It’s home race for Joel Camathias this weekend, as the International GT Open makes its traditional stop at Monza. Although on the other side of the Swiss-Italian border, the legendary track is just a few kilometers from Lugano. The 33-year-old Swiss driver goes to this sixth round of the season as a title contender: with two rounds (4 races) still to go, Joel and team mate Matteo Beretta are third in the standings, only 13 points behind the leaders. At the wheel of their Autorlando Porsche 911 R, they will try to further reduce the gap and get to the final round in Barcelona with a good chance to fight for the title, which would be Joel’s third in the series, after the overall crowns conquered in 2007 and 2009.

Joel Camathias:

“Monza is always a very special moment. It’s close to home, of course, and a lot of family and friends always come to see me here, and it was the first track where I raced many years ago. It is also a fast circuit that I particularly like. This year is my 20th season in motorsports, so it will be even more special. Most of all, we are still in contention for the title and we will do our utmost to fight for it. We are not the top favorites, and we have in front of us an armada of Ferraris, that can also play team strategy, but we won’t give up until the last second!  Autorlando is really a great team and almost a family to me, and Matteo Beretta a perfect team mate, young, fast and clever. The Porsche 911 R is not the ultimate GT3 racer you can find these days, but the whole package has been effective. We have done a very good package in developing the car and extracting the best out of it, as proven by our recent positive trend, with six podium finishes, including the nice win at Silverstone. I really look forward to these final two rounds and enjoy being in a position of fighting for the title.”