Révész (Motopark Mercedes) crowned new Champion, Bennett-Mosca (AF Corse Ferrari) win the Monza GT Open 500

Levente Révész is the new International GT Open Champion. The young Hungarian, in his first season in GT3, achieved a great campaign in the Team Motopark Mercedes AMG shared most of the time with Maxi Götz (but also with Matteo Cairoli and Phillip Ellis). In the GT Open 500 in Monza that wrapped up the season, a second was sufficient to conquer the title, the first in GT3 racing for the German squad of Timo Rumpfkeil, who also secured the Teams’ title.

The Monza endurance race was brilliantly won by the AF Corse Ferrari of Carl Bennett and Tommaso Mosca, who took their fourth success of the season and finished runner-up. Third in the race was the other Ferrari, the Elite Motorsport one of Tom Lebbon and Tom Emson, who finished third in the standings behind the Eastalent Racing Audi of Simon Reicher and Christopher Haase, today fourth.

There was suspense in the classes too. Valentin Pierburg and Dominik Baumann (SPS Mercedes) were crowned Pro-Am Champions in a finale full of drama, with Bashar Mardini-Alex Fontana (Tsunami Porsche) taking the race win.

In Am, Mark Sansom and Marco Pulcini won the race in the Garage 59 McLaren, but that was not enough for the Englishman to take the championship, which went to Gino Forgione and Michele Rugolo (AF Corse Ferrari). The two contenders were untied only by net points.

After the race, the new champion, Levente Révész, said: “I feel ecstatic, it has been a great year and a great team effort, we have worked well and been consistent, I thank everybody”. Next to him, GT star Maxi Götz was equally happy: “I don’t have the same amount of points, but I really feel like a co-champion because this was really a team achievement, and I feel proud to having been associated with a talented young driver like Levi.”

THE RACE – The Motopark Mercedes of championship leader Révész sits on pole (after the Eastalent Audi was demoted to 7th for a track limit infringement), with the third title contender, the #51 AF Corse Ferrari sitting next.

At the start, it is Lebbon from row 2 taking the lead, followed by Révész, Reicher, Bartone and Salaquarda, but a contact between Jans and Kelly at the first chicane provokes mayhem in the group. It’s bis repetita on the following lap, with Macdonald and Porter as starts, and the Optimum McLaren forced to a long pit stop. Lebbon is firmly in the lead ahead of Bennett, Révész, Reiche,r and Salaquarda. Among title contenders in the classes, Jans is ahead of Pierburg in Pro-Am and Sansom ahead of Forgione in Am.

In lap 9, Vimana hits the wall, prompting the intervention of the safety car for three laps. At restart, there is a contact between Jedlinski and Blanchemain (with the Pole getting a 10-point penalty, while Fischbaum spins. Margins at the top are minimal as the first driver change window opens, with Lebbon ahead of Bennett, Révész, Reicher, Salaquarda, Macdonald, Hesse, Testa and Mardini.

After all pit stops, in lap 26, Mosca is in the lead ahead of Emson and will extend the gap from 3 to 14 seconds in twelve lap, then Götz and Haase very close, and further behind Kell, Walker (firmly on top of the Pro-am), Fontana, Rogalski and Goethe, while Rugolo has taken command in Am ahead of Pulcini.

The second wave of pit stops starts on lap 42, with Bennett leading after all changes (lap 50), 18 seconds ahead of Révész, challenged for many laps by Lebbon, then Reicher, Macdonald, Jans, Mardini and Pierburg. In Am, Sansom is again ahead of Forgione.

There is drama in the fight for the Pro-Am title during the third stint, as first the GetSpeed Mercedes of Jans has to stop in the pits with some sort of problem in the front, and then it is its direct rival, the GetSpeed car of Pierburg, needing to have the front bonnet fixed.  In the lead, the situation is stable, with Bennett reaching the third pit stop (lap 67) with a gap of 18 seconds on Révész and Lebbon, still glued together, and Reicher, Macdonald, Testa, Mardini and Simonazzi further back.

The last twenty laps see no major changes, with Mosca securing the win and Götz securing Révész’s title. In Am, Pulcini wins the race, but Rugolo, second, secures the title.