Dean Macdonald grabbed pole position for this afternoon’s first International GT Open race at Misano.
Greystone GT’s #33 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo driver claimed his second pole this season since the Portimão opener, securing honours during a late, tense fight during the 25-minute qualifying session.
Olimp Racing’s Karol Basz established his place at the top of the time sheets before a red flag halted running before continuation with just 5 minutes and 38 seconds on the clock.
The red flag was raised for Track Focused #88 McLaren driver Darren Kell, who overshot the final corner at Misano, spun towards the inner barrier and made front-end contact, leaving him stranded on the start-finish straight.
Macdonald denied Elite Motorsport’s #17 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo of Tom Emson to pole by 0.285 seconds, who was only 0.054 seconds ahead of Basz.
“It wasn’t the cleanest of sessions, especially when the red flag came, just as a lot of cars rolled out of the pits for the second stint,” said Macdonald.
“… It’s far from ideal when you go out on your second stint to have to sit under FCY for a little bit, but you know we got the job done, and that’s all that matters.
“I’ve raced here in the past in GT World Challenge, not for a few years, but it’s a super quick track.
“You have to be in quite a nice rhythm to put a lap together, but when you are, it’s very rewarding, so we enjoy coming here.”
Macdonald’s fastest lap time of 1:31.194 bested Emson’s effort of 1:31.479 to lock out the front row.
Basz improved just as Macdonald and Emson did, taking third in his #777 Ferrari with a 1:31.533 to go fastest in the Pro-Am category. It is his second Pro-Am pole this season.
Scuderia Villorba Corse’s #63 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 looked set to join Basz on the front row before the session’s resumption.
The team opted not to return to the circuit after the Track Focused incident clear-up, claiming fourth nevertheless in the hands of Squadra Corse Junior talent Leonardo Mocinini’s 1:31.869.
Spa 500 winner Christian Mansell lines up fifth for the third round of the season, setting a 1:31.955 in his #71 Team Motopark Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.
Jim Pla took sixth outright, second in Pro-Am, for the #26 Santéloc Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo 2 with a 1:31.965.
Vincent Abril followed in the #55 AF Corse Ferrari for third in Pro-Am, after his 1:32.118 lap time. The other Pro-Am teams used their Amateur-graded drivers, unlike the #777 Ferrari, #26 Audi and #55 Ferrari.
David Fumanelli put Al Manar by Dragon Racing’s #707 Ferrari in eighth position overall (1:32.229), fifth in the Pro category.
Alex Fontana’s #911 ZRS Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo qualified ninth (1:32.283) ahead of Libor Milota’s #75 Team ISR Audi (1:32.877), which was fourth in Pro-Am.
Anthony Bartone’s Pro-entered #9 Getspeed Mercedes was 11th (1:32.936), as Lucas Wolf’s #11 Fach Auto Tech Porsche was 12th (1:32.992).
PTT Racing’s #7 BMW M4 GT3 Evo starts 13th outright, just behind fellow Pro-Am rival Fach Auto Tech with credit to Hurbert Darmetko (1:33.040).
Behind them were AF Corse’s Yaroslav Vaselaho (1:33.059) and Rafael Durán (1:33.335) in the #96 and #51 Ferraris, and Marcelo Ramírez’s #28 Motopark Mercedes (1:33.970).
Seweryn Mazur claimed the Am-class pole position in Sendom Racing’s #79 Mercedes (1:34.002) in 17th overall.
Target Racing’s Huilin Han (1:34.379) will start behind in his #39 pre-generation Ferrari.
Joel Monegro took third in the Am category with his #12 Fach Auto Porsche, recording a time of 1:34.449.
However, a Pro-Am car, the #54 CBRX by SPS Mercedes driven by Dexter Müller with a time of 1:34.380, is positioned between him and his Am rival.
The 70-minute-long Race 1 takes place later today from 15:05 CEST.
