The Headlines after 2 Hours from Monza

Hypercar

• The final round of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship roared into life at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza in dry and cloudy conditions in front of a huge and expectant crowd

• There was drama from the start, with Daniel Juncadella snatching the lead from the outside of the front row of the grid as the Hypercar field funnelled into the notoriously treacherous Rettifilio chicane

• But the Spanish ace, driving the #19 Genesis Magma Racing GMR-001, was adjudged to have gained an advantage by cutting the opening complex of corners and was handed a five-second penalty for the infraction

• Prior to that, Juncadella had relinquished the lead anyway, as a flying Jack Aitken in the #38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA entry made a confident move heading into Parabolica at end of the sixth lap

• Aitken was then able to pull out a small gap, which he held up to the two-hour mark, as the British driver completed a rare race start – partly strategised as he is about to become a father for the first time and may have to leave the track early

• After two hours, Aitken remained in the cockpit with a two-second advantage over the #19 Genesis, which changed from Juncadella to Paul-Loup Chatin during a second safety car period in hour two

• The Ferrari challenge was blunted when the #50 499P – which ran third in the first 30 minutes with Miguel Molina at the wheel – was twice penalised for tyre pressure infringements, causing the pole-sitting car to slip to the rear of the Hypercar field

• The same issue affected the #83 AF Corse Ferrari, as Phil Hanson was called in to serve a 20-second penalty and dropped out of the top ten

• Alpine showed strongly in the early exchanges of the A424 Hypercar’s final factory FIA WEC appearance this weekend; Jules Gounon in the #36 car placed third for most of the opening phase, before handing over to team-mate Victor Martins

• The #51 Ferrari similarly enjoyed a positive first two hours, with firstly Antonio Giovinazzi and then James Calado racing well in the leading group; the Briton battled closely with the Gounon-driven Alpine in fourth

• When the Frenchman handed over to countryman Martins, it allowed Calado through into third position – within striking distance of the leading Cadillac of Aitken and second-placed Genesis of Chatin

• The #20 BMW started by René Rast survived a trip down the escape road at the first chicane on lap one; Sheldon van der Linde took over at the second pit-stop and runs a solid fifth

• The current top six is completed by the #93 Team Peugeot TotalEnergies entry, as Paul di Resta had a strong opening two hours in a race that marks the final outing for the 9X8 in its present guise

• The battle for the Drivers’ title between the two Toyota crews saw the pair run outside the top ten with the #8 in 14th position and the #7 in 16th, suggesting that Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa are all-but guaranteed the 2026 crown

LMGT3

• As ever, the LMGT3 category delivered superb multi-manufacturer racing in the opening two hours, with Ford, Lexus, BMW and Corvette fighting ferociously over the top positions before the Bronze-categorised drivers vacated the cockpit

• The pole-sitting #78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus of Tom Van Rompuy led from the start, but was soon caught and overtaken by the #77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang piloted by Eric Powell

• The American car proved to be super-strong in the first hour, as Stefano Gattuso pushed through to make it a brief kicking mule one-two – brief, because the #88 was then handed a five-second penalty for a power spike

• That allowed Petru Umbrărescu to close up and pressurise Powell, and the Romanian took over the lead when the #77 Mustang was itself penalised for multiple track limit violations

• Surging through from midfield starting positions were the #34 Racing Team Turkey by TF Corvette and #69 Team WRT BMW, which both gained several positions in the first few stints to run P2 and P3 respectively, with Salih Yoluç and Anthony McIntosh starring

• The #61 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG started by Martin Berry enjoyed a clean and solid opening few stints to run in fourth position, providing a strong platform for team-mates Rui Andrade and Maxime Martin to shine later on

• Aston Martin is also well-placed, with the #27 Heart of Racing Team Vantage running in fifth position, although it will take a five-second penalty at its next pit-stop after an earlier infringement

• Completing the top six after two hours is the recovering #88 Mustang, while the title-leading #33 TF Sport Corvette dropped back from its earlier strong position due to a Virtual Safety Car procedural infringement

• There was drama after 40 minutes of the race, when Gray Newell was hit by Johannes Zelger on the entry to the Ascari Chicane and spun wildly; the incident caused the closely-following Antares Au in the #10 Garage 59 McLaren to spin into the gravel and trigger the first safety car period

• The second safety car intervention came when Alexander West locked up and hit the #32 Team WRT BMW of Darren Leung at the Rettifilio chicane; the incident eliminated both cars and saw West dramatically drag the wildly-crabbing #58 McLaren back to the pits, where it was consigned to retirement

• The #92 The Bend Manthey Porsche was handed a drive-through penalty for pit-lane speeding when Yasser Shahin completed his first pit-stop under the safety car, severely affecting the crew’s already slim title chances

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