Simon Reicher and Christopher Haase (Eastalent Racing Audi)were crowned as 2024 Champions in the GT Open 500 won by James Kell-Dean MacDonald (Greystone GT McLaren)

Simon Reicher and Christopher Haase are the 2024 Champions of the International GT Open. The Eastalent Racing pair brought their Audi to second in the last race of the year, held in Monza on the Endurance format. The GT Open 500 was won by James Kell and Dean MacDonald in the Greystone GT McLaren, who clinched a sensational maiden win in what was their third appearance only in the series. They conducted a perfect race and made the clever strategic choice of starting the race on wet tyres on the drying track.

The race podium was completed by the Motopark Mercedes of Lukas Dunner-Kuba Giermaziak. The other main contender for the title, Alessio Deledda in the Oregon Team Lamborghini shared with Jordan Pepper defended strenuously his chances up to the end of the race, but their efforts were ruined by a puncture in the closing laps. The Italian ends the season as runner-up ahead of Nicola Marinangeli-Vincent Abril, today fourth, while Oregon Team conquers the Teams’ title

In Pro-Am, Marcelo Hahn-Allam Khodair obtained a last-gasp second success this year ahead of Marcin Jedlinski-Karol Basz (Olimp Racing Audi), who confirmed themselves as the vice champions, and the Audi of Mikaël Blanchemain-Jim Pla in the debut in the series of Saintéloc Racing.

In Am, Heiko Neumann-Timo Rumpfkeil (Motopark Mercedes) concluded the year as runner-ups with a fourth success ahead of Stanislaw Jedlinski-Krystian Korzeniowski (Olimp Racing Ferrari).

After the race, newly-crowned champions shared similar emotions. “We made it, after coming so close last year, and it’s difficult to realize”, said Simon Reicher, while Christopher Haase reckoned: “It was a very tight and difficult race, in the mid conditions our car was not performing that well, it improved on the end. This achievement stems from the hard work of the entire team, from the effort everyone put in it, but also from the terrific bond and spirit among all of us.”

THE RACE – It was a ‘tactical’ start of the race, with a track still wet and some drizzle but forecasts pointing to progressive dry-up. Giermaziak kept the advantage of the pole at the kick-off, in front of Reicher, Menchaca, Pitamber, Menzel and Barrichello, with unusually little drama in the first lap except for Rumpfkeil going straight at the first chicane and then having a contact with Zardo. The conditions though allowed for some betting and very soon cars on wet tyres took the command, with Kell leading ahead of Menzel, Hahn, Petrov, Basz (in slicks), and Forgione. The bet proved successful, but just about as wet tyres were starting to be ‘dead’ right when the first pit stop window opened (lap 15). By then, the three championhip contenders were racing together 14th-15th-16th in the order Marinangeli, Reicher, Deledda.

A contact among Swiss, Fontana and Ineichen, at the first chicane and the off-track of Nana at Ascari animated the first part of the second stint, with MacDonald leading narrowly on Bergström and Moretti, followed by Khodair, Meakin and M.Jedlinski up to lap 35, when the crash of Hash at Ascari required the intervention of the safety car for three laps, shortly before the second pit stop.

After all stops, Kell leads by 10 seconds on Petrov and 20 on Hahn, then title contenders Reicher and Deledda, Giermaziak and the third crown bidder Marinangeli, the last four covered by 4 seconds. The action though is short-lived as in lap 49, van der Helm collects the McLaren of Porter sent into a spin by another car at Lesmo and the safety car is out again for 5 laps. Things do not change much up to the last pit stop, which is the one when handicaps need to be served.

As the last stint begins, Haase and Deledda are one in front of the other, but covered by only 4.5 seconds. In front of them are Kell and Moretti, with everybody wondering whether the other Oregon Lambo of the Italian would play some kind of team strategy. Haase does indeed catch Moretti, who tries to resist, allowing Pepper to reduce the gap, but a couple of authoritative moves by the German, with some rubbing in the back straight, puts things to sleep. Haase is now second, reducing the gap marginally on Kell. Pepper and Siebert have passed Moretti for third.

The fight for the title is over but the last fifteen minutes are rich in emotions as the three Oregon Lambos will suffer punctures or issues, Siebert has to stop briefly in the boxes and M.Jedlinski is sent off-track by Lewis Proctor.