The Crown Racing Series leaves the Ardennes for historical Monza, which plays host to round five of the 2025-26 season. Built in the heart of a royal park, Monza has been the home of Italian Motorsport since 1922 and is a circuit where straightline speed and strong brakes are key to victory.CRS's first two-time winner Nicolai Pedersen comes into Monza on a hat-trick, having taken victory in the stewards' room at Spa following Gregory Hovesen's post-race penalty. Chasing Pedersen hard is Balazs Erdelyi, yet to finish on the podium, but has somersaulted into the title fight, courtesy of a quadruple of fourth-place finishes. Monza will also be a special race for Andrea Pagnini and Federico Alberti, who will hope to perform strongly on home ground. But what storylines should fans look out for at the Temple of Speed?
Pedersen goes for three
While he's yet to finish first on track, two wins have put Pedersen in the driving seat in the championship race heading into Italy. At Spa, Pedersen ran in the top three for most of the race before jumping into the lead at the pitstops, where he stayed until the very last lap when Hovesen got by at Blanchimont. Nonetheless, Pedersen holds the aces in the title fight, and with the long straights of Monza set to suit the Mustangs, another good weekend will see the Dane take another step towards the title.
Will Erdelyi end his run of fourths?
But while Pedersen holds a 14-point cushion out in front, Erdelyi will be keen to halt the Dane's momentum at Monza as well as finally crack the top three. Erdelyi hoped to break his duck last time out at Spa, only for a sluggish pitstop to cost him dearly in his pursuit of Pedersen and Hovesen. Any hope the Hungarian had of making the podium faded after contact with polesitter Dani Neo at Les Combes, forcing him to settle for another fourth place. Despite this setback, Erdelyi's consistency has made him a title contender, and if Pedersen slips up, the Hungarian should be there to capitalise.
Pagnini and Alberti chase home success
For two of CRS' 17 drivers, Monza is a very special event and where there will be extra motivation to perform at their best. Despite showing good speed at times this season, Pagnini hasn't had the rub of the green and will be hoping to use Porsche power to bag his first top 10 since round two at Fuji. In contrast, Alberti heads into his home race fresh from his best result of 12th at Spa, and is getting ever closer to his first series top 10.
The temple of slipstream
Monza is a true power circuit, and getting a good slipstream on the run into the braking zones is key. All three sectors of the course are extremely high-speed and include corners such as Curva Grande and the Parabolica, which offer overtaking opportunities, albeit for the bravest drivers. But while strong top speed is essential, having a car that can handle the slow corners, such as the Variante Ascari and the Variante Roggia, is essential too. Not only could a poor exit cost the drivers valuable time and be the difference between pole position and last, but getting too heavy on the throttle could send them into the gravel. Qualifying will also see drivers become far more tactical as they fight for the slipstream, which could propel them to a good grid position.
Season Statistics
Season so far
With the CRS season reaching its climax, we've looked through the data to give you some insights on what’s been a thrilling series of races. Luciano Witvoet, who returned to the podium at Spa with second, has led the most laps with 27, while Pedersen is the ironman of the series with 105 laps completed. The Dane is also the consistency king with a +1.421 variance on clean laps. Pagnini has made the most overtakes this year with 38, while Igor Kos has been a driver in a hurry this season, with the experienced German picking up a net 16 positions per race. Finally, the series has nearly reached 10kms of race distance, with the previous event at Spa recording an average top speed of 140.9mph.
Next Round
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