The 2026 International GT Open headed to Monza for its penultimate round, where Leonardo Moncini and Rodrigo Testa followed their Hockenheim breakthrough with victory in the season’s second 500km endurance race.
Scuderia Villorba Corse’s young pairing inherited its opportunity late after Christian Mansell and Maximilian Götz controlled much of the weekend for Team Motopark. The Mercedes-AMG started from pole and remained at the centre of the victory fight until an apparent suspension failure sent Götz into the barriers at Ascari with only three laps remaining. Moncini and Testa consequently secured maximum double points, ahead of Greystone GT’s Zac Meakin and Dean Macdonald and ZRS Motorsport’s Pietro Armanni and Alex Fontana.
Championship leaders Tom Emson and Tom Lebbon struggled to match the outright leaders but salvaged fourth for Elite Motorsport with Entire Race Engineering. They leave Monza on 138 points, 16 ahead of Meakin, while Macdonald and the ZRS pairing also remain mathematically involved heading to Barcelona. Mansell and Götz’s late retirement leaves them 39 points behind and ends their title challenge.
The class championships also changed significantly. Charlie Bateman and Henrique Chaves won Pro-Am for Blackthorn, moving Bateman ahead of Alexander Fach, while Joel Monegro and Constantin Dressler’s Am victory returned Monegro to the championship lead following Adrian and Andrzej Lewandowski’s retirement.
2026 International GT Open: Monza: Free Practice sessions
Monza’s endurance format and double points ensured that Friday’s Free Practice carried additional importance, with teams preparing for almost three hours of racing rather than the championship’s usual two sprint contests. The depth of the 33-car field became immediately apparent, as 20 cars finished the day within one second and six manufacturers occupied the leading seven positions.
Team Motopark emerged as the early benchmark. Mansell and Götz topped the combined Friday order after setting a 1:45.299 during Free Practice 2, while teammates Marcelo Ramírez and Dominik Baumann sat only 0.330s behind with the time that had led Free Practice 1. Villorba’s Moncini and Testa followed another eight thousandths behind, with Meakin and Macdonald fourth for Greystone GT.
Blackthorn also began strongly, with Bateman and Chaves fifth overall and fastest in Pro-Am at +0.485s. Armanni and Fontana placed sixth for ZRS, while Yaroslav Veselaho and Lorenzo Ferrari gave AF Corse seventh. Ray Acosta and Marco Bonanomi led the Am runners in 11th overall.
The entry had reduced from the 34 cars initially expected in the Monza GT Open 500 preview after 4F PTT Racing withdrew its BMW following a heavy private-testing accident on Thursday. Both drivers involved escaped injury.
2026 International GT Open: Monza: Qualifying: Mansell and Götz secure another endurance pole
The Monza 500 used the same endurance Qualifying system as Spa, with each driver completing a session before officials combined the pair’s best laps to determine the starting order.
Mansell and Götz again excelled in the format. Both drivers set the second-fastest time in their respective sessions, but their consistency gave the #71 Mercedes-AMG the best combined average at 1:44.452. That placed them 0.123s ahead of Macdonald and Meakin, with Macdonald having topped the opening individual session for Greystone.
Moncini and Testa secured third, 0.240s from pole, while Armanni and Fontana joined them on the second row at +0.264s. Emson and Lebbon could only qualify fifth at +0.571s, immediately placing the championship leaders behind three of their closest title rivals.
Nikita Mazepin and César Gazeau put Motopark’s third Mercedes sixth, while GT Open debutants Giuseppe Forenzi and Ian Rodríguez impressed with seventh for FAEMS Team by Nova Race. Ramírez and Baumann followed, with Baumann setting the outright fastest individual lap of the two sessions at 1:44.303. Blackthorn secured Pro-Am pole through Bateman and Chaves, while Acosta and Bonanomi headed Am for AF Corse.
Combined Qualifying – leading positions
- #71 Team Motopark — Christian Mansell/Maximilian Götz — Mercedes-AMG — 1:44.452 average
- #33 Greystone GT — Dean Macdonald/Zac Meakin — McLaren — +0.123s
- #63 Scuderia Villorba Corse — Rodrigo Testa/Leonardo Moncini — Lamborghini — +0.240s
- #911 ZRS Motorsport — Pietro Armanni/Alex Fontana — Porsche — +0.264s
- #17 Elite Motorsport with Entire Race Engineering — Tom Lebbon/Tom Emson — Ferrari — +0.571s
- #99 Team Motopark — Nikita Mazepin/César Gazeau — Mercedes-AMG — +0.600s
- #66 FAEMS Team by Nova Race — Giuseppe Forenzi/Ian Rodríguez — BMW — +0.756s
- #28 Team Motopark — Marcelo Ramírez/Dominik Baumann — Mercedes-AMG — +0.813s
- #97 Blackthorn — Charlie Bateman/Henrique Chaves — Aston Martin — Pro-Am pole
- #107 AF Corse — Ray Acosta/Marco Bonanomi — Ferrari — Am pole
The complete session documents are available through the official International GT Open Monza event page. Motopark therefore entered Sunday having topped Friday and secured pole, while Mansell and Götz faced a race that would prove crucial to keeping their championship hopes alive.
Monza GT Open 500: Mansell takes control as early Safety Cars interrupt opening stint
Mansell retained the advantage when the 33-car field reached the opening chicane, while Macdonald settled into second. Moncini followed in third ahead of Fontana and Emson, with Forenzi, Mazepin and Ramírez forming the next group. Dressler initially led Am, while Bateman placed the Blackthorn Aston Martin at the front of Pro-Am.
The leading order remained relatively stable through the opening 11 laps before Alexander Schwarzer made contact with Veselaho under braking for the first chicane. Veselaho spun into the wall and then collected Nicolas Stati’s Leipert Motorsport Lamborghini, forcing Race Control to deploy the first Safety Car.
Officials briefly restarted the contest, but Acosta then spun into the Turn 1 gravel and prompted a second Safety Car. The interruptions delayed the opening compulsory stop until green-flag racing resumed on Lap 20.
Once the first driver-change cycle ended on Lap 27, Götz had retained the Motopark advantage, although a moment at Lesmo briefly threatened his position. Meakin sat second ahead of Armanni, Lebbon and Testa, with less than 10 seconds covering the leading five. Chaves held the Pro-Am advantage, while Dressler continued to lead Am.
Third Safety Car keeps leading group together
Another interruption followed on Lap 34 when Xolile Letlaka suffered a brake problem and struck the tyre barriers at Lesmo. The third Safety Car neutralised the race until Lap 38 and again prevented Motopark from converting its pace into a substantial advantage.
The second pit sequence returned Mansell to the wheel of the leading Mercedes, with Macdonald and Moncini following within five seconds by Lap 49. Emson sat fourth ahead of Fontana and Ramírez, while Bateman remained the leading Pro-Am runner at that stage. Al Faisal Al Zubair and Mazepin followed, although officials later handed Mazepin a five-second penalty for completing an overtake beyond the track limits.
The Am championship also received a significant development during this phase when the Baron Motorsport Ferrari of Adrian and Andrzej Lewandowski retired with a technical problem. Monegro consequently took control of the class ahead of Hernández, giving the Dominican driver an opportunity to reclaim a championship lead he had lost earlier in the season.
At the front, Mansell, Macdonald and Moncini remained closely matched as the race approached its decisive final hour, while Elite continued trying to protect valuable points despite lacking the pace to join the victory battle.
Moncini penalty complicates Villorba’s victory challenge
Moncini increased the pressure on Macdonald and eventually moved the Lamborghini ahead of the McLaren, but the move created another complication for Villorba. Officials handed the #63 a five-second penalty after ruling that Moncini had completed the overtake beyond track limits.
Mansell remained ahead on track, while Emson held fourth. Mazepin, Forenzi, Ramírez and Al Zubair followed as the Pro order settled before the final pit cycle. Milota had meanwhile taken the Pro-Am lead from Bateman, while Monegro remained at the head of Am despite contact with Mikkel Pedersen at the first chicane. Officials penalised Monegro’s Porsche by 10 seconds for that incident.
The final compulsory stops carried additional significance because the success handicaps accumulated from previous rounds applied during that cycle. Villorba’s smaller handicap finally changed the overall order, and Testa emerged in the lead approximately two seconds ahead of Götz.
Meakin sat another 14 seconds behind, followed by Armanni and Lebbon. Gazeau, Rodríguez and Mosca occupied the next positions, while Chaves returned to the Pro-Am lead ahead of Mettler and Salaquarda. Dressler again headed the Am order ahead of Tribaudini and Waszek.
Götz closes as second Villorba penalty raises pressure
Testa’s task became considerably harder when Villorba received another five-second penalty for a pit-stop infringement. Combined with Moncini’s earlier sanction, the #63 now needed to finish at least 10 seconds ahead of Götz to keep the victory.
The Portuguese driver responded by steadily increasing the gap, but Götz remained close enough to keep the adjusted race lead in Motopark’s hands. With three laps remaining, Testa had built the margin to approximately 8.5 seconds, leaving the #71 Mercedes provisionally positioned to inherit victory once Villorba’s penalties applied.
The entire race and championship picture then changed at Ascari. An apparent suspension failure sent Götz into the barriers on the exit, ending a weekend in which the German and Mansell had topped Friday, secured pole and remained at the front throughout most of the 500km contest.
The retirement also ended their Drivers’ Championship challenge. Mansell and Götz had arrived 23 points behind Emson and Lebbon, but their Monza non-score left them on 99 while the Elite pairing collected another 16 through fourth place.
Moncini and Testa complete Villorba’s breakthrough run
Götz’s retirement removed the need for Testa to overcome the full penalty margin against the Mercedes and allowed Villorba to complete its second consecutive victory.
Testa crossed the line after 87 laps in 2:46:54.885, with Meakin and Macdonald finishing 21.368s behind. The Greystone McLaren’s second place delivered 24 double points and substantially strengthened its championship challenge after the pair had also finished second in Hockenheim Race 1.
Armanni and Fontana completed the podium another 16.673s behind, collecting 20 points for ZRS Motorsport. Emson and Lebbon salvaged fourth, ensuring they retained a useful championship cushion despite describing themselves as fortunate after struggling for outright pace.
Mazepin and Gazeau finished fifth in Motopark’s surviving front-running Mercedes, ahead of Durán and Mosca. Forenzi and Rodríguez completed an impressive GT Open debut in seventh, while Bateman and Chaves finished eighth overall and won Pro-Am.
Monegro and Dressler secured Am honours from 18th overall. Hernández and Tribaudini claimed second in class, with Wira and Waszek third. Villorba also claimed the outright fastest lap through a 1:45.028 on Lap 68.
Monza GT Open 500 classification
- #63 Scuderia Villorba Corse — Moncini/Testa — Lamborghini — Pro — 87 laps, 2:46:54.885
- #33 Greystone GT — Meakin/Macdonald — McLaren — Pro — +21.368s
- #911 ZRS Motorsport — Armanni/Fontana — Porsche — Pro — +38.041s
- #17 Elite Motorsport with Entire Race Engineering — Emson/Lebbon — Ferrari — Pro — +51.182s
- #99 Team Motopark — Mazepin/Gazeau — Mercedes-AMG — Pro — +57.726s
- #51 AF Corse — Durán/Mosca — Ferrari — Pro — +58.284s
- #66 FAEMS Team by Nova Race — Forenzi/Rodríguez — BMW — Pro — +1:01.804
- #97 Blackthorn — Bateman/Chaves — Aston Martin — Pro-Am — +1:07.271
- #28 Team Motopark — Ramírez/Baumann — Mercedes-AMG — Pro — +1:07.482
- #707 Al Manar by Dragon Racing — Al Zubair/Marschall — Ferrari — Pro — +1:08.064
- #54 CBRX by SPS — Müller/Mettler — Mercedes-AMG — Pro-Am — +1:26.151
- #75 Team ISR — Salaquarda/Milota — Audi — Pro-Am — +1:31.685
- #777 Olimp Racing — Marcin Jedliński/Basz — Ferrari — Pro-Am — +1:32.466
- #11 Fach Auto Tech — Schwarzer/Fach — Porsche — Pro-Am — +1:34.036
- #26 Saintéloc Racing — Blanchemain/Pla — Audi — Pro-Am — 86 laps
- #88 Track Focused — Darren Kell/James Kell — McLaren — Pro-Am — 86 laps
- #117 Mikkel O. Pedersen Racing — Mikkel Pedersen/Lars Pedersen — Porsche — Pro-Am — 86 laps
- #12 Fach Auto Tech — Monegro/Dressler — Porsche — Am — 86 laps
- #180 Auto Sport Racing — Pavlović/Fischbaum — Lamborghini — Pro-Am — 86 laps
- #77 Grupo Prom Racing Team — Hernández/Tribaudini — Mercedes-AMG — Am — 86 laps
- #14 Good Speed Racing Team — Wira/Waszek — Aston Martin — Am — 86 laps
- #16 AF Corse — Hahn/Osman — Ferrari — Am — 86 laps
- #107 AF Corse — Acosta/Bonanomi — Ferrari — Am — 85 laps
- #5 Olimp Racing — Stanislaw Jedliński/Korzeniowski — Ferrari — Am — 85 laps
- #24 Greystone GT — Borodin/Webb — McLaren — Pro-Am — 85 laps
- #81 Norik Racing — Shibata/Fagg — Ferrari — Pro-Am — 85 laps
- #67 Förch Racing by Atlas Ward — Dwernicki/Magdziarz — Porsche — Am — 85 laps
- #71 Team Motopark — Mansell/Götz — Mercedes-AMG — Pro — 84 laps — suspension/accident
- #25 Into Africa Racing by Dragon Racing — Letlaka/White — Ferrari — Pro-Am — 73 laps — mechanical
Not classified: #55 AF Corse — De Meeus/Abril — accident damage; #6 Baron Motorsport — Adrian Lewandowski/Andrzej Lewandowski — mechanical; #70 Leipert Motorsport — Leitch/Stati — collision damage; #96 AF Corse — Veselaho/Ferrari — collision.
Fastest lap: #63 Scuderia Villorba Corse — Moncini/Testa — 1:45.028 on Lap 68
Pro-Am winner: #97 Blackthorn — Bateman/Chaves — eighth overall
Am winner: #12 Fach Auto Tech — Monegro/Dressler — 18th overall
The complete classifications and session documents can be found through the official Monza event results page. The final race order, laps, gaps and fastest laps are also reflected in the published event classification.
Overall Drivers’ Championship after Round 7
Emson and Lebbon arrived at Monza 23 points ahead of Mansell and Götz, with Meakin another point behind the Motopark pair. The double-points endurance race instead leaves Greystone as Elite’s closest threat heading into the Barcelona finale.
Fourth place added 16 points to Emson and Lebbon’s total, moving both onto 138. Meakin’s second place contributed 24 and takes him to 122, reducing the championship lead to 16. Macdonald sits five points behind his teammate on 117 because he missed Paul Ricard, while Armanni and Fontana’s podium moves both to 112, 26 from the lead.
Mansell and Götz remain on 99 after failing to score and can no longer overcome the leaders with only Barcelona’s two sprint races remaining. Moncini and Testa’s maximum 30 points take them from 64 to 94, but their 44-point deficit also eliminates them despite consecutive victories.
Elite’s pairing, Greystone’s #33 drivers and ZRS therefore carry the overall championship fight into Round 8. The official International GT Open standings show the substantially narrowed picture after Monza.
- Tom Emson — 138 points
= Tom Lebbon — 138 - Zac Meakin — 122
- Dean Macdonald — 117
- Alex Fontana — 112
= Pietro Armanni — 112 - Christian Mansell — 99
= Maximilian Götz — 99 - Leonardo Moncini — 94
= Rodrigo Testa — 94 - Rafael Durán — 51
- Tommaso Mosca — 44
- Yaroslav Veselaho — 40
- Alexander Fach — 38
- McKenzy Cresswell — 30
- Al Faisal Al Zubair — 29
- Dominik Baumann — 29
= Marcelo Ramírez — 29 - Alexander Schwarzer — 27
- Charlie Bateman — 26
- Lorenzo Ferrari — 21
- Thomas Neubauer — 19
- Alejandro Geppert — 18
- Ben Tuck — 18
- Michaël Blanchemain — 17
= Jim Pla — 17 - Filip Salaquarda — 16
= Libor Milota — 16 - Jonny Adam — 14
- Jayden Kelly — 12
- César Gazeau — 12
= Nikita Mazepin — 12 - Henrique Chaves — 12
- Karol Basz — 11
= Marcin Jedliński — 11 - Lucas Wolf — 11
- Fabian Schiller — 10
= Anthony Bartone — 10 - Dexter Müller — 10
= Yannick Mettler — 10 - David Fumanelli — 9
- Laurent De Meeus — 8
= Vincent Abril — 8 - Morgan Tillbrook — 8
= Ben Barnicoat — 8 - Giuseppe Forenzi — 8
= Ian Rodríguez — 8 - David Perel — 7
- Alessandro Balzan — 6
= Dylan Medler — 6 - Joseph Loake — 5
- Fabian Dybionka — 5
= Hubert Darmetko — 5 - Gilles Renmans — 3
= Leonardo Colavita — 3 - Dennis Marschall — 2
- James Kell — 1
- Xolile Letlaka — 1
- Axcil Jefferies — 1
- Darren Kell — 1
- Krystian Korzeniowski — 0
- Tomasz Magdziarz — 0
- Kobe Pauwels — 0
- Joel Monegro — 0
- Christian Engelhart — 0
= Philipp Sager — 0 - Piotr Wira — 0
- Galid Osman — 0
= Marcelo Hahn — 0 - Huilin Han — 0
- Jakub Dwernicki — 0
- Adrian Lewandowski — 0
- Andrzej Lewandowski — 0
- Charles Fagg — 0
= Norikazu Shibata — 0 - Seweryn Mazur — 0
- Theodor Jensen — 0
= Ameerh Naran — 0 - Alfredo Hernández — 0
- Lars Engelbrekt Pedersen — 0
= Mikkel O. Pedersen — 0 - Oliver Webb — 0
= Andrey Borodin — 0 - Stuart White — 0
- Antal Zsigo — 0
= Csaba Walter — 0 - Constantin Dressler — 0
- Stanislaw Jedliński — 0
- Milos Pavlović — 0
= Michael Fischbaum — 0 - Stéphane Tribaudini — 0
- Denis Waszek — 0
- Angelo Fontana — 0
= André Fernandes — 0 - Marco Bonanomi — 0
= Rey Acosta — 0 - Scott Noble — 0
= Jason Hart — 0 - Brendon Leitch — 0
= Nicolas Stati — 0 - Yifei Ye — 0
- Norbert Siedler — 0
Pro-Am Championship: Bateman overturns four-point deficit
Pro-Am underwent an even more direct championship swing. Fach arrived at Monza with 72 points and a four-point advantage over Bateman, but the double-points format offered 20 points to the class winner.
Bateman and Chaves maximised that opportunity. Their class pole placed Blackthorn ninth overall on the grid before the pair remained at the front of Pro-Am through much of the 500km contest. Chaves eventually completed the victory in eighth overall, ahead of Müller and Mettler and the ISR Audi of Milota and Salaquarda.
Fach and Schwarzer recovered to fifth in class, giving Fach eight points rather than the 20 earned by Bateman. The resulting 12-point swing turns Bateman’s four-point pre-event deficit into an eight-point advantage, with the Blackthorn driver now on 88 to Fach’s 80.
Basz and Marcin Jedliński remain third on 68 following fourth at Monza, while Milota and Salaquarda move to 66. Schwarzer and the CBRX by SPS pairing of Müller and Mettler share the next total on 60.
Only Bateman and Fach remain capable of taking the class title at Barcelona.
- Charlie Bateman — 88 points
- Alexander Fach — 80
- Karol Basz — 68
= Marcin Jedliński — 68 - Libor Milota — 66
= Filip Salaquarda — 66 - Alexander Schwarzer — 60
- Dexter Müller — 60
= Yannick Mettler — 60 - Michaël Blanchemain — 47
= Jim Pla — 47 - Jonny Adam — 45
- Henrique Chaves — 35
- Laurent De Meeus — 29
= Vincent Abril — 29 - James Kell — 25
= Darren Kell — 25 - Hubert Darmetko — 21
= Fabian Dybionka — 21 - Lucas Wolf — 20
- Xolile Letlaka — 20
- Axcil Jefferies — 20
- Ben Barnicoat — 12
= Morgan Tillbrook — 12 - Norikazu Shibata — 9
= Charles Fagg — 9 - Kobe Pauwels — 8
- Christian Engelhart — 3
= Philipp Sager — 3 - Mikkel O. Pedersen — 3
= Lars Engelbrekt Pedersen — 3 - Andrey Borodin — 2
= Oliver Webb — 2 - Theodor Jensen — 2
= Ameerh Naran — 2 - Milos Pavlović — 0
= Michael Fischbaum — 0 - Stuart White — 0
Am Championship: Monegro regains lead
The Am contest also changed leaders after contrasting fortunes for its two principal contenders.
Adrian Lewandowski arrived 10 points clear of Monegro on 82 but failed to score after the Baron Motorsport Ferrari suffered a technical problem during the second pit-stop phase. That gave Monegro an opportunity to overturn the deficit with maximum double points.
Monegro and Dressler did exactly that. The Fach Auto Tech Porsche had already featured near the front of the class during the early stints before Monegro assumed the lead. The pair survived Monegro’s 10-second penalty and the final strategic cycle to secure the Am victory, moving Monegro from 72 to 92 points.
Hahn and Osman finished fourth in class and move to 67, while Andrzej Lewandowski remains fourth in the standings on 62. Wira’s third-place result takes him level with Hernández on 49 after the Mexican driver and Tribaudini secured their third consecutive podium.
Monegro therefore heads to Barcelona 10 points ahead of Adrian Lewandowski, reversing the exact deficit he carried into Monza.
- Joel Monegro — 92 points
- Adrian Lewandowski — 82
- Galid Osman — 67
= Marcelo Hahn — 67 - Andrzej Lewandowski — 62
- Piotr Wira — 49
- Alfredo Hernández — 49
- Tomasz Magdziarz — 40
- Lucas Wolf — 36
- Krystian Korzeniowski — 33
- Seweryn Mazur — 30
- Stéphane Tribaudini — 24
- Stanislaw Jedliński — 23
- Constantin Dressler — 20
- Jakub Dwernicki — 13
- Denis Waszek — 12
- Huilin Han — 11
- André Fernandes — 9
= Angelo Fontana — 9 - Antal Zsigo — 8
= Csaba Walter — 8 - Darren Kell — 7
- Marco Bonanomi — 6
= Rey Acosta — 6 - Scott Noble — 0
= Jason Hart — 0
Teams’ Championship: Greystone extends advantage over Elite
Greystone GT arrived at Monza only one point ahead of Elite Motorsport in the Teams’ Championship, but Meakin and Macdonald’s second place allowed the McLaren squad to increase that margin.
Greystone adds 16 team points from the endurance race and moves from 79 to 95, while Elite’s fourth place contributes eight and moves the team to 86. The difference therefore increases from one point to nine ahead of the final round.
Motopark’s championship hopes suffered alongside Mansell and Götz’s Drivers’ challenge. Mazepin and Gazeau’s fifth place still delivered six points for the team, but Motopark remains third on 74, 21 behind Greystone. With only 20 Teams’ Championship points available across Barcelona’s two races, the defending champion drops out of contention.
ZRS moves to 67 through Armanni and Fontana’s podium, while Villorba’s victory takes the Lamborghini squad to 53. AF Corse follows on 37.
Barcelona will therefore decide the Teams’ Championship between Greystone and Elite, mirroring the leading two teams in the Drivers’ fight.
- Greystone GT — 95 points
- Elite Motorsport with Entire Race Engineering — 86
- Team Motopark — 74
- ZRS Motorsport — 67
- Scuderia Villorba Corse — 53
- AF Corse — 37
- Fach Auto Tech — 17
- Al Manar by Dragon Racing — 13
- GetSpeed — 6
- Blackthorn — 6
- Saintéloc Racing — 4
- Team ISR — 4
- Sendom Racing Team — 0
= Target Racing — 0
= Track Focused — 0
= Grupo Prom Racing Team — 0
= Into Africa Racing by Dragon Racing Intl. — 0
= Iron Lynx — 0
= Leipert Motorsport — 0
= Mikkel O. Pedersen Racing — 0
= Norik Racing — 0
= Olimp Racing — 0
= Optimum Motorsport — 0
= PTT Racing — 0
= Rinaldi Racing — 0
= CBRX by SPS — 0
= Dinamic GT — 0
= Doublett Racing — 0
= AF Motorsport — 0
= 2 Seas Motorsport — 0
= 4F PTT Racing Team — 0
= Good Speed Racing Team — 0
= Auto Sport Racing — 0
= Baron Motorsport Team — 0
= FAEMS Team – Nova Race by Ebimotors — 0
= Förch Racing by Atlas Ward — 0
= Gamota Racing — 0
Emson and Lebbon retain control as title fight narrows
Monza fundamentally changed the shape of the championship without removing Emson and Lebbon from the strongest position. The Elite pairing entered the weekend with a 23-point advantage and leave 16 ahead of Meakin, but the identity of their nearest challengers changed substantially.
Mansell and Götz appeared to have the strongest opportunity to respond after topping Free Practice, taking pole and controlling most of the race, but one suspension failure three laps from the finish turned a potential victory into a non-score. Meakin and Macdonald capitalised with second, while Armanni and Fontana ensured ZRS remained involved through third.
Villorba leaves Monza as the form team after two dramatically different victories. Moncini and Testa controlled Hockenheim Race 1 from pole before overcoming penalties, strategy and late Motopark heartbreak to win the 500km contest.
The class fights remain equally compelling. Bateman has transformed a four-point Pro-Am deficit into an eight-point lead, while Monegro has converted a 10-point Am deficit into an advantage of the same size. Greystone also carries nine points over Elite in the Teams’ standings.
After the double-points Monza GT Open 500 reshaped all four championships, Barcelona will decide the Overall, Pro-Am, Am and Teams’ titles in the final two races of 2026.
