Scuderia Villorba Corse drivers Leonardo Moncini and Rodrigo Testa delivered the team’s second International GT Open victory on home soil in the Monza 500-kilometre enduro.
After their maiden win at Hockenheim, the #63 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 Italian duo scored another victory and their first in the endurance format after taking the lead in the final round of pit stops.
The pole-sitting #71 Team Motopark pairing Maximilian Götz and Christian Mansell experienced heartbreak after leading the race and chasing the #63 Scuderia Villorba Corse Lamborghini. They retired just three laps before the end due to a suspension issue, ending their winning pursuit and championship hopes for this year.
“It was not an easy weekend for us,” said Moncini. “Today the car was mega. The race pace was incredible. I’m happy to be in P1 again; this is a fantastic car. Mega happy, honestly, I have no words to say.”
“I don’t think it was an easy race,” added Testa.
“Leo did a really good first stint, but then we had a problem in the first pit stop, but the car was mega, the team did a mega job. They also had a great strategy towards the end…I think it’s a perfect weekend.”
The #71 Motopark Mercedes-AMG’s issue meant the Greystone GT #33 McLaren GT3 Evo of Zac Meakin and Dean Macdonald converted their second-place qualifying into a second-place finish, their fifth runner-up race result of 2026.
Elite Motorsport’s Tom Emson and Tom Lebbon finished fourth and retained their championship lead in the #17 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo.
That said, the gap between first and second, the latter formerly occupied by Götz/Mansell, has shrunk from 23 points to 16 to Meakin, and a further 5 points back to Macdonald. It keeps the title fight alive until the Barcelona season finale with an even tighter battle at the top.
Unusually for Monza, the start was orderly into the first chicane, keeping the 33-car grid fighting closely together. Mercedes-AMG factory driver Götz led the way ahead of McLaren works driver Macdonald.
Moncini held onto his third grid spot ahead of Alex Fontana’s #911 ZRS Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo.
It took until Lap 12 when the first drama, and first safety car (SC), was deployed after Pro-Am competitor Alexander Schwarzer (#11 Fach Auto Tech Porsche) touched Veselaho braking into the first chicane, causing the Ukrainian’s #96 AF Corse Ferrari to spin and hit the wall, collecting Nicolas Stati’s #70 Leipert Motorsport Lamborghini too.
After the race resumed, Rey Acosta spun his #107 AF Corse Ferrari into the gravel at Turn 1, bringing out another SC. Götz held the lead on the subsequent restart, sustaining pressure from Meakin’s #33 McLaren, followed by Pietro Armanni’s #911 ZRS Porsche, Lebbon’s #17 Ferrari and Testa in the #63 Lamborghini.
Drama on Lap 34 meant Xolile Letlaka in the #25 Into Africa Racing by Dragon Racing Ferrari hit the tyre wall at Lesmo, triggering a fourth SC and bringing the front runners together again.
Tensions remained high at the front as Mansell led Macdonald and Moncini, the trio covered by five seconds.
Following handicaps served in the third and final pit stop phase, Testa took the lead in the #63 Lamborghini, only two seconds ahead of Götz and 16 seconds ahead of Meakin.
Testa, however, had a five-second time penalty for a pit infringement, plus an additional five seconds for overtaking off-track, looming over him. Under pressure, he needed to establish a 10-second margin in front of Götz, who kept the gap down to 8.5 seconds.
Disaster struck for the #71 Motopark Mercedes-AMG of Götz when a suspension failure sent the German driver into the wall at the exit of Ascari, ending his and Mansell’s race in pursuit of a second win following the other enduro on the calendar, the Spa 500.
ZRS Motorsport’s Armanni/Fontana scored third place in the #911 Porsche, ahead of Emson/Lebbon.
The highest-placed Team Motopark Mercedes-AMG was the #99 of Nikita Mazepin and Cesar Gazeau in fifth, despite Mazepin incurring a five-second time penalty for overtaking off-track.
AF Corse’s #51 Ferrari of Rafaél Duran and Tomasco Mosca claimed sixth place from 10th on the grid.
Giuseppe Forenzi and his teammate Ian Rodriguez finished where they started in seventh place, undertaking an impressive GT Open debut result in the #66 BMW M4 GT3 EVO belonging to Faems Team – Nova Race.
In the Pro-Am category, Blackthorn (#97 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo) scored their third win of the 2026 season with Charles Bateman and Henrique Chaves in eighth overall.
It enabled Bateman to narrowly lead the class standings on 88 points, eight ahead of Alexander Fach, who shared the #11 Fach Auto Tech Porsche with Schwarzer and finished fifth in Pro-Am.
Marcelo Ramírez and Dominik Baumann finished ninth outright in the #28 Motopark Mercedes-AMG ahead of the #707 Al Manar by Dragon Racing Ferrari of Al Faisal Al Zubair and Dennis Marschall.
11th place overall and second in Pro-Am went to the #54 CBRX by SPS Mercedes-AMG team, driven by Dexter Müller and Yannick Mettler, who advanced from fourth on the grid.
Team ISR’s #75 Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO 2 claimed third in Pro-Am in the hands of Filip Salaquarda and Libor Milota, who triumphed in their battle ahead of the #777 Olimp Racing Ferrari (Marcin Jedliński/Karol Basz) ahead of the #11 Fach Porsche.
The other #26 Audi of Saintéloc Racing crossed the line 15th outright and sixth in Pro-Am with Frenchmen Michaël Blanchemain and Jim Pla, ahead of the #88 Track Focused McLaren of Darren and his son James Kell.
Mikkel O. Pedersen Racing finished eighth in Pro-Am, with Mikkel O. Pedersen and Lars Engelbrekt Pedersen having shared the #117 Porsche.
In the Am category, Fach Auto Tech’s #12 Porsche of Joel Monegro Reyes and his teammate Constantin Dressler won from second on the grid, capitalising on the pole-sitting #107 Costa Ferrari’s earlier accident.
Monegro leads the Am standings on 92 points after his fourth victory of the season; meanwhile, Adrian and Andrzej Lewandowski in the #6 Baron Motorsport Ferrari retired because of technical issues after the second round of pit stops.
As the Lewandowskis lost the title lead, handing it to Monegro, the #6 Ferrari drivers are now 10 points behind on 82.
Grupo Prom Racing’s Alfredo Hernández and Stéphane Tribaudini took second in Am in the #77 Mercedes-AMG, as Good Speed Racing’s Piotr Wira and Denis Waszek rounded out the Am podium in the #14 Aston Martin.
The #70 Lamborghini was the first retirement, followed by the #6 Ferrari and Laurent De Meeus/Vincent Abril’s #55 AF Corse Ferrari, which retired with under one hour left.
Next on the GT Open schedule is the Barcelona season finale, a sprint format on 17-18 October to decide our 2026 champions.
Images courtesy of GT Sport/Fotospeedy
