The Hungarian leg of the International GT Open was not the best of trips for Alex Fontana: the Swiss driver returned home from the fourth round of the series with the certainty that he remains one of the championship’s speed benchmarks, but without managing to translate this into a result in the race. Fate, a variable that is hardly a stranger to the world of motorsport, played a hand in Fontana’s chances of adding his name to the series’ roll of honour on the occasion of its 300th race. Alex was forced to retire in the second race of the weekend following an accident while fighting for the class victory, a situation that had unfortunately already occurred in Race 1 on the Saturday.
Fontana was once again competing with Car Collection Motorsport, driving the German team’s Porsche 992 GT3 R alongside an AF Academy driver, confirming the line-up that has competed in the Pro-Am category so far. Friday’s free practice sessions demonstrated the excellent pace of the #31 crew, which finished in the top three in both sessions. Saturday’s qualifying saw Alex’s teammate finish 12th in the Pro-Am category. The start of the race could have gone better, with Car Collection Motorsport’s Porsche 992 GT3 R spinning at turn 4 after 12 minutes of racing and dropping to the back of the field. Alex then took over once the window for mandatory pit stops opened, with the aim of getting back into the points.
The Swiss driver began a series of decisive overtakes, moving up to 7th place in class with just one minute to go and proving to be one of the fastest drivers on the track. Unfortunately, the blameless Fontana got dragged into a collision on the last lap caused by two other cars. He lost positions and eventually crossed the finish line in 11th place in class. On Sunday, it was Alex’s turn to take part in qualifying. Once again, he proved to be among the most competitive drivers on the grid, finishing 2nd overall and also taking pole position in his class, four tenths of a second faster than his closest rival. Starting from the front row of the grid, Alex settled into 3rd place overall, then moved back up to 2nd thanks to an excellent overtaking manoeuvre at the start of the fifth lap. For the rest of his stint, Fontana kept pace with the leader, maintaining a firm hold on 1st place in the Pro-Am class.
Unfortunately for Car Collection Motorsport, an engine problem with their Porsche 992 GT3 R slowed Alex down in the final laps before the mandatory pit stop, causing him to lose valuable ground before handing the car over to his teammate. The issue was resolved during the stop, with the #31 Porsche re-emerging at the top of the overall standings thanks to spending less time in the pits than its rivals. The German team’s car fought for the class victory until 12 minutes from the end, when contact with the barriers at turn 9 ended the crew’s dreams of glory and forcing them to retire. The difficult weekend in Hungary saw Fontana lose ground in the Pro-Am standings, with the Swiss driver now occupying 3rd place. The next round of the International GT Open will see Alex head to France, where the Circuit Paul Ricard will host the 5th round of the series from 18 to 20 July.
Fontana was once again competing with Car Collection Motorsport, driving the German team’s Porsche 992 GT3 R alongside an AF Academy driver, confirming the line-up that has competed in the Pro-Am category so far. Friday’s free practice sessions demonstrated the excellent pace of the #31 crew, which finished in the top three in both sessions. Saturday’s qualifying saw Alex’s teammate finish 12th in the Pro-Am category. The start of the race could have gone better, with Car Collection Motorsport’s Porsche 992 GT3 R spinning at turn 4 after 12 minutes of racing and dropping to the back of the field. Alex then took over once the window for mandatory pit stops opened, with the aim of getting back into the points.
The Swiss driver began a series of decisive overtakes, moving up to 7th place in class with just one minute to go and proving to be one of the fastest drivers on the track. Unfortunately, the blameless Fontana got dragged into a collision on the last lap caused by two other cars. He lost positions and eventually crossed the finish line in 11th place in class. On Sunday, it was Alex’s turn to take part in qualifying. Once again, he proved to be among the most competitive drivers on the grid, finishing 2nd overall and also taking pole position in his class, four tenths of a second faster than his closest rival. Starting from the front row of the grid, Alex settled into 3rd place overall, then moved back up to 2nd thanks to an excellent overtaking manoeuvre at the start of the fifth lap. For the rest of his stint, Fontana kept pace with the leader, maintaining a firm hold on 1st place in the Pro-Am class.
Unfortunately for Car Collection Motorsport, an engine problem with their Porsche 992 GT3 R slowed Alex down in the final laps before the mandatory pit stop, causing him to lose valuable ground before handing the car over to his teammate. The issue was resolved during the stop, with the #31 Porsche re-emerging at the top of the overall standings thanks to spending less time in the pits than its rivals. The German team’s car fought for the class victory until 12 minutes from the end, when contact with the barriers at turn 9 ended the crew’s dreams of glory and forcing them to retire. The difficult weekend in Hungary saw Fontana lose ground in the Pro-Am standings, with the Swiss driver now occupying 3rd place. The next round of the International GT Open will see Alex head to France, where the Circuit Paul Ricard will host the 5th round of the series from 18 to 20 July.
Alex Fontana
“It's so frustrating to come home empty-handed after a promising start to the weekend. Unfortunately, we were involved in an unavoidable accident in Race 1, while it was a real shame to have to retire the car in the second race after fighting hard for the class win, but the important thing is that my teammate is okay after the accident. I’m grateful to both him and Car Collection Motorsport for all their hard work over the weekend and I’m sure that we’ll be back fighting at the front of the field in the next round at Le Castellet.”