The final round of the International GT Open 2024 is just around the corner with Alex Fontana ready to take to the track to conclude the season in the best possible way. Following victory in the Pro-Am category in Race-2 of the previous round in Barcelona, the Swiss driver will once again be aiming for the podium in the GT Open 500 at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza. As usual, Alex will be sharing the cockpit of the #12 Porsche 992 GT3 R entered by the Car Collection Motorsport team with Hash, the American driver from the AF Academy who has shown signs of great progress over the last few races.
The German outfit will be tackling a different format with respect to the traditional twin races that generally characterise the International GT Open weekends. The grand finale of the 2024 season will feature a single 500km endurance race: a special event, with a maximum duration of two hours and 55 minutes, that will definitely put drivers and teams to the test. There will therefore be twice as many points on for this race compared to the series’ usual sprint events and will therefore be crucial in determining the crews’ final position in the standings. The endurance format race, known as the GT Open 500, is being staged for the second time after making its debut earlier in the year at Spa-Francorchamps, where Fontana and Hash finished 7th in the Pro-Am class.
The final round of the season at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza will feature two private test sessions of 50 minutes each on Thursday 17 October, ahead of the official sessions. The first two 60-minute free practice sessions are scheduled for Friday 18 at 11:40 am and 4:10 pm respectively; the third, reserved for bronze-category drivers, will start on Saturday 19 at 9:00am. The rest of the day will be devoted to qualifying, with two 30-minute sessions scheduled at 10:50 and 13:50. Sunday will instead see the Monza GT Open 500 start at 12:00, with the starting grid drawn up on the basis of the sum of the best time obtained by each driver in qualifying.
Alex Fontana
“I can't wait to get on track at Monza for the last round of the International GT Open: the victory in race 2 in Barcelona was fundamental for the team’s morale and confirmed our growth in several aspects over the course of the 2024 season. I am happy to be racing in the endurance format: at Spa it was a new challenge for Hash and me, but we were did well on that occasion to adapt quickly and bring home a positive result. Endurance racing is always difficult, but we are ready to give our best to end this season in the best possible way.”
“I can't wait to get on track at Monza for the last round of the International GT Open: the victory in race 2 in Barcelona was fundamental for the team’s morale and confirmed our growth in several aspects over the course of the 2024 season. I am happy to be racing in the endurance format: at Spa it was a new challenge for Hash and me, but we were did well on that occasion to adapt quickly and bring home a positive result. Endurance racing is always difficult, but we are ready to give our best to end this season in the best possible way.”