ROTHNZ RETURNS TO THE TOP: THE GOAT WINS MONZA AFTER 11 SEASONS

RothNz is back where he belongs. In the only forced-cockpit race of Season 25, and over the brutal distance of a 100% Monza Grand Prix, the McLaren driver finally ended an extraordinary wait for victory, classified ahead of Rankupwithme after deduction of his penalty and his teammate Rollie. More than ten seasons after his previous A1881 victory in Hungary in Season 14 with Racing Bulls, the league’s undisputed GOAT on and off the track has added another chapter to its history...

The race initially looked set to be Rankup-Bards-Roth battle. Rankupwithme produced the only 1:19s qualifying lap to take pole, with Bards alongside him and RothNz starting fifth. The trio remained tightly packed through the opening phase, but Bards’ challenge took a major hit on Lap 7 when a VSC caught him missing the delta and handed him a drive-through penalty.

Behind them, Rollie was producing one of the drives of the race. Starting all the way back in P15 after a qualifying ban, the McLaren driver carved his way through the field at remarkable speed. By Lap 17 he was already only five seconds away from the leading pair. Even after being rear-ended by Scaparro into T1 and spinning, Rollie’s pace on the hard tyres remained exceptional, bringing the gap down to just two seconds with ten laps remaining.

Up front, RothNz and Rankup were locked in the kind of battle that defined much of the race. Roth described it as being easy to remain within DRS but almost impossible to pull away, with his McLaren seemingly treating its tyres “like silk.” Roth eventually made his move late in the first stint and built a small gap, while Rankup pitted. A poor stop put Roth back behind him, but the McLaren eventually hunted him down again as tyre wear began to swing the advantage back in his favour.

Then came the decisive moment.

While lapping Furios Dony, who seemed to remain on the racing line, Rankup made contact with Roth at T3 and spun the McLaren around. The incident scattered debris across the circuit and, in a cruel twist, Rollie picked up a front-right puncture. His extraordinary comeback suddenly collapsed, forcing another pit stop and taking him out of contention for what could have been a sensational victory after starting 15th.

Roth, meanwhile, kept his composure. Despite dropping around 8–9 seconds behind with only 10–12 laps remaining, he recovered enough ground to finish within Rankup’s three-second penalty. Rankup therefore crossed the line first on the road, but the penalty handed Roth the victory he had been waiting years to reclaim.

Bards eventually came home fourth after his early penalty, still searching for his first podium of the season. Scaparro finished fifth, continuing his apparent mission to make Monza painful for Rollie after their previous encounters here. Box-for-inters, who had entered the race leading the championship, could only manage sixth, surrendering the WDC lead to Roth.

TrenchGhost once again quietly delivered for Williams with seventh, continuing the team’s one-man campaign in Energetic’s absence. Elche enjoyed his best result of the season with eighth, while Furios_Donyy56 recovered to ninth despite also carrying a qualifying ban. ItsHorn made his A1881 debut as a Cadillac wildcard for Korka6_cz, producing an impressive eighth on the road before the wildcard rule classified him P10, matching Korka’s best result of the season.

ToxxicElijah brought the second Red Bull home in 11th, followed by Fox in the Cadillac and Rexroth in the Audi. Sir_Ibbo finished 14th after four visits to the pits, while Mrbenchod became the other retirement of the race after starting seventh. El-Arrogant’s full time debut ended in the pits after messy opening laps, while Fox, Rexroth and Sir Ibbo’s long battle at the back showed the commitment required to survive one of the season’s toughest races.

And after all of it, RothNz stands atop the championship with 120 points, 15 ahead of Box-for-inters and 30 clear of teammate Rollie. McLaren has also stretched its constructors’ lead to 210 points.

Eleven seasons after Hungary. After years of waiting.

The GOAT is a winner again.

RothNz:“I got a pretty good start and came out of T1 in P4. On lap 2 I passed Bards, and after a small mistake from Box For Inters, I managed to get past him as well.

From there, it was basically just me and RankedUp battling for the rest of the race.

It was fairly easy to stay within DRS, but at the same time really difficult to pull away. As his tyres started to fade, I felt I had the advantage thanks to the McLaren seemingly treating its tyres like silk. 😂

Towards the end of the first stint I made my move and created a small gap. RankedUp pitted while I stayed out for another lap. Unfortunately, I had a poor pit stop and came out behind him again. He even managed to break the 1-second barrier and at one point had almost a 2-second lead.

I eventually caught him again, and once I was back on his rear wing I felt I had the upper hand going into the end of the stint because of the difference in tyre wear.

Unfortunately, things got a bit messy when we were lapping a backmarker who stayed on the racing line and got in our way. RankedUp hit me and spun me around, while he received a 3-second penalty.

I was then around 8–9 seconds behind with maybe 10–12 laps to go. Rollie also managed to get past me, who had had insane pace all race but started from the back because of the qualifying ban.

Luckily for me, Rollie picked up a puncture, and I managed to catch back up enough to finish within RankedUp's 3-second penalty — meaning I finally won a race again for the first time in YEARS! 😂

Absolutely loved the battles with RankedUp, although I obviously feel really sorry for my teammate Rollie and that puncture.

I would have loved to fight all the way to the finish, but sometimes that's just how racing goes.

On to Madrid for even more battles! 😎”

The commentary of Ironghost was missing due to passing out after a couple of beers, but you can find the winner's pov of the race in the following link:

https://www.youtube.com/live/LGswyTu1zB8?si=oiqSZigfuSRsD-5O&t=833

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