Italian GT Monza: Klingmann takes third title on tie-break as VSR wins Sprint finale

Jens Klingmann is the Italian GT Championship (CIGT) Sprint champion for the third time after a Monza finale that left the two title contenders level on points. Georgi Dimitrov and Simone Riccitelli did everything they could by winning the race in the #63 VSR Lamborghini Huracán GT3. Klingmann, however, dragged the #7 BMW Italia Ceccato Racing BMW M4 GT3 home in tenth, and the single point that came with it gave him the title on countback.

One place lower and the championship would have gone to VSR. Klingmann crossed the line 0.367 seconds ahead of the next car.

First chicane settles Pro-Am

The race was seconds old when the first chicane turned into chaos. Several cars went straight on, and Klingmann’s co-driver Ugo De Wilde was squeezed between two others. In the same melee, Paul Levet’s #19 VSR Lamborghini speared off to the left and collected four more cars. De Wilde escaped through the grass, but the race was over for all five.

Among them was the #8 BMW Italia Ceccato Racing BMW M4 GT3 of Anthony McIntosh, which needed a class win to keep the Pro-Am title fight alive. That handed the crown to Francesco Braschi and Jef Machiels, who went on to win the class in fourth overall with the #51 Spirit of Racing Ferrari 296 GT3.

VSR does its part

Riccardo Cazzaniga led from pole through two safety car periods in the #59 Raptor Engineering McLaren 720S GT3, with Braschi close behind. Dimitrov moved up to fourth, while De Wilde struggled to hold his place and lost positions on track.

The pit stops turned the race. Both cars ahead of the VSR Lamborghinis had to serve success handicaps from Saturday, and Riccitelli rejoined in the lead with team-mate Hugo Cook right behind him in the #6 VSR Lamborghini. Cook then held off Dean MacDonald’s McLaren and Machiels for lap after lap, which let Riccitelli pull three seconds clear. MacDonald finally got past at Curva Grande on the penultimate lap, too late to threaten the winner.

MacDonald and Cazzaniga finished second, with Cook and Alex Denning third in the #6 VSR Lamborghini. Second place also secured third in the championship for Cazzaniga and MacDonald in Raptor Engineering’s first GT3 season.

Klingmann hangs on

Behind them, the title was slipping away from the BMW. Klingmann rejoined in the top six but lost three places within a lap and could not match the pace of the cars around him, suffering from damage sustained in the first-chicane contact. He kept slipping back, and with two laps to go he was tenth.

Alberto Clementi Pisani’s #71 DL Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 was all that was left between Klingmann and defeat. Clementi Pisani attacked all the way around the final lap, but Klingmann held him off to the flag.

Both crews finish on 84 points with three wins each. Klingmann’s second place at Imola in April decides it. A year after losing the title to a VSR Lamborghini in the Monza finale, he adds a third crown to those of 2023 and 2024.

Gai and Fontana champions again

The Am title changed direction during the pit window, when class leader Mattia Marchiante went off at Ascari in the #26 Easy Race Ferrari 296 GT3. Two-time Italian GT champion Stefano Gai took over the class lead and won it in eighth overall with Fabrizio Fontana in the #69 Spirit of Racing Ferrari 296 GT3. One year after winning the GT Cup title together, the pair are champions again on their return to GT3.

Endurance finale still to come

While the Sprint season is now over, the Italian GT year is not yet. The Endurance championship holds its fourth and final round at Mugello on 30 October-1 November, where the remaining titles will be decided over three hours. The Sprint series returns in 2027 with five rounds, starting at Vallelunga on 23-25 April.