Herberth Motorsport has secured a 1-2-3 finish at the 12H MONZA after an incredible grandstand finish to CREVENTIC’s maiden event at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza.
The longest endurance event ever to be held at ‘the temple of speed’ was briefly red-flagged on Saturday afternoon when a severe rain storm made track conditions treacherous.
More drama was to follow though. Heading into the final 10 minutes, and having only just passed its sister entry on-track for the overall lead, the race leading #91 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R (Daniel Allemann / Ralf Bohn / Robert Renauer / Alfred Renauer) ground to a halt at the Variante del Rettifilo.
The new leader – the #92 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R (Jürgen Häring / Taki Konstantinou / Alfred Renauer) – wasn’t out of the woods though, and had to hold off the incredibly fast-charging #93 entry (Steffen Görig / Stefan Aust / Klaus Bachler), with Klaus Bachler pulling 10 seconds out of the lead with every passing lap and setting the event’s two fastest laps in the process.
At the chequered flag, and after an incredible nail-biting finish, the top two Herberth Motorsport Porsches were split by less than half a minute after 12 hours of endurance racing.
Jürgen Häring eventually drove the #92 911 GT3 R over the line to complete 285 laps of the 5.793km Autodromo Nazionale di Monza and secure the car’s second consecutive victory. After two rounds, Herberth Motorsport now holds a seven-point advantage in the 24H SERIES Europe Overall GT Teams’ standings over nearest rival, Speed Lover.
Despite its brutal bad luck, the #91 Porsche was still far enough ahead to claim 3rd overall and secure a podium sweep for Herberth Motorsport at Monza.
The MP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo (#58, Thomas Gostner / David Gostner / Manuela Gostner / Corinna Gostner / Giorgio Sernagiotto) completed a successful maiden outing in the 24H SERIES with 4th overall.
The Car Collection Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo (#34, Johannes Dr. Kirchhoff / Elmar Grimm / Max Edelhoff) finished just two laps adrift in 5th, the reigning A6 Teams’ champion having opted to serve a 10-lap penalty and work on the Audi’s troublesome electronics in parc ferme on Friday night.
The Reiter Engineering KTM GTX Concept (#746, Stefan Rosina / Laura Kraihamer / Eike Angermayr), which led the 12H MONZA outright heading into the overnight intervention, lost what looked to be certain class victory in GTX after myriad electrical problems cost the German team almost an hour in the pits.
The win instead went to the ARC Bratislava Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo (#707, Miro Konopka / Mato Konopka / Mato Homola), which recovered from its own early electrical problems to finish 6th overall.
A strong recovery drive meant the Reiter Engineering KTM eventually finished 3rd in-class, just three laps behind the JR Motorsport BMW M3 F80 (#703, Ted van Vliet / Ruud Olij).
The Speed Lover Porsche 991-II Cup (#978, Dominique Bastien / Gavin Pickering) took a commanding victory in the 991 class over its sister 979 entry (Olivier Dons / Eric Mouez / Rolf Lietart). So strong was the Belgian team’s pace, the #978 Porsche managed to finish 7th overall.
The race’s only GT4 entry – the MDM Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 (#450, Tom Coronel / Tim Coronel / Jan Jaap van Roon) – secured its first category win of the season, despite suffering a front left puncture during the final hour of the race.
The Equipe Verschuur Renault RS01 (#9, Harrie Kolen / Erik van Loon / Mike Verschuur) had led comfortably during the opening 16 laps of the 12H MONZA, but was unable to continue after suffering engine failure.
Another podium contender, the Wochenspiegel Team Monschau Ferrari 488 GT3 (#22, Georg Weiss / Leonard Weiss / Jochen Krumbach / Hendrik Still), also retired from the event with excessive damage following three separate punctures.
