Van Eerd gets maiden victory at Monza – Brenier back on top
The second race of the BOSS GP weekend at Monza was even more exciting than the opener – wheel-to-wheel battles, crashes, excitement and a surprise winner
Ingo Gerstl (Top Speed) started from pole, but had to retire due to engine and gearbox failure already in turn 4 of the opening lap. Minardi driver Frits van Eerd, who gave his BOSS GP comeback this weekend, took over the lead and opened up a slight gap.
Seconds later, a mass collision after the second Lesmo corner took Klaas Zwart, Bernd Herndholfer, Peter Milavec and Wolfgang Jordan out of the race. First, Jordan and Milavec crashed – it’s really annoying, a pity for both of us. Peter left a gap and I went for it, but then he closed the door as he hadn’t seen me”, Jordan explained, whose Benetton hammered into the armco barriers at 280 km/h. Zwart jammed on the brakes immediately, but Herndlhofer could not see the stranded cars ahead and ran into the Dutchman’s Jaguar R5 from behind.
Fortunately, Wolfgang Jordan survived one of the heaviest crashes in BOSS GP history nearly unharmed.
Untroubled from all the havoc behind him, van Eerd extended his lead to pocket his first-ever BOSS GP victory, also the debut win for a Minardi car in a FIA authorised racing series. “What a weekend. I am so happy. Two races, two podiums, my maiden victory. Time to celebrate!“
In car-packed FORMULA class, championship leader Christopher Brenier showed a great return to the top. The Frenchman shadowed van Eerd all race long and took maximum points in the category. “This was the best BOSS GP race ever. It was really exciting and great fun chasing Frits.”
Local hero Salvatore de Plano (MM International Motorsport) came second and was all smiles saying: „Thank God I could stay out of all the incidents. It was a crazy race and I had to really pay attention not to crash into somebody.”
Swiss Zele Racing driver Christof Von Grünigen earned his second podium in 24 hours, placing third again. “All in all it was a good weekend for us, although the many Safety-Car-phases made it tough to keep focussing.“