Team Car Collection Motorsport experienced a turbulent race weekend at the final round of the International GT Open Championship in Monza. In the 500-kilometre race on Sunday, the team from Walluf was able to achieve another top five result with the duo of Gustav Bergström and Nico Menzel, but at the same time had to accept a double retirement of the other two Porsche 911 GT3 Rs due to accidents.
With the season finale in Monza, the International GT Open Championship was once again hosted by a Formula 1 race track. The GT3 racing series held a 500-km race at the legendary ‘Temple of Speed’. Car Collection Motorsport was on the grid with three Porsche 911 GT3 Rs, as it has been for the entire season, and was highly motivated going into the race weekend after its first overall victory in the previous race. In autumnal Monza, however, changeable weather caused problems for all the protagonists.
The #15 Porsche was again driven by the two overall winners of the last race, Gustav Bergström and Nico Menzel. In qualifying, the pair managed tenth place on the grid in difficult conditions. The track conditions were also extremely tricky at the start of the race. Even though the track was still damp, the team strategists decided to run slick tyres with no tread on all three cars due to the drying conditions.
Experienced Porsche driver Nico Menzel mastered this challenge brilliantly. The German was already in second place after the first lap, making him by far the fastest driver on dry tyres. With strong lap times, the #15 was on its way to a possible podium or even victory when the Porsche was forced off the track by a competitor during a safety car phase. A tyre was damaged, so Gustav Bergström, who was in the car at the time, had to slowly drag himself back to the pits.
Even though Car Collection was able to combine this tyre change with the second mandatory stop, the #15 dropped back to 17th place. With a great driving performance, the driver duo then managed to move up to fifth place overall. Thanks to these important points, Gustav Bergström and Nico Menzel made up two positions in the championship and finished the season in sixth place.
The number 12 car was again driven by the two drivers ‘Hash’ and Alex Fontana. Starting driver Fontana once again lived up to his reputation as a rain specialist at the start, setting top lap times on slick tyres in wet conditions. This enabled him to make up many positions from ninth on the grid in the PRO-AM class. At the first pit stop, ‘Hash’ took over the wheel of the Porsche 911 GT3 R. Unfortunately, the American left the track due to the extremely slippery conditions and damaged the Porsche so badly that he had to retire from the race.
The #7 Porsche was also unable to finish the race. After a good start and a brilliant drive, drivers Bashar Mardini and Tijmen van der Helm were already on their way to a class podium when the Dutchman was unable to avoid a car spinning in front of him and crashed. As a result, the race also ended prematurely for the #7.
Peter Schmidt, Team Principal: ‘The end of the season in Monza obviously didn’t go to plan for us. After the overall victory in the last race, we had thought we had a good chance here too. The lap times of all three cars show what would have been possible. But in these difficult conditions, luck also plays a major role, and we definitely didn’t have that this time. Nevertheless, I am very proud of my team, who once again worked absolutely flawlessly! I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all our partners and sponsors who have supported us so much this season.’
