series the Porsche Cayman of Centri PorscheTicino claimed third place. Porsche had qualified strong with Joel Sturm in the number 22 Allied Racing Porsche who had early taken pole position for the start of the race but it was United Autosports’ Charlie Fagg and Bailey Voisin who claimed an impressive victory in the team’s maiden GT4 European Series race at Monza in the number 23 McLaren.
The British team opted to bring Voisin in early for his mandatory pitstop, allowing Fagg to take the lead when his rivals came in to make their stops. The pit window was delayed following a long safety car period in the middle part of the one-hour race.
The 46-car field made it through the Rettifilo chicane untroubled, with Antoine Potty in the number 8 CMR Toyota leading the pack after taking the lead from pole-sitter Joel Sturm in the number 22 Allied Racing Porsche. The young Belgian did not get the chance to pull away, as by lap three the safety car was deployed when the number 45 AGS Events Aston Martin hit the wall at Ascari.
At the restart, Potty was able to keep Sturm behind him. Ivan Jacoma (number718 Centri Porsche Ticino) followed in third, ahead of Voisin in the number 23 McLaren. But while Jacoma and Voisin battled for third on the road, two incidents caused a lengthy safety car period.
At the second chicane the number 10 Ebimotors Porsche slammed into the side of the number17 V8 Racing Chevrolet, causing heavy damage to both cars. Moments later the number 70 Trivellato Racing by Villorba Corse Mercedes-AMG crashed into the back of the number 15 NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG GT4 at the exit of the Ascari chicane.
The lengthy safety car period resulted in a delay of the pit window, but when it opened United Autosports immediately called in Voisin to hand over the number 23 McLaren to Fagg. Potty kept the lead until the end of the pit window and was briefly held up by another competitor at the Parabolica.
By the time Stéphane Lémeret rejoined, with 15 minutes left in the race, Fagg was already on the pit straight and the United Autosports McLaren passed the CMR Toyota at the pit exit. The young British driver was then able to build up a three-second lead in the next couple of laps.
After 26 laps, Fagg crossed the line to take his third win in the GT4 European Series and give United Autosports and Voisin their maiden victory. Lémeret took second for CMR, with Max Busnelli (number 718 Porsche) and Dean Macdonald (#32 United Autosports McLaren) completing the overall top four. For United Autosports that resulted in a 1-3 on its debut in the Silver Cup.
With fourth place overall, Busnelli and Jacoma claimed their first Pro-Am win of the season, in the first race for the Centri Porsche Ticino team since its accident at Zandvoort in 2020. The battle for fifth overall was also a battle for second in Pro-Am between the number 12 Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport BMW and the number 77 Team Fullmotorsport Audi. It was ultimately won by Berkay Besler, who crossed the line 0.221s ahead of Romain Iannetta.
The number 55 Mirage Racing Aston Martin finished seventh overall, just a couple of tenths clear of the number 42 Saintéloc Racing Audi and the number 87 AKKA ASP Mercedes-AMG. Allied Racing completed the overall top 10 with the number 20 Porsche.
Victory in the Am Cup went to the number 3 CMR Toyota of Wilfried Cazalbon and Andrea Benezet. In a thrilling final lap, Cazalbon beat Team Fullmotorsport driver Michael Blanchemain by 0.016s. The number 75 Autorlando Sport Porsche crossed the line to take third in class.