Steller Motorsport eyes further Endurance Cup success at Monza

Steller Motorsport eyes further Endurance Cup success at Monza

Steller Motorsport returns to action this weekend for the second round of the GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Endurance Cup, as the series heads to the legendary Autodromo Nazionale Monza. After a strong season-opener at Paul Ricard - where the team secured a podium finish in the highly competitive Silver Cup class with its Corvette Z06 GT3.R - Steller is aiming to build on that momentum at one of the most iconic venues in motorsport.

Dubbed the Temple of Speed, Monza is the fastest circuit on the calendar; the 5.8km (3.6-mile) layout features just 11 corners but long straights that produce top speeds approaching 270km/h (168mph). Six of those 11 corners comprise three chicanes that provide some of the hardest braking zones in the championship, including the infamous Variante del Rettifilo chicane at the end of the main straight.

Behind the wheel of the Corvette Z06 GT3.R is the exciting pairing of Matisse Lismont and Lorcan Hanafin, a duo that helped to deliver a podium result at the opening round. They will be joined at Monza for the first time by Daniel Ali, who makes his race debut for the team following a strong showing at the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa prologue earlier this month.

Daniel Ali said ahead of his Steller debut, “I’m really excited to be racing in my first GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Endurance Cup race with Steller and the new Corvette. We had a very strong test at the Spa prologue, and I look forward to building on what I learned there. The car should be quite strong at this track, so I'm excited to fight for a strong class result.”

Lorcan Hanafin said, “I have been looking forward to Monza for a while, especially after a really productive Spa prologue. With Daniel joining the team we’ll be looking to build on our second place finish at Paul Ricard and aim to go one place higher.”

Matisse Lismont added, "I enjoyed Monza a lot last year, it's a great circuit to drive and I am sure I will enjoy it again. I'm looking forward to getting back to an endurance race after two sprint races. We learned a lot from Brands Hatch and Zandvoort, which, along with our good performance and podium at Paul Ricard, gives me confidence that we can race for a good result here."

Team manager, Max Daymond, said, "We were really encouraged by our pace and race execution at Paul Ricard, and the podium was a deserved reward for the whole team. Monza brings a completely different challenge; it’s a very different layout to Paul Ricard so we’ll need to get up to speed quickly in practice to work on our setup for the race. We’re excited to welcome Daniel Ali into the fold. He slotted into the team well for the Spa prologue earlier this month and we believe he’s a good fit for us and will work well with Matisse and Lorcan. Our aim is to keep pushing and hopefully fight for another strong result."

The three-hour race at Monza gets underway at 15:00 local time on Sunday, June 1, after two test sessions on Friday and practice and pre-qualifying on Saturday, followed by qualifying on Sunday morning.