A spectacular last-lap move by Elite Motorsport’s Tom Lebbon secured victory over Zac Meakin at the first-ever International GT Open race at the Misano World Circuit.
It marked the British team’s second win in the championship since July last year at the Hungaroring, although that was with the previous iteration of the Ferrari 296.
The #17 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo fell from second to fifth position at the beginning, with Lebbon’s teammate Tom Emson surviving a hectic race start.
Greystone GT’s #33 McLaren GT3 of Dean Macdonald delivered a clean opening stint, building his lead gap as rivals behind him fought fiercely.
But a safety car period was deployed for a stranded #79 Sendom Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2, a team at the heart of multiple incidents during this race.
This reset Meakin’s 14.4-second lead gap before Lebbon chased him down in a 17-minute sprint to the finish.
Lebbon made a cunning inside move on the final lap on the approach to Carro, going wheel-to-wheel with the #33 McLaren before taking first place with just two corners remaining.
“I made a bit of a mess at the start,” Emson admitted after the race, “Got sideways at Turn 3, but stayed in the right positions. Then boxed with a success penalty, we didn’t think it was going to be on for the win, but Tom did an amazing job at the end.
“It was hard work to be fair, Meakin did a mega job,” added Emson. “He made a few mistakes on the last lap, and I just managed to get my nose in front.
“But I think we boxed at the right time and undercut a few cars and maximised our race definitely. It was hard work with the five-second [success] penalty, but it was really good.”
After taking his maiden 24 Hours of Nürburgring victory a few weeks ago, Fabian Schiller claimed a podium in the #9 Getspeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo with Anthony Bartone.
During the final green flag sprint to the finish, Schiller pursued Pro-Am class leader and eventual class winner Fach Auto Tech’s #11 Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo driven by Alexander Fach.
The Mercedes-AMG factory driver pressured Fach for fourth overall — both drivers chasing Pietro Armanni’s #911 ZRS Motorsport Porsche with 10 minutes remaining.
Both moved on Armanni successfully on the exit of Turn 6, before the heat turned up between Schiller and Fach.
On the penultimate lap, Schiller capitalised on an error by Fach into Quercia when the #11 Porsche ran wide, resulting in the #9 Mercedes making it through to third.
Fach Auto Tech showcased a strong outing once again after their Spa triumph with a commanding maiden Pro-Am class win for Lucas Wolf, who stepped up from Am to Pro-Am this weekend with his teammate Fach.
ZRS Motorsport finished fifth overall and fourth in the Pro category, with Armanni and his #911 Porsche teammate, Alex Fontana.
Whilst they were beaten late in the race, the pairing made substantial progress from starting ninth overall.
Al Manar by Dragon Racing’s #707 Ferrari duo of Al Faisal Al Zubair and David Fumanelli claimed a top-five Pro class finish from P8 overall.
Team ISR’s #75 Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO 2 finished second in Pro-Am, seventh outright, in the hands of Czech crew Libor Milota and Filip Salaquarda, who both redeemed themselves from a difficult Spa outing.
PTT Racing secured its first Pro-Am podium finish with its new #7 BMW M4 GT3 Evo in eighth outright.
The car shared by Hubert Darmetko and Fabian Dybionka started 13th on the grid and sixth in Pro-Am, capitalising on the dramas ahead of them to climb up into third in Pro-Am.
Maximilian Götz claimed ninth overall and sixth in Pro for the #71 Motopark Mercedes with his Spa 500-winning teammate Christian Mansell.
Mansell incurred a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision with Scuderia Villorba Corse’s Leonardo Moncini amid a tense battle for third position. He made contact just 12 minutes into the race and inflicted a right-rear puncture to the #63 Lamborghini following an unsuccessful dive into Rio.
Olimp Racing’s #777 Ferrari of Karol Basz and Marcin Jedliński finished 10th overall and fourth in Pro-Am, having spent most of their time towards the front end of the field with a strong opening stint by Basz.
Opportunistic overtakes by Schiller and Fach after the safety car restart made it difficult for the #777 Ferrari to hold onto track position.
As at Spa, Fach Auto Tech won not only in Pro-Am but also in the Am category.
Joel Monegro took the Am victory in his #12 Porsche, taking the lead with 32 minutes of the 70-minute race remaining.
As Monegro was 12th overall, the next Am-class finisher was the #6 Baron Ferrari 296 GT3 of Andrzej and Adrian Lewandowski in 15th overall.
Goodspeed Racing secured another Am podium this season in the sole Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo fielding the number #14 and drivers Piotr Wira and Tomasz Magdziarz, finishing third in class and 17th outright.
Seven cars retired from the race, starting with Jim Pla’s #26 Saintéloc Racing Audi, which spun on the opening lap while in sixth position before returning to the pits.
CBRX by SPS’s #54 Mercedes collided late with Yaroslav Vesalaho’s #96 AF Corse Ferrari, both teams retiring later on.
Seweryn Mazur’s Sendom Racing #79 Lamborghini first collided with Rafael Durán’s #51 AF Corse Ferrari at the opening corner, then with the #25 Into Africa by Dragon Racing Ferrari (Xolile Letlaka) at Rio — later stopping at Quercia to trigger the safety car period with 26 minutes left.
Alfredo Hernández in the #77 Grupo Prom Mercedes lost it on exit of Turn 8 and made contact with the Am championship leader, Galid Osman’s #16 AF Corse Ferrari, both subsequently retiring.
And during the final phase of the race, the Motopark #28 Mercedes of Dominik Baumann was spun around by Tomasco Mosca’s #51 AF Corse Ferrari, causing the #28 to return to the pit lane and retire.
The action continues tomorrow morning with qualifying at 09:30 CEST, setting the grid for the 60-minute race scheduled for 14:15.
