Max Mutschlechner had to contend with a lot of headwind. © Private

Mutschlechner saves a podium finish in Monza

Max Mutschlechner looks back on the most difficult weekend of his still-young racing career. At the "Temple of Speed" in Monza, the 20-year-old from Bruneck experienced a never-ending streak of bad luck in the Porsche Sports Cup Suisse – but at least he still managed a podium finish in his Open GT class.

July 20, 2025

From: pm

The streak of bad luck began in qualifying on Friday at the 5.793-meter-long, historic race track in the Royal Park. While attempting to secure the Porsche 992 GT3 Cup's pole position for the two-hour endurance race, the car spun off the track. Repairing the damaged rear suspension would have been a routine task for the mechanics from the "Porsche Zentrum 5 Seen Motorsport" team, had a specific part of the brake line not also been damaged.

The Manthey-Racing team was able to remove the necessary part from one of their cars, and by 1 a.m. Mutschlechner's car was ready to race again. "Without this help from the competition, a start on Saturday would not have been possible," the rookie praised the Germans' sportsmanship.

Podium gives hope

In qualifying for the sprint race, Mutschlechner snatched first place on the final lap, but due to a tire puncture at the start of Q1 and an unauthorized tire change, the South Tyrolean was relegated three places. Mutschlechner gained two positions on the first lap, but in a duel with the leader, Dragos Burius (ROU), there was contact. Mutschlechner had to start the next chase with a damaged front apron and finished the race in third place.
Short weekend

In the second race of the afternoon, Mutschlechner was on the verge of clinching his fifth win of the season when, with three laps remaining, he was forced off the track at 268 km/h by Andrea Galli (ITA) while braking for the chicane at the end of the long start-finish straight. The race was over for Mutschlechner and Galli; Galli was penalized by the stewards and will be dropped ten places on the starting grid for the next race. A particularly bitter blow: there wasn't enough time to repair the damaged wheel suspension, and Mutschlechner and Andreas Mayrl (Lana) were unable to participate in the two-hour race in the early evening.

“From the very beginning, things were going wrong here in Monza.” Max Mutschlechner

"It all went rather badly; things were going wrong here in Monza from the very beginning. Being shot down on the way to victory fits in with this complicated weekend. I hope this puts an end to my bad luck streak for the season," explained the Bruneck native shortly before his return home. He continues to lead the overall Open GT standings with four wins and two podium finishes.

The Porsche Sports Cup Suisse continues in mid-September with a double sprint on the Mugello race track (ITA), and the season finale with the two-hour night race follows in mid-October on the “World Circuit Marco Simoncelli” in Misano (ITA).