GT2 European Series powered by Pirelli newcomers DL Racing hit the ground running at its home circuit, as the Lamborghini squad topped Free Practice to kick off the fourth event of the season.
The all-Italian team is one of two new crews joining the GT2 Europe grid at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, and was quick to make the headlines on Friday morning. The #72 Pro-Am duo of Diego Locanto and Luca Segù ended the session fastest of all with a best effort of 1:35.344s, the Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo Evo 2 just over a tenth clear of its closest rival.
Just 0.147s shy of them came the #89 RTR Projects KTM X-Bow of Davit Kajaia and Mato Homola, who remain on the hunt for their first win of the term. Their session was cut short, however, after suffering an off at the final corner.
Third fastest was the NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG of Spaniards Alberto De Martin and Nil Montserrat, just 0.005s better off than DINAMIC Motorsport’s Roberto Pampanini and Mauro Calamia (Maserati) to make it four different manufacturers in the top four positions.
Another all-Italian crew paced the Am class. Philippe Prette, who leads the standings by 26 points heading to Misano thanks to four wins this season, rounded out the overall top five for LP Racing in the #1 Maserati.
Pro-Am points leaders Stefan Rosina and Bronek Formanek were next up for Mičánek Motorsport powered by Buggyra, ahead of the similar Lamborghini of series debutants ART-Line and its Pro-Am line-up of Shota Abkhazava and Egor Orudzhev.
Viktor Mraz and Petr Lisa were eighth for RTR Projects (KTM) ahead of LP Racing’s Stéphane Ratel and Luca Pirri (Audi R8 LMS GT2), while the Akkodis ASP Mercedes-AMG of Christophe Bourret and Pascal Gibon completed the top 10.
Pre-Qualifying is next on the agenda for the GT2 Europe competitors, offering another hour of track time from 17:30 CEST.