- Charlie Thornton
- Jun 27, 2025
- 7 min read
GT World Challenge Europe (Endurance Cup) - Round 2 - Team Mann-Filter triumphs amid chaos in Monza
GetSpeed secured pole position in a frantic qualifying session, while drama unfolded during a crash-filled race, with Auer, Cairoli and Engel clinching overall victory, while class honours for Garage59, AlManar, Century Motorsport, and Rutronik shake up the standings ahead of the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.
QUALIFYING
In qualifying one, the #5 Optimum Motorsport McLaren 720s GT3 Evo of James Allen opened proceedings with a 1:46.782, before a flurry of changes saw the #9 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Mikaël Grenier, the #17 Team GetSpeed Mercedes of Luca Stolz, and the #992 Paradine Competition BMW M4 GT3 Evo of James Kellett all move into the mix. The pace intensified as Lucas Auer in the #48 Team Mann-Filter Mercedes briefly climbed to second, only to be beaten by Alessio Rovera in the #51 AF Corse - Francorchamps Motors Ferrari 296 GT3 with a 1:45.851. Allen responded with a 1:45.729, reclaiming the top spot momentarily, while in the final minutes, Joseph Loake in the #59 Garage59 McLaren and Stolz traded the fastest times before Rovera ultimately secured first position with a 1:45.376. Auer slotted into second by just 0.110 seconds, and notably the #5 McLaren took Gold class honours in fifth position overall, while the #188 Garage59 McLaren led in the Bronze cup in twelfth, and the #26 Sainteloc Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II topped Silver in eighteenth.
Qualifying two saw early pace emerge from Paul Evrard in the #25 Sainteloc Racing Audi, as well as Miguel Ramos in the Bronze cup entered #188 Garage59 McLaren, but this was short lived when Max Hofer in the #66 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi went quickest with a 1:46.341. The #17 Team GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Jules Gounon then took firm command with successive fast laps, culminating with a 1:45.000, although, Matteo Cairoli in the #48 Team Mann-Filter AMG briefly held the top spot with a 1:45.558, Gounon’s aggregate lap time of a 1:45.309 kept him ahead by just forty-six-hundredths. The #58 Garage59 McLaren topped the Gold cup in fourth position overall, while the #21 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo was best in Silver in fifteenth, and the #188 Garage59 McLaren stayed in control in the Bronze cup, twenty-sixth overall.
The third and final qualifying session of the weekend began with a surprise from Bronze runner Darren Leung in the #991 Paradine Competition BMW M4 GT3 Evo, but it was short lived as Thomas Preining in the #911 Pure Rxcing Porsche 992 GT3 R, then Gilles Magnus in the #25 Sainteloc Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II, and then Jordan Pepper in the #63 Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 successively improved the benchmark. Ultimately, Fabian Schiller in the #17 car sealed pole position with a session-best 1:45.086, securing an overall average of 1:45.235. The #48 Team Mann-Filter Mercedes settled for second, just 0.096 seconds back, with the #63 Lamborghini third, and the #163 VSR Lamborghini and #59 McLaren completing the top five. The #58 McLaren once again topped the Gold cup from sixth position, while the #21 Aston Martin claimed Silver pole in fourteenth, and the #188 made it a Bronze qualifying sweep from thirteenth position overall.
RACE
The three hours of Monza roared to life with chaos from the green flag, as a major crash between the #21 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin the #9 Boutsen VDS Mercedes unfolded just seconds after the start. Further contact with a VSR Lamborghini sent a McLaren off at the Seconda Variante, prompting an early safety car. Once the racing resumed, more incidents followed, including a collision between the #611 Nordique Racing Mercedes of Tim Sandtler and the #96 Rutronik Racing Porsche 992 GT3 R of Sven Müller that brought out a full course yellow. Amidst the early pit strategies being made, the #17 Team GetSpeed Mercedes of Jules Gounon led the pack ahead of the #48 Team Mann-Filter Mercedes, and the #63 Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini at the first proper restart.
Trouble persisted as the #112 CSA Racing McLaren 720s GT3 Evo of Maxime Robin punted the #92 Herberth Motorsport Porsche of Rolf Ineichen at turn one, eliminating the latter, and triggering another full course yellow. As the race progressed, a string of penalties were handed out, including a fifteen-second penalty for the #992 Paradine Competition BMW for a short pitstop, as well as drive-through penalties for the #96 Rutronik Racing Porsche and the #112 CSA Racing McLaren for causing their respective collisions. Several cars retired or ran into trouble, including the #80 Lionspeed GP Porsche of Gabriel Rindone, when he got beached in the gravel at turn one after being hit by Nicolò Rosi in the #8 Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3.
After the second round of pit stops, the #48 Team Mann-Filter Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Matteo Cairoli moved into the lead, holding their position through a messy restart phase complicated by backmarkers, while Marco Sørensen found himself in second position in the #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo. Fabian Schiller in the #17 Mercedes carved through the field, overtaking Alessio Deledda in the #60 VSR Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2, and then Sørensen with an impressive move around the outside at Curva Grande to take second position. Marvin Kirchhöfer followed through into third as the #59 Garage59 McLaren 720s GT3 Evo gained ground.
Incidents continued as drivers pushed their cars as hard as possible, with the #98 ROWE Racing BMW M4 GT3 Evo of Jesse Krohn slid off the track at turn one, and required some repairs as bodywork started to fall off. A brief full course yellow to clear the debris was deployed, just before Cairoli pitted for the final time, handing the #48 Mercedes to Lucas Auer. However, a misstep in the #17’s final stop saw Luca Stolz leave the pits with an unsecured front-left wheel, ending their run for a victory. Punctures struck both the #23 Team RJN McLaren of Tommy Foster and the #6 GetSpeed Mercedes of Aaron Walker, just before the Silver class leader Ivan Ekelchik in his #19 Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 suffered a high-speed blowout that narrowly avoided collecting the front-running #32 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 Evo of Kelvin van der Linde.
After the brief full course yellow, Auer maintained the lead through the final restart, with Loake and Drudi in pursuit in the #59 Garage59 McLaren and the #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin respectively. In the final laps, Thomas Preining and Ayhancan Güven in the #911 Pure Rxcing and #22 Schumacher CLRT Porsche 992 GT3 R’s battled fiercely, with Preining repeatedly running off the track while trying to get past Güven. The race fortunately ended under green, with Auer in the #48 Team Mann-Filter Mercedes securing a dominant victory, sixteen seconds ahead of the #59 Garage59 McLaren of Benjamin Goethe, Marvin Kirchhöfer and Joseph Loake, and the #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin of Mattia Drudi, Marco Sørensen and Nicki Thiim.
PODIUMS IN EACH CLASS
PRO: #48 - Team Mann-Filter, Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo - Lucas Auer, Matteo Cairoli & Maro Engel
GOLD: #777 - AlManar Racing by WRT, BMW M4 GT3 Evo - Al Faisal Al Zubair, Jens Klingmann & Ben Tuck
#33 - Verstappen.com Racing, Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo - Harry King, Chris Lulham & Thierry Vermeulen
#88 - Tresor Attempto Racing, Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II - Riccardo Cazzaniga, Leonardo Moncini & Sebastian Øggard
SILVER: #42 - Century Motorsport, BMW M4 GT3 Evo - Mex Jansen, William Moore & Jarrod Waberski
BRONZE: #97 - Rutronik Racing, Porsche 992 GT3 R - Antares Au & Loek Hartog
CHAMPIONSHIP IMPLICATIONS
With two GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup races in the books at Paul Ricard and Monza, the #32 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 Evo crew of Ugo de Wilde, Kelvin van der Linde and Charles Weerts leads the overall endurance standings with 43 points, just two points ahead of the winning #48 Team Mann-Filter Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo crew of Lucas Auer, Matteo Cairoli and Maro Engel. Mattia Drudi, Marco Sørensen and Nicki Thiim are third in the standings with 27 points in their #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage.
Meanwhile in the Gold Cup, a margin of just two points separate the #777 AlManar Racing by WRT BMW crew of Al Faisal Al Zubair, Jens Klingmann and Ben Tuck with 44 points, while the #33 Verstappen.com Racing Aston Martin crew of Harry King, Chris Lulham and Thierry Vermeulen sit second with 42 points. The Paul Ricard winning #111 CSA Racing McLaren 720s GT3 Evo of Simon Gachet, James Kell and Arthur Rougier sit third in the Gold cup standings with 33 points, but failed to finish the race in Monza.
The #992 Paradine Competition BMW crew of Charles Clark, Pedro Ebrahim and James Kellet currently lead the Silver Cup with 41 points after their victory in Paul Ricard, and a solid sixth position finish in Monza. Their nearest competition comes from the #42 Century Motorsport BMW crew of Mex Jansen, William Moore and Jarrod Waberski who won in Monza by just four-tenths to the #30 Team WRT crew. Third in the Silver Cup comes the way of the #99 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II of Alex Aka, Alberto Di Folco and Ezequiel Perez Companc with 30 points, ensuring a tight battle right to the end.
Despite a disappointing ninth position finish for the #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 crew of Dustin Blattner, Conrad Laursen and Dennis Marschall, they still lead the Bronze Cup standings with 35 points, although the second position finishing #81 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo crew of Marvin Dienst, Gabriele Piana and Rinat Salikhov sit second in the standings with 33 points, followed by the #991 Paradine Competition BMW M4 GT3 Evo crew of Sean Gelael and Darren Leung with 32 points.
THE BLUE RIBAND OF GT WORLD CHALLENGE
GT World Challenge will now head to the Ardennes for the blue riband event of the season, the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps on the 26th - 29th June.
A record seventy-five cars will tackle the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, split across five classes, Pro, Gold, Silver, Pro-Am and Bronze, while ten different manufacturers will fight for victory.
Images © SRO/JEP
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