In what was the sixth round of the 2026 International GT Open, held at the Hockenheim circuit, Alex Fontana claimed his sixth podium finish of the season, finishing Race 1 in 3rd place. Over the course of the first weekend back after the summer break, Alex also secured pole position in the second qualifying session, once again demonstrating his excellent rapport with the ZRS Motorsport team’s Porsche 911 GT3 R. This is a car with which he is chasing the title alongside Pietro Armanni, a young Italian driver born in 2005, with whom he has already achieved three victories this season.
Following the encouraging performance during Friday’s practice sessions, the ZRS Motorsport crew finished 4th in Saturday’s qualifying, with Armanni at the wheel. During the first race stint, Pietro succeeded in holding his position until the safety car was deployed after 17 minutes. At the restart, however, the Italian dropped to 8th place before returning to the pits for the mandatory stop. It was then Alex’s turn to take to the track for the second half of the race, having lost further ground due to a pit lane penalty incurred as a result of results from previous rounds. Thanks to some fantastic overtaking manoeuvres and an enviable race pace in the closing stages, Fontana managed to cross the finish line in fourth place, before being promoted to the lowest step of the podium after a rival was hit with a penalty.
During the second qualifying session, held on the Sunday morning, Fontana produced a near-perfect lap, securing pole position with a time of 1:36.841. A few hours later, a light shower threw a spanner in the works just before the start of the second race; unfortunately, Alex was caught up in a collision at the start, spinning and slipping to the back of the field. However, his Porsche 911 GT3 R did not sustain any significant damage: this allowed the Swiss driver to stage a spirited comeback, despite the slippery track conditions and increasingly heavy rain. Showing excellent pace, Fontana fought his way back from 25th to 10th place in the first 20 minutes of the race. A full-course yellow was then deployed shortly before the mandatory pit stop window opened, with Armanni taking the wheel to finish the race. In an attempt to gain further positions, Pietro pitted again under the safety car to change tyres: a decision that proved to be wise, with the #911 car successfully climbing back up to 9th place and securing two points after a difficult start.
With two rounds remaining, Alex sits 5th in the championship, 30 points off the leader. The next round of the International GT Open will see the Swiss driver in action at Monza, his home race in terms of geographical proximity, with the Brianza circuit hosting the season’s second endurance race from 25 to 27 September.
Alex Fontana
“It was a rollercoaster of a weekend, but I’m satisfied with our performance. Securing our sixth podium of the season and a pole position fills us with pride, and although we were hoping to fight for more in Race 2, I’m still pleased to have managed to secure important championship points. I’d like to thank both Pietro and ZRS Motorsport for their hard work over the weekend and I’m already looking forward to being back on track at Monza in two weeks’ time.”