The GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup field returned to the track at Monza for FP1 on Saturday morning, as the first official session of the weekend got underway at the Temple of Speed. With a packed 57-car GT3 grid representing 10 manufacturers, the Monza round marks one of the championship’s biggest events of the season and comes after a busy Friday of testing, where Mercedes-AMG set the early benchmark. Lucas Auer had topped the two-hour Paid Test Session in the #48 Team Mann-Filter entry, narrowly ahead of Jules Gounon in the #3 Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG, while McLaren, Ferrari and Audi also showed promising pace ahead of the three-hour Endurance Cup race.
Early red flag interrupts FP1 at GTWC Europe Endurance Cup round in Monza
As the session got underway, the first drivers headed out on track and used the running to fine-tune their settings for the next day’s qualifying. One of the Mustangs then ran through the gravel at the second chicane, sending a cloud of dust across the track. Others followed, briefly making it look as though something was on fire.
Moments later, Rolf Ineichen in the #60 Ferrari went off at the Ascari Chicane, forcing officials to red-flag the session. With the clock still running, marshals recovered the car and cleared the gravel from the track, shortening FP1 for the GTWC Europe Endurance Cup round at Monza. Once marshals recovered the car from the gravel, Ineichen drove the Ferrari back to the pits, giving the team a chance to send it back out again.
Ghiretti sets the early benchmark as gravel causes more trouble
With the track back under green-flag conditions, the cars returned to the Temple of Speed with around one hour and 10 minutes still on the clock.
Alessandro Ghiretti led the way in the #10 Boutsen VDS Porsche with a 1:46.941, followed by the #007 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin and Arthur Leclerc in the #50 AF Corse Ferrari. However, Ghiretti’s benchmark remained around two seconds off last year’s pole time, leaving plenty of room for improvement at Monza.
Shortly afterwards, another car ran through the gravel but managed to rejoin without assistance. However, it dragged a significant amount of gravel back onto the track, leaving marshals with a clean-up job after the session.
Full Course Yellow halts FP1 as investigations pile up
With around 50 minutes left on the clock, the #992 came under investigation for speeding in the pit lane. Shortly afterwards, officials deployed a Full Course Yellow after the #59 McLaren stopped in the escape road at Turn 1, forcing marshals to recover the car. The issue appeared to be technical, as the driver climbed out and the McLaren seemed to have no power.
However, the team appeared to fit the front-left tyre incorrectly, prompting officials to investigate the #59 for an unsafe release. While FP1 for the GTWC Europe Endurance Cup round at Monza remained under Full Course Yellow conditions, the #80 Boutsen VDS Porsche also stopped at Turn 4.
Once marshals recovered both cars, officials returned the session to green-flag running. They then placed the #80 under investigation for an unsafe release, while the #6 GetSpeed Team Bartone Bros Mercedes-AMG came under investigation for speeding in the pit lane.
Hofer goes fastest as Ascari chaos keeps race control busy
Race control had a busy session at Monza as officials placed more cars under investigation. They investigated the #3 and #48 for overtaking under yellow flags, while the #64 came under investigation for speeding in the pit lane. Meanwhile, Max Hofer put the #9 Pure Rxcing Porsche on top with a 1:46.232.
More chaos then followed at the Ascari Chicane, bringing out double waved yellows. The #35 Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin went off track, before the #50 AF Corse Ferrari spun, forcing others to take avoiding action. As the incidents continued, officials also investigated the #89 for speeding in the pit lane, followed by the #54 for driving too quickly through a yellow-flag sector.
Late red flag leads to another Full Course Yellow at Monza
With 30 minutes left on the clock, Dorian Boccolacci ran off track at Ascari in the #2 Boutsen VDS Porsche and went through the gravel, but managed to continue.
Shortly afterwards, officials brought the session back under red-flag conditions, seemingly due to the amount of gravel on track. That gave marshals the chance to clean the circuit before race control returned FP1 for the GTWC Europe Endurance Cup at Monza to green-flag running, allowing drivers to continue on a cleaner track.
With 20 minutes remaining, the session restarted and gave teams another chance to test their set-ups ahead of qualifying and the three-hour race the following day. However, yellow flags quickly returned when the #52 Ferrari stopped at Turn 6. As the driver appeared unable to continue, officials neutralised the session again and deployed a Full Course Yellow. The Ferrari stopped in a relatively safe position, allowing marshals to push the car clear and race control to return the session to green-flag conditions.
Gounon snatches top spot in tight FP1 finish
With 14 minutes left on the clock, the cars picked up the pace again around the Temple of Speed as teams continued to fine-tune their set-ups. Meanwhile, the #98 BMW remained in the garage as the team appeared to work on an issue.
As the session continued, the #12 ran through the escape road at Turn 1, while a Silver Cup car led the standings ahead of a Bronze Cup entry, with the first Pro Cup contender further behind. With just one second covering the top 46 cars, FP1 at Monza remained extremely tight, and the order could still change quickly.
In the final minutes, Dennis Lind moved to the top in the #24 Steller Motorsport Chevrolet with three minutes left on the clock. However, as the chequered flag fell, Jules Gounon in the #3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing went even faster and claimed the top spot.
By the end of the session, 48 cars were covered by just under one second, highlighting how close the field was around Monza.
