A collision compromises Alex Fontana’s debut with McLaren GT

A new adventure saw Alex Fontana make his debut in the world of covered wheel racing at Monza. There was an air of expectation around the Swiss driver’s debut in the Blancpain Endurance Series and following encouraging performances in free practice and qualifying, in which Fontana and his teammates Andrew Watson and Struan Moore set the 15th fastest time, the race unfortunately did not go quite to plan. In an endurance championship, the unexpected is all part of the game. Being fast is not enough; all too often you also need a healthy dose of good fortune. The McLaren carrying number 59 had been entrusted to Alex for the start of the race, a role of great responsibility; through no fault of his own however he was involved in a collision at the first corner. Having got the car back to the pits for repairs, Alex went on to complete a fightback during his driving stint, as did Watson and Moore, with the McLaren crossing the line in 36th place.

Alex Fontana
“The speed was there. After having negotiated the first corner I was rammed by an out of control car that hit my rear end, sending me into the gravel. Fortunately I managed to get back to the pits where in around 10 minutes the mechanics repaired the damage to the right rear suspension, sending me back out on track. A remarkable performance from the pit crew but unfortunately we had accumulated an eight-lap delay. From there, in 54^th place, I handed over the car to my teammates in 41^st and all three of us maintained 6^th place speed which meant we could have comfortably finished in the Top 10.”