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02 June 2025 Barwell completes Spa prep with points at Monza
Barwell Motorsport completed its preparation for the world’s biggest GT3 race, the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, by claiming a fighting points finish during a frenetic three-hour race at Monza this weekend.
The GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS event at the Italian parkland track was both the second round of the Endurance Cup season, and the final chance for teams and drivers to dial themselves in ahead of the seasonal showpiece at Spa-Francorchamps later this month.
The #76 Pelican Energy Consultants/Wing Venture Capital/ BAM Motorsport Management/Lady Luck Irish Whiskey Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 of Christian Bogle, Adam Ali and Bijoy Garg survived a turbulent race to take a top-10 finish, and with it the crew’s first Endurance Cup point of the season.
On what was the drivers’ first taste of GT3 competition at the famed Italian track, Bogle, Ali and Garg once again faced a steep learning curve to get up to speed in what is the world’s toughest GT3 category.
After racking up the laps across testing on Friday and practice on Saturday, the stage was set for a hard-fought Sunday, across which the drivers worked their way forward from a disappointing grid position to score a well-deserved point.
Qualifying proved to be incredibly tight, with a single second separating the first 28 cars on the grid. The combination of traffic and cancelled lap times led to the #76 starting down in 16th in class. However, the team knew the car would fare better across a stint than a single flying lap, and the combination of consistency, race management and some canny tactical calls helped the crew climb the order across a race that was afflicted by a total of eight caution periods.
Bogle took the wheel for the start and made it through a chaotic opening lap largely intact, while many other came to grief, including the #21 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin that had started the race on Silver Cup pole position. Bogle did suffer a hit, but shrugged it off to continue in what would become a defining opening stint.
With the racing repeatedly interrupted across the opening hour, the Barwell team opted to call Bogle in during the second caution period to burn through one of the car’s mandatory stops with the race at reduced speed. With his drive time reset and fresh left-hand Pirellis bolted on, Bogle rejoined and completed a monster 1h 18min stint, during which he brought the #76 as high as seventh in class before pitting to hand to Ali.
When Ali rejoined he was right on the tail of the Steller Motorsport Corvette handled by his brother, and sometime Barwell Sprint Cup crew member, Daniel Ali. But he never got the chance to properly get into the family fight as a big hit from the #19 GRT – Grasser Huracan landed the car with heavy rear diffuser damage, leading to unpredictable handling.
Ali held on well, nursing the car through the remainder of his stint before handing across to Garg for the run to the flag, the team being forced to rip some of the damage diffuser away during the final stop.
Garg rejoined 12th, but that would soon become 11th when the #6 GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG suffered a puncture, and then 10th when the class-leading #19 Lamborghini endured a high-speed rear blowout when flat-out down the pit straight. Through all this Garg managed to set a string of top lap times for the #76, despite the diffuser damage.
There was one final chance for improvement when the #60 VSR Lamborghini spun out inside the final minutes, but the #76 fell just three seconds shy of stealing ninth at the flag. Still, 10th in class and with a total of 19 places gained overall stands as a solid performance, getting the first Endurance Cup point of the year on the board.
The result also showed that sheer determination can be rewarded in endurance racing, a good sign with the biggest race of the year looming in Belgium next time out.
Barwell Motorsport team principal Mark Lemmer said: “Monza was far from an easy weekend, but to come away with a point is just reward. Qualifying proved very difficult, and starting so far back on a 58-car grid was always going to make the race a real battle. I’m very pleased with how all three drivers managed that challenge. They took a few hits, but mainly stayed clear of trouble, kept things consistent and ultimately never gave up – those are all real factors for success in endurance racing, so I’m happy for them to come away with their first Endurance Cup point. It’s also quite timely, with the 24 Hours of Spa up next, where we’ll need to show all of those qualities and more to be in the frame for a good result in what is one of the world’s biggest motorsport challenges.”
Barwell Motorsport now prepares for a double-header in Belgium, with round five of the British GT Championship taking place at Spa-Francorchamps on June 20-22, and then the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa the following week, June 25-29.
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