Greystone GT charged to a maiden International GT Open victory with a magnificent performance at the three-hour ‘Monza 500’ on Sunday.
Drivers James Kell and Dean MacDonald commanded a race that began on a wet track aboard their McLaren 720S GT3 Evo while father-and-son duo Stewart and Lewis Proctor survived a bruising encounter to finish in the Pro-Am top 10.
The Silverstone-based Greystone GT team were well-versed in both wet and dry conditions at Monza; the legendary Italian ‘Temple of Speed’ having dished out both during practice and qualifying on Friday and Saturday.
Starting eighth overall and sixth in the Pro category on a wet, but drying, track, James opted to take wet-weather tyres while the majority of the 30-car field used dry-weather slicks in the hope of avoiding an extra tyre change if the track dried out.
This decision proved key to the victory as James stormed up to fourth place by the first corner and then used his superior traction to pull alongside and pass three more cars around the Curva Grande to take the lead.
On tyres straight into their performance window, Morpeth racer James ended the opening lap with a staggering 10-second lead and extended his advantage to 36 seconds within the first 25 minutes.
It was at this point that the drying track conditions began to play to the advantage of the slick-shod runners; James brilliantly managing his rapidly-degrading rubber to reach the first mandatory pitstop window with a 10s advantage.
Taking over at this stage was McLaren factory driver Dean, who maintained the lead well, but saw his efforts undone when an incident triggered the safety car during his opening stint and wiped out the Kelty racer’s advantage.
Both he and James – who suffered a similar disappointment during his second stint – re-established advantages of over 10s, but during the closing stages Dean was forced to defend to preserve his lead as 2024 title winner Christopher Haase applied extreme pressure and twice drew alongside him.
This he did as he recorded Greystone GT’s first GT Open victory on what was only the third series appearance for himself and James and came at the same circuit where four weeks earlier the team had secured the McLaren Trophy Europe 570S title.
The sister McLaren of Stewart and Lewis Proctor was one of the star performers of qualifying as Lewis went third-quickest overall during the afternoon session; the #66 car starting seventh in Pro-Am once his best time was combined with Stewart’s.
This was Stewart’s best qualifying performance of the year and the Aberdeen-based racer – another to start on wets – tore through the field during the opening 25 minutes.
Climbing from 21st to eighth overall – and to third in Pro-Am – once his tyres were up to working temperature – Stewart’s charge included a strong pass on 11-time Formula 1 Grand Prix winner Rubens Barrichello!
Stewart lost positions as his wets became unsuited to the dry conditions at the end of his stint, but reached the pit window and handed over to Lewis just before the 40-minute mark.
Lewis rose rapidly from seventh to second in Pro-Am, but was hit at the rear by the #20 SPS Automotive Mercedes-AMG and suffered damage that restricted the #66 car’s performance for the remainder of the race.
He and Stewart finished seventh in class; Lewis lucky to emerge with nothing worse than bodywork damage and a trip down the Rettifilo escape road when the #777 Olimp Racing Audi pushed him off the road under braking on the final lap.
It was the seventh time he and Stewart had scored Pro-Am points in the eight events held in 2024.
Mark McLoughlin, Team Principal, said: “What a fantastic way to end the season. We said all along that the aim of running a Pro car in these final three events was to win a race. We made the podium at the Red Bull Ring and could have done again at Barcelona, but now we have the victory. It was an inspired strategy call to fit wets at the start, James and Dean both drove brilliantly and the team did a great job in the pits. Everybody deserves this for their hard work over the past few months. Stewart and Lewis drove really well with Stewart passing Rubens Barrichello – something that was great to see – and Lewis showing excellent speed. Without the damage their car sustained in the few hits they took, I’m sure they’d have been even higher.”
