The 2025 International GT Open season concluded with the 500 km race at Monza in which Alex Fontana secured a splendid victory in the Pro-Am class. The Brianza race was the second event of the season to use the endurance format, with a single 87-lap race on the Sunday. For the occasion, Alex Fontana teamed up with Tsunami RT, sharing driving duties in the familiar Porsche 992 GT3 R #89 with Bashar Mardini in the Pro-Am category.
Two qualifying sessions of 25 minutes each were held to determine the starting grid. Thanks to Alex’s time of 1:44.761 and Mardini’s reference time, the Tsunami team secured fifth place in their category. The initial phase of the 500km Monza race was entrusted to Mardini, who made a phenomenal start, avoiding an accident in front of him and gaining three positions to move up to second. The UAE-licensed driver then successfully defended a category podium place before making his first pit stop to hand over the wheel to Alex.
During the first of his stints, Fontana closed the gap on his rivals and completed an overtake to move into the lead in the Pro-Am category and even taking an overall first place in the race. The Swiss driver was the fastest on the track in the class featuring a mixed crew of amateur and professional drivers, and recorded the best lap time in the race.
The crew’s excellent performance continued with Mardini building a 10-second gap over the first of his pursuers, permitting a comfortable final pit stop and allowing Alex to rejoin race while still in the lead in the standings. The battle for class victory heated up during the finale, with the Swiss driver successfully fighting off his rivals to claim his second victory of the season in the International GT Open series.
Alex Fontana thus ended the championship with 55 points in the Pro-Am drivers’ standings, demonstrating great competitiveness despite missing the two previous races before arriving at what, due to its geographical proximity, was effectively a home race for the Lugan-born driver.
Alex Fontana
“It was really special to win here at Monza, and even more so on my father Raoul’s birthday. I want to dedicate this success to him and to thank all the more than 200 fans, friends, and sponsors who came here from the Canton Ticino to watch the race. I’m also very satisfied with the work we did with Tsunami in our first race together; it was very interesting to race with Bashar and winning together as teammates today after sharing the pit last year as rivals.”