The GT2 European Series powered by Pirelli opened a new chapter in its history at Monza this weekend, as the 2026 campaign began with a record grid at the Temple of Speed.
21 cars competed in the pair of 50-minute encounters, with i4Race and SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm signalling the start of the new era by each claiming their maiden series victory.
In Race 1, SRO GT Academy competitor Antoine Potty scored the win on his series debut, guiding his i4Race Maserati to a comfortable victory.
Branden Oxley led the opening stint from pole aboard the #116 NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG, with Potty keeping a watching brief behind and Štefan Rosina running third in the #18 LP Racing Maserati. All three are entered in the new Silver Cup class this term, with Potty the only one doing so as a solo driver.
They stayed this way throughout the opening stint – which was neutralised by a pair of safety cars – though as the pit window neared it was Potty’s Maserati that appeared to have a slight pace advantage. This became incidental when the NM-run Mercedes-AMG suffered a slow stop due to Adrián Ferrer – who relieved Oxley at the controls – stalling the car.
A clean service for Potty one lap later meant he was easily able to take the lead. Out front, Potty was able to pull away from the duelling duo to clinch the win by 5.7 seconds and set out his stall as a Silver Cup title contender.
The NM car dropped to fourth overall behind Gerhard Tweraser, who had taken over the #18 Maserati from Rosina, and the #111 SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm Mercedes-AMG of Jay Mo Härtling. The latter led the Pro-Am class after replacing David Thilenius at the controls and quickly cruised up to Tweraser’s rear bumper.
This would be the major battle of the second half of the race, with Härtling doing everything possible to overhaul the Maserati and set off in pursuit of Potty. But Tweraser used his vast experience of high-level GT racing to keep the young German at bay, deftly positioning his car into the chicanes to prevent a pass.
The Rosina/Tweraser Maserati was second overall and in class, while the Thilenius/Härtling Mercedes-AMG completed the overall podium and claimed the first Pro-Am win of 2026.
Ferrer and Oxley came home fourth, with the sister NM Mercedes-AMG of Alberto De Martin/Nil Montserrat taking fifth and the second step on the Pro-Am podium.
There seems to be nothing that will keep Philippe Prette from winning aboard his #1 LP Racing Maserati. The back-to-back Am champion suffered a heavy crash on Thursday which forced him to switch to a back-up car, but neither this nor an influx of new rivals – and a change of class name from Am to Masters – could prevent him from standing on the top step of the podium.
Prette did the hard work in the first stint by passing the early leader, RTR Projects’ Ondrej Rokos. From there the Monegasque was untroubled, ultimately finishing sixth overall in his Maserati – which, following the chassis change, carried an unfamiliar red colour scheme.
The biggest hard-luck story of the race was the #8 LP Racing Maserati. Thomas Yu Lee comfortably led the Pro-Am class during the opening phase, even getting among the Silver drivers, only for a problem with the car’s door to halt its progress during the second half. Without this issue, Niccoló Pirri could well have fought Härtling for the class win.
David Thilenius and Jay Mo Härtling then gave SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm its maiden outright GT2 European Series victory in Race 2 at Monza, leading a Mercedes-AMG one-two.
Taking the start from pole, Härtling maintained his advantage into the Rettifilo chicane with the twin NM cars of Nil Montserrat and Adrián Ferrer slotting into second and third respectively, the latter leading the Silver classification.
Two of the main contenders were removed from proceedings during the opening stages. Yesterday’s winner Antoine Potty suffered tyre damage aboard his #6 i4Race Maserati at the start of lap two and retired before making it back to the pits, while the #18 LP Racing Maserati pulled in with terminal problems after just five minutes.
The order at the front remained stable during the first stint, with Härtling edging three seconds clear of Montserrat. In doing so the German set the fastest lap of the race up to this point, something that will count in his favour when SRO GT Academy points are awarded.
The pit stops produced little in the way of change. Thilenius retained the lead after taking over the #111 Mercedes-AMG from Härtling, while the #115 NM machine held on to second with Alberto De Martin now at the wheel. There was a brief swap when Marius Aigner made a robust move on the NM driver into Parabolica aboard the #119 MZR KTM, but the Austrian was almost immediately pegged back by a drive-through for speeding the pit lane.
The man on the move was Oxley, who had taken over the #116 Mercedes-AMG from Ferrer and was running a second a lap faster than the leading Pro-Am cars. The youngster first caught and passed teammate De Martin for P2 overall, making a controlled move into Rettifilo with nine minutes to go.
Shortly afterwards Oxley passed Thilenius for P1 at Parabolica, but he still had work ahead of him. Race control ruled that the #116 NM Mercedes-AMG had not completed its pit stop in full, seemingly missing its compensation time for finishing third in class on Saturday. To correct this, the car was handed a 12-second penalty.
The overall victory was now gone, but Oxley could still claim Silver Cup honours. He set the fastest lap of the race on his final tour, but fell just short of fending off the #3 CMR Ginetta of Mikkel Njor, who completed the overall podium and grabbed the class honours alongside Ethan Gialdini.
On the revised order, the Thilenius/Härtling Mercedes-AMG wrapped up overall victory and completed a sweep of this weekend’s Pro-Am class wins, beating the De Martin/Montserrat car by almost four seconds. Njor and Ethan Gialdini were third aboard their Ginetta, followed by Oxley/Ferrer’s Mercedes-AMG and Masters class winner Philippe Prette.
The #1 LP Racing Maserati has now taken eight straight wins, a run that stretches back to the middle of last season and shows no sign of ending. Once again, the Monegasque overcame the maximum pit stop compensation time to slip past the RTR Projects Mercedes-AMG, which was started by Petr Lisa and handed to Ondrej Rokos.
The GT2 European Series powered by Pirelli continues its 2026 season on 20th to 21st June 2026, as part of SRO Spa Speedweek.
