4 Hours: Alpine Lead as Glickenhaus Retire

A dramatic middle portion of the 6 Hours of Monza saw much of the leading order turned on its head as a combination of incidents and thrilling racing played-out at the Temple of Speed.

Alpine Team ELF emerged from the final scheduled pit-stop at the front after Nicolas Lapierre engaged in an epic battle with the No.8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid Hypercar driven by Brendon Hartley.

Ferrari continued to race from the front in LMGTE Pro as Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado enjoyed a slight lead over stablemates Miguel Molina and Antonio Fuoco in the sister AF Corse entered Ferrari.

LMP2 witnessed a sensational contest between multiple teams but it was the No.38 JOTA Oreca-Gibson that had a small advantage with two hours of the race remaining.

The Iron Dames Ferrari 488 GTE Evo led the LMGTE Am field but came under intense pressure from the No.77 Dempsey Proton Porsche 911 RSR.

Henrique Chaves was cleared to leave the medical centre after suffering a large accident at the Variante Roggia which triggered a lengthy safety car period in the fourth hour.

The Headlines After 4 Hours at Monza…… 

Hypercar – Led by No.36 Alpine

• Toyota Gazoo Racing took over at front at Monza but Alpine emerge from last pit stop before the four hour mark in the lead
• Safety Car period shakes up positions and changes shape of race as race for lead boils down to Alpine v Toyota
• Glickenhaus lose lead after Safety Car period when Pipo Derani takes penalty for full course yellow speed infringement
• Olivier Pla takes over cockpit but then slows with a turbo failure, pits and retires from the race
• Mike Conway takes over at the front of the field in the No.7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid Hypercar and opens small gap over No.8 car driven by Brendon Hartley
• The No.36 Alpine Team ELF Hypercar engages in thrilling battle with Hartley but struggles to make a clean pass on the Kiwi
• Lapierre then jumps Toyotas at final scheduled pit stop before the four-hour mark
• Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8 place fourth as No.94 car cycles through James Rossiter and Gustavo Menezes as it continues to gain much needed racing miles
• No.93 Peugeot 9X8 re-joins the race with Jean-Eric Vergne aboard after earlier issues but then stops again at first chicane and re-enters pits for more attention

LMGTE Pro – Led by No.51 AF Corse Ferrari

• Ferrari manages to hold on to lead in LMGTE Pro during safety car phase of the race James Calado and Miguel Molina maintain 1-2 for AF Corse entered Ferrari 488 GTE Evo cars

• But the Prancing Horse is forced to defend its positions as Corvette Racing stays within range as Tommy Milner takes over from Nick Tandy
• At the four-hour mark the No.51 AF Corse Ferrari has a seven-second advantage over the No.52 with Milner a further four seconds behind
• The Porsche GT Team sit fourth and fifth with the No.92 911 RSR-19 of Michael Christensen ahead of the No.91 car driven by Frederic Makowiecki

LMP2 – Led by No.28 JOTA

• Multi-car battles rages in LMP2 after safety car period bunches up the field and triggers a seven car battle for the lead
• Disaster strikes the early race leading No.22 United Autosports car as Phil Hanson stops the car on track shortly after taking over from Filipe Albuquerque. Car eventually re-joins but is out of contention for top result after what is diagnosed as a throttle sensor issue
• No.28 JOTA pushes to the front of the field as Jonathan Aberdein drives magnificent double stint to earn slight advantage

• Inter Eurpol Competition place second as Esteban Gutierrez shadows Aberdein in fifth hour
• Drama between Robert Kubica in Prema Orlen Team car as he suffers contact with Charles Milesi driven Richard Mille Racing car at first chicane
• Kubica penalised for the contact which causes gearbox issues for the Richard Mille car
• Vector Sport enjoys best race of its debut season so far as Sebastien Bourdais places third
• No.23 United Autosports USA entry enjoys a ‘top gear from the rear’ performance with Alex Lynn at wheel as car comes from back of the grid to place fourth
• Pro/Am leaders are Algarve Pro Racing after the Ultimate car driven by Matthieu Lahaye spins at Roggia chicane

LMGTE Am – Led by Iron Dames

• Iron Dames continues to lead the LMGTE Am field as Sarah Bovy hands over to Michelle Gatting, who in turn is replaced by Rahel Frey
• Frey defends gallantly from the No.77 Dempsey Proton Porsche of Sebastien Priaulx and resists enormous pressure
• No.46 Team Project 1 Porsche of Mikkel Pedersen places third just holding off the Iron Lynx Ferrari of Matteo Cressoni
• Previous LMGTE Am leading TF Sport Aston Martin crashes out at Roggia Chicane in fourth hour
• Henrique Chaves emerges unscathed from huge accident which sees his car become inverted after hitting kerb

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