The third round of the GT2 European Series, held over the weekend in Misano, witnessed the triumph of KTM and Ginetta, with an excellent performance from Mercedes in third place. The Maseratis, on the other hand, faced a more challenging Italian event than expected, adding valuable placements and points.
The Trident vehicles, managed by LP Racing and Dinamic Motorsport, achieved trophies in both the Masters and Pro/Am categories. However, the I4Race vehicle was forced to withdraw due to an accident during the first race, preventing its participation in the second.
Race 1: The details
In the first race of the weekend, held Saturday afternoon, Luca Pirri and Celia Martin dominated until the #18 Maserati was disqualified for weighing 13 kg less than permitted. Antoine Potty, who had secured pole position, started well with the #6 Maserati but lost the lead on the first lap to Mikkel Njor’s Ginetta.
As the race progressed, Martin climbed to second place with LP Racing’s Maserati #18, while an exciting battle for fifth place unfolded between other drivers from the same team. On the third lap, Adrian Ferrer overtook Philippe Prette, placing the #116 Mercedes-NM Racing in a competitive position.
The race took a heavy hit on the seventh lap when Potty had a braking issue and crashed into the barriers, forcing a safety car period followed by a red flag for nearly 45 minutes. Once the race resumed, Martin maintained his position against the attacks until pit stops caused further changes in the standings. In the end, due to the disqualification of Martin and Pirri, the #119 KTM-MZR Motorsport achieved victory in both the overall standings and the Pro/Am class.
Race 2: Key moments
The second race took place on Sunday morning, with Potty’s Maserati absent due to injuries sustained in the first race. Wieskirchen and Hartling’s Mercedes started dominating but a technical issue left Hartling leading the competition. Prette was dominating the Masters class but was gradually overtaken.
After the pit stops, Mikkel Njor, driving the Ginetta #3, began making passes and ended up catching Hartling, achieving victory in both the overall standings and the Silver class. Rosina and Marcucci, with #88, also climbed to second place, while Hartling finished in third position, claiming victory in the Pro/Am class.
In the Masters class, the situation became complicated for Maserati and LP Racing when Marius Aigner’s KTM collided with Prette, leaving only two Maseratis finishing the race: #18, with Pirri and Martin, in sixth position, and #7, with Calamia and Pampanini, finishing second in the Pro/Am class.
Thus, the competition in Misano has been a true spectacle, leaving two outstanding victories and a demonstration of competitiveness among the participating teams and drivers.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
