- Kofler shaves three seconds off GT2 lap record in Qualifying
- Akkodis ASP and Team MZR takes poles in Italy
- Vannelet and Prette top Am class running
Akkodis ASP and Team MZR headed the two Qualifying sessions at Monza to score a pole position apiece for the penultimate round of the Fanatec GT2 European Series Powered by Pirelli.
Gilles Vannelet (#87 Mercedes-AMG GT2) held on to score his first outright series pole in the opening shootout before Reinhard Kofler (#812 KTM X-BOW GT2) flew to the top of the leaderboard in Q2.
Vannelet’s early pace seals top spot for Saturday’s opener
The first of two 20-minute contests in Italy was dominated by French racer Vannelet aboard his Akkodis ASP Mercedes-AMG in the Am class. Initially posting a best time of 1:46.374s, he shaved off another two tenths at the next attempt.
A collision with the #888 NM Racing Mercedes-AMG of Stéphane Perrin resulted in Vannelet’s fastest time being deleted but his previous effort was still sufficient to snatch pole for the Saturday race. He ultimately wound up 0.606s clear of fellow Am driver Alexandre Leroy for TFT Racing (#24 Maserati GT2).
Best of the Pro-Am runners was Martin Koch, who claimed third overall for championship leader Team MZR. Crucially, he kept one place ahead of main title rival Leonardo Gorini in the #1 LP Racing Maserati. Pascal Gibon collected a strong fifth in the #53 Akkodis ASP Mercedes-AMG to place three Am crews inside the top five, with Philippe Prette next up in the #2 LP Racing Maserati.
The third Akkodis ASP Mercedes-AMG of Mauro Ricci (#61) landed seventh, ahead of Thomas Andersen in the #80 Razoon - More Than Racing KTM shared with Simon Birch. Phillipe Chatelet chalked an encouraging ninth on his maiden series outing in the #18 LP Racing Audi R8 LMS GT2 to pip Roberto Pampanini in the #67 DINAMIC Motorsport Maserati.
Team MZR clinch Sunday pole in the battle for the Pro-Am title
In Q2 to decide the grid for Sunday’s bout, Kofler unleashed the #812 KTM – a 1:44.778s effort in the final minutes bagged pole for Team MZR at a critical point in the season.
As well as beating the 2023 Monza pole time by three seconds, he ran 0.617s clear of nearest Pro-Am rival Birch.
A sublime late surge by debutant Mauro Calamia meant DINAMIC Motorsport climbed into the top three by the time the chequered flag flew. That demoted the Audi of Pierre Kaffer, who wound up fourth for LP Racing. Prette hit back in the second phase, snaring fifth to head the Am runners. But his advantage was slender, lapping two tenths quicker than class title rival Leroy in sixth.
Jean-Luc Beaubelique could not take part in the second shootout following the incident for co-driver Vannelet, while the Pro-Am title-contending #1 Maserati of LP Racing was similarly hamstrung. A transmission issue in Q1 could not be solved in time, meaning Carlo Tamburini will start race two from 12th.
Attention now shifts to the first of the weekend’s two 50-minute races, which commences at 13:10 on Saturday. Watch the action unfold live via the series’ website and the GT World YouTube channel, with commentary available in four different languages.