Carrie Schreiner shows strong improvements in GTWC Europe at Monza

Carrie Schreiner and the #88 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi crew made a significant step forward at Monza, showcasing genuine pace in the Bronze Cup throughout the weekend and securing their first class top-ten finish despite a result that didn't to fully reflect their performance.

Photo credits: SRO/JEP

After a challenging debut at Paul Ricard, Carrie Schreiner enjoyed a strong performance at Monza, securing her first top ten in the Bronze Cup class although the end result didn't fully represent the huge leap forward made by the team in the second round of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance series.

Schreiner joined Tresor Attempto Racing for her debut in the massively competitive GT World Challenge Europe, sharing the #88 Audi R8 LMS GT3 with Daniele Di Amato and Gerhard Tweraser, in the bronze class.

At the 6 hour season opener in the South of France, the trio finished just outside the top ten, overcoming some issue. The Monza circuit, hosting the second round of the Endurance Cup, would provide a different scenario, with the team making a significant step in performance.

Even during the practice sessions, in fact, Schreiner and her teammates demonstrated that they could easily match the pace of their competitors, posting the fourth-fastest time in testing.

In qualifying, traffic proved to be the primary factor determining her fifth-place starting position within the class. On her final lap, Schreiner encountered traffic in the Parabolica corner, costing her the four-tenths-of-a-second improvement she had just gained. “Third place would have been possible!” Schreiner remarked.

The start of the race was handled by Austrian driver Gerhard Tweraser, who faced a significant challenge right from the outset. On the approach to the first chicane, Maxime Martin overtook another car by running off-track; upon rejoining the circuit, he triggered a chain reaction that resulted in a massive pile-up. Several cars from the leading pack were either destroyed or severely damaged in the incident. Further back in the field, Tweraser was forced to take evasive action to avoid the wreckage.

Naturally, the accident necessitated the deployment of the Safety Car. The Attempto Racing team successfully defended their 5th-place position in class, inheriting 30th place in the overall standings in the process. Due to the high proportion of full-throttle driving required on this circuit, a three-stop strategy was mandated for this race—even though, given the three-hour race duration, two stops would theoretically have sufficed.

Consequently, many teams seized the opportunity presented by the Safety Car period to make their first pit stop. Tweraser followed suit, dropping to 43rd place overall and 12th in class, falling behind the Kessel Racing team in the process.

Photo credits: SRO/JEP

The race resumed after a 20-minute Safety Car period, and in the minutes immediately following the restart, Tweraser managed to climb several places in the overall standings. Unfortunately, the Kessel Racing team also made similar gains, meaning Tweraser saw no improvement in his class position.

He subsequently inherited additional positions as cars from other classes became entangled in various incidents and incurred in penalties. After 45 minutes of racing, the Kessel Racing machine dropped back, allowing Tweraser to gain a position within his class. His next target was the car from Lionspeed, though he remained separated from it by two other competitors.

Just five minutes later, the #111 McLaren crashed into the tyre barrier at the Ascari Chicane. As the car initially remaind stuck, a Full Course Yellow was declared. Shortly after the yellow flags were waved, the Attempto Racing team seized the opportunity to make a second pit stop. During the full-service stop, Carrie Schreiner got behind the wheel.

The driver from Saarland had previously proven her skills on the track in various racing series and was now tasked with bringing the car further up the field. She initially rejoined in 40th place overall and 13th in class—now running directly behind the #97 Rutronik Porsche as many different strategies started to emerge across the field. The Full Course Yellow eventually transitioned into a Safety Car period, and the actual restart took place after 69 minutes of racing. Thanks to further pit stops by her competitors, Schreiner had already climbed back up to 10th place in class by that time.

Once the green flag waved, the young German demonstrated that her experience and successes were no fluke and that she had more than earned her place in the GTWC: with her impressive pace, she not only kept up with her rivals but also put them under constant pressure with relentless attacks.

At that moment, only Patrese was faster among the Bronze entries; he eventually overtook her, and later her teammate Kolb as well, with whom Schreiner subsequently battled for several laps.

After 95 minutes, another Full Course Yellow was triggered when the #914 Porsche ended up beached in the gravel trap at the first Lesmo corner. Schreiner came in for her next pit stop and remained in the car.

Photo credits: SRO/JEP

Once most of the field had completed their stops, the situation was upgraded to a full Safety Car period. By this point, Schreiner had already worked her way up to 22nd place overall and 8th in class. Shortly after the restart, the field remained tightly bunched, with Bronze-class cars running both ahead of and behind her. One lap later, a McLaren directly in front of Schreiner spun out; caught in the resulting traffic jam, she got held up and subsequently lost ground in her class.

The battle raged on until a top DTM driver—and one of the race favorites—closed in from behind. Due to a strategic error, Auer’s "Mamba" dropped from the lead to the back of the pack, putting him right on Schreiner’s tail, fighting for overall position. Up to that point, the Mercedes had been carving its way through the field unstoppably. But that changed the moment it caught up with Schreiner: even with the benefit of a slipstream and its superior baseline pace, the car stood no chance over the course of several laps of launching a genuine attack against Schreiner, who was herself still pressuring Kolb.

For several laps, a fierce three-way battle ensued between two Bronze entries and a Pro car, and it was only after several laps that the Mamba Mercedes eventually managed to get past Schreiner.

The driver from Saarland then enjoyed a better run out of the Parabolica and launched an attack on Kolb. The latter, however, shut the door, forcing Schreiner to choose between attempting a dangerous maneuver or aborting the move entirely. Schreiner evidently decided to take a different approach instead – she lifted off the throttle early to secure a better line for the chicane and position herself to overtake Kolb more effectively in the Curva Grande.

However, Auer was quick to capitalize on this deceleration, squeezing past Schreiner on the outside through the chicane; as a result, Schreiner lost the overall position, and with Kolb taking a better line through the chicane and was now out of Schreiner's reach.

She however worked her way back into contention with a string of fast laps, and this time she finally succeeded in gaining back the class position. This spirited comeback made a class podium look entirely realistic by the end of her stint.

Photo credits: SRO/JEP

For the final stint, Daniele Di Amato took over the #88 car. He, too, had to fight hard to make his way through the field. Furthermore, lapped traffic proved to be a significant challenge. When he was being lapped by Dörr at the second chicane, Di Amato missed the ideal line, slid into the gravel at the exit, and lost a few positions, dropping all the way down to ninth place in his class.

He suffered another brief slide toward the very end of the stint but managed to hold on to a spot in the upper ranks of the Bronze Cup.

With only 30 minutes remaining, mounting a comeback became a difficult proposition. A car broke down in the Ascari chicane, and almost simultaneously, a Mercedes engine blew up on the approach to the first chicane. This triggered another full-course yellow period, followed by a Safety Car deployment.

Prior to the restart with just six minutes left on the clock, Di Amato was running in 32nd place overall and 9th in class. On the first lap after the restart, he managed to improve his position slightly but on the very next approach to the first chicane, however, a multi-car collision erupted once again among the frontrunners, triggering yet another Safety Car period—one that ultimately brought the race to a premature end.

Di Amato had managed to climb back up to 8th place; however, due to a post-race time penalty, the team was ultimately classified in 9th place. Schreiner was a bit disappointed with the final result, particularly given the strong pace she had demonstrated during qualifying.

“The weekend started really strong; we had good pace—collectively, and my teammates did as well,” she told us. “So, it’s a real shame that we only finished P9 in the end. I don’t know what happened; we have to analyze it now. But compared to Paul Ricard, it was a huge step forward. Hopefully, we can achieve more in the future.”

The future is a fitting keyword, as the next race promises to be the highlight of the season. At the Spa-Francorchamps 24 Hours, taking place from June 24 to June 28, 70 GT3 machines will go head-to-head, and Schreiner will be making her debut in the world’s biggest GT3 race in the world.

Despite the bittersweet result, the pace demonstrated at Monza, combined with Schreiner’s experience at the Nürburgring 24 Hours, offers hope for a strong final result in Belgium.