LP Racing and MZR win GT2 European races at Monza

The Maserati MC20 GT2 was a real star in the Monza weekend of FANATEC GT2 European Series, but LP Racing was only able to capitalize in one race, with a win for the No. 1 car of Carlo Tamburini and Leonardo Gorini, while MZR was able to fight back in the second race with the No. 812 KTM X-BOW GT2 of Reinhold Kofler and Martin Koch.
 
Lights went green in Race 1 and the No. 24 TFT Maserati fell off the lead immediately, only to bring the No. 1 and No. 2 LP Racing Maseratis to mount a triple trident attack on the No. 812 MZR KTM, but then the No. 80 Razoon KTM was sent to the barrier after a late line change before the first chicane, and with the No. 67 Dinamic Maserati that punted it also off track, the first Safety Car visit was called.
 
With the cleaning process taking almost 20 minutes and the pit window almost there, Martin Koch was working hard for survival against the Maserati armada behind him. With Alexandre Leroy failing to pass Koch, the LP Racing cars took the primary position and imposed more pressure in the leader, and by doing clever use of the slipstream, Leonardo Gorini has positioned the No. 1 in the overall lead.
 
In the next lap, it was Philippe Prette’s time to overtake Koch, and with this, LP Racing had a secure 1-2 with their Maseratis while the No. 812 became prey to the No. 24, which eventually made the move a lap later, and in the hurry to keep up the pace with the Maseratis, the No. 812 ran wide at the second Lesmo, and with the two outward wheels in the gravel, a spin was just a matter of time, with Koch bringing the car to the pits in sixth overall.
 
With the pit window done, the No. 1 LP Racing Maserati was still leading but the No. 24 TFT Maserati recovered the Am Cup lead and the overall second place while the No. 2 LP Racing Maserati just behind it. Carlo Tamburini kept the strong pace to not allow a whisker of a chance to Alexandre Leroy, and with this the positions were mantained until they crossed the finish line.
 
GT2 European - Monza Race 1 results
 

The No. 812 MZR KTM departed from pole for the second race, but the problem was that Reinhold Kofler didn’t have just the Maseratis on his back wing this time, but all LP Racing cars bar one Audi in his putsuit. Once Carlo Tamburini passed Alexandre Leroy, all LP Racing cars had Kofler’s KTM X-BOW GT2 in their sights, being led by the No. 18 Audi.
 
Tamburini immediately proceeded to overtake Pierre Kaffer for second place, and the No. 1 LP Racing Maserati soon started to close down the gap to the leader, but somehow, Kofler resisted until the pit window to leave it to Martin Koch in front. Koch’s job was clear, which was keeping Leonardo Gorini out of his reach, and while the No. 1 LP Racing Maserati closed down on the No. 812 MZR KTM, the gap never went down 2.5 seconds.
 
After the pit window, the No. 2 LP Racing Maserati was in fine form to conquer Am Cup honors, even challenging some of the top-5 Pro-Am Cup cars, but in the final lap a left rear tire blow obliterated that corner of the car, making it crawl to the finish line and hand the class win to the No. 87 Akkodis-ASP Mercedes.
 
GT2 European - Monza Race 2 results
 
The Pro-Am Cup table sees Kofler and Koch (No. 812) still on top with 212 points while Gorini and Tamburini (No. 1) are trying to catch up with 169 points. In the Am Cup table we have a closer battle as Jean-Luc Beaubelique and Gilles Vannelet (No. 87) with 181 points against Prette’s 171 points and Leroy’s 162 points.
 
The series will move to Barcelona, where the final double header will be held on 12 and 13 October.
 
PHOTOS: SRO/JEP