Winning GT Open debut for Cazzaniga-Bachler and Dinamic Motorsport in crazy wet Race 1 at Monza

Veni, vidi, vici : it was a victorious debut in the International GT Open for Dinamic Motorsport in Race 1 at Monza, with local hero (in the strictest sense: Monza-born!) Riccardo Cazzaniga and Austrian GT star Klaus Bachler took a superb win in a crazy race. The rain was the uninvited star of this Saturday and provoked directly or indirectly several incidents and four safety-car periods, with the race being eventually red-flagged four minutes from the end.

Florian Scholze-Alain Valente (Mercedes – Team GT) were second overall and won the Pro-Am class ahead, preceding the two Kessel Racing Ferrari of Ziemian-Jefferies and Cuhadaroglu- Fumanelli. In Am, sixth success of the season for Alexander Hrachowina-Martin Konrad (Mercedes- Mann Filter Team Landgraf) ahead of Stephen Earle-Erwin Zanotti (Ferrari – Kessel Racing) and Pascal Bachmann (Aston Martin – Street Art Racing).

THE RACE – At the start, poleman Yannick Mettler (Mercedes – SPS) keeps the advantage of the pole, closely followed by Pulcini, while Jefferies is third at the Prima Variante and Cazzaniga fourth, after having gone straight through the chicane. Immediately behind, Gilardoni is touched by Kranz and sent into a spin. Further back in the field, there is contact between Cipriani and Osieka and both cars are stuck in the gravel, forcing the safety car out.

At the restart, after 4 laps, Mettler still leads ahead of Pulcini, as Cazzaniga passes Jefferies for third, then Roe, Kranz and Basz in full fight, Baud, Ellis and Konrad, first in Am. After 10 laps, the first four are covered by only 4 seconds, while the four cars fighting for P5 are also within 4 seconds. Gilardoni, after the initial drama, is in P15.

In lap 11, Liangbo is out of the track at Ascari, with the safety car being deployed again for 3 laps to allow the Honda to be rescued. In the meantime, Gilardoni stops to change tyres. The pit stop window opens as soon the race restarts, on lap 15, but the safety car is back in lap 21: Di Folco has spun at the Parabolica, remaining stranded in the gravel and almost at the same moment, while Osborne is stopped at the first chicane, with an alternator failure.

Restart is given in lap 23, with Bachler and Valente taking the first two positions ahead of Ziemian, Fumanelli, Müller, Jens and the Oregon Team duo of Van Berlo and Hites, who fight at the first chicane. But it is right behind them where the action gets intense, as Marcin Jedlinski brakes into Janine Shoffner and collects Van Berlo. It’s again a safety car and the race is red-flagged one lap later, 4 minutes from the end. Shoffner and Jedlinski are brought to the medical center for checks, although both drivers walked away unassisted.

With the two Lamborghini of Oregon Team finishing 7th and 8th, there is not much change on top of the standings, where now Ven Berlo-Gilardoni lead by 2 points on Hites-Pulcini.

STANDINGS AFTER RACE 10 OF 13

Overall : 1.Van Berlo-Gilardoni, 103 points; 2. Pulcini-Hites, 102; 3. Moss-Osborne, 94;; 4. Basz-M.Jedlinski, 48; 5. Fumanell-Cuhadaroglu, 44; 5. Baud-Jens, 42; etc

Pro-Am: 1.Basz-M.Jedlinski, 53 points; 2. Fumanelli-Vuhadaroglu, 46; 3. Kranz-Shoffner, 45; 4. Juffali- Christodoulou, 43; 5. Mettler-Müller, 39; etc

Am: 1. Hrachowina-Konrad, 88 points; 2. Osieka-Nana, 63; 3. DeMeeus, 50; 4. Stanley, 42; 5. Jackson-Hollings, 32; 5. Earle-Zanotti, 30; etc.

Teams: 1. Oregon Team, 102 points; 2. Optimum Motorsport, 60; 3. GetSpeed Performance, 31; 4. Kessel Racing, 29; 5. Theeba Motorsport, 22; 6. Olimp Racing, 20; etc