The first champions of the 2026 GT2 European Series have been crowned following the penultimate round of the season at Zandvoort, as Ethan Gialdini and Mikkel Njor clinched a double overall win aboard the #3 CMR Ginetta.
This success meant that the pair have won the inaugural Silver title with a race to spare, whilst Philippe Prette became the series’ first three-time Masters champion with his own double class victory aboard the #1 LP Racing Maserati.
Race 1
Ethan Gialdini and Mikkel Njor took a lights-to-flag victory in Saturday’s Race 1, heading home a CMR Ginetta 1-2.
Gialdini started the #3 car from pole and brushed aside an initial challenge from the #88 LP Racing Audi of Stefan Rosina. The French driver then pulled clear of his Silver class rival at the head of the order, while Masters leader Philippe Prette settled into third aboard the #1 LP Racing Maserati.
The Gialdini-driven Ginetta would need to serve an additional 10 seconds in the pits following its victory last time out at Misano, while the #88 Audi would be stationary for an additional seven seconds. But any possibility of a position change was quickly dispelled as Gialdini pulled clear at the front of the pack. By the time the pit window opened he was more than seven seconds to the good.
As such, it was no surprise when Njor took the controls and returned to the track in the lead, with Lorenzo Marcucci now at the wheel of the #88 Audi in second spot. The Ginetta was not under any pressure during the second half of the race, with Njor disappearing into the distance to win by almost 22 seconds.
But there was plenty of action behind him. Pro-Am was close from the word go, with Lawrence Tomlinson leading the opening stint aboard the #62 CMR Ginetta from Thomas Yu Lee’s #8 LP Racing Maserati. The American could not make a move on track, but the pit stops did the job for him as extra compensation time for the Ginetta handed the Maserati the lead.
Back on the circuit, however, Luca Pirri could not keep Ginetta ace Mike Simpson at bay. The Brit got a better run around the final corner and pulled alongside the Maserati on Zandvoort’s long start/finish straight, completing a decisive move into Turn 1.
That was Pro-Am won – but Simpson now had an overall podium in his sights. He first passed Prette, who was running his own race on the way to a commanding Masters class win, then chased down Marcucci at a rapid rate.
Simpson made the pass for second overall with less than a minute left on the clock, ducking beneath the Audi at Hugenholtbocht and then pulling ahead around the following corner. It capped a fine performance from both Simpson and Tomlinson, who were rewarded with a second Pro-Am win of the season.
As such the final order was the twin CMR Ginettas followed by a trio of LP Racing entries. Prette claimed his fourth Masters win of the season in P4 overall, having survived an early scare courtesy of spinning on the way to the grid, while the #8 Maserati was fifth and runner-up in Pro-Am.
The #89 RTR Projects KTM of Viktor Mraz and Lennart Marioneck finished sixth and was Masters runner-up, while SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm’s Jay-Mo Härtling gave the #111 Mercedes-AMG the final spot on the Pro-Am podium with a last-lap pass on #115 NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG driver Nil Montserrat.
A mechanical issue meant that the #85 Iron Dames by SP Racing Maserati was unable to contest Race 1.
Race 2
Race 2 then saw a pair of titles decided, as Mikkel Njor and Ethan Gialdini claimed both a second win of the weekend and the Silver crown, whilst Philippe Prette made history by storming to a third Masters championship.
Njor kept the #3 CMR Ginetta in the top six during the opening stint, when the Pro drivers were behind the wheel of the Pro-Am machinery, before Gialdini produced a string of well-timed overtakes against his predominantly Am opposition to secure victory.
The race began in exciting fashion with the first four cars vying for the lead through the opening sequence of corners. Pole-sitter Reinhard Kofler held on to his advantage aboard the #119 MZR KTM followed by a pair of Pro-Am rivals, the #62 CMR Ginetta of Michael Simpson and #110 SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm Mercedes-AMG of Moritz Wiskirchen, and Silver leader Njor.
The difference between the leaders fluctuated during the early laps. Simpson initially cruised on to the rear of the KTM, but the gap subsequently stabilised at around a second. It seemed that it would remain this way until the pit stops, but with the race approaching half distance the Englishman swept around the outside of Kofler at T8 and quickly pulled clear of the KTM.
With compensation time to serve following yesterday’s Pro-Am win, the #62 Ginetta slipped to third during the pit cycle. The #119 KTM returned to the lead with Marius Aigner now at the wheel, while the #7 Dinamic Motorsport Maserati vaulted to second after Roberto Pampanini took over from the impressive Mauro Calamia.
Tomlinson soon made a move on Pampanini, cooly sliding up the inside of the Maserati at Tarzan, and set off in pursuit of Aigner. Meanwhile, the fastest car on the track was the #3 CMR Ginetta, which Gialdini had taken over from Njor. The Frenchman picked up where he left off yesterday by rapidly catching the leading trio of Pro-Am cars.
He made quick work of Pampanini, then squeezed between Aigner and Tomlinson to seize the overall lead. Tomlinson followed his team-mate through and looked set for another Pro-Am triumph, but the #62 Ginetta was placed under investigation for using an external battery during its pit stop.
While this was in question, Gialdini’s outright and Silver wins were not. The Frenchman crossed the line first to clinch the class title, though the order behind him changed due to a number of time penalties.
The #62 Ginetta received a 34-second time penalty, whilst the #88 LP Racing Audi which finished third on the road was penalised 12 seconds for a short pit stop.
The runner-up spot therefore went to Prette’s #1 LP Racing Maserati, with the Masters champion scoring his first outright podium of the season.
Prette led the opening phase in class but dropped behind the #89 RTR Projects KTM of his sole remaining title rival Viktor Mraz due to his pit stop compensation time. Having taken 18 class wins since the start of 2024, this is normal procedure for the LP Racing driver. Back on track he caught the KTM and made a pass with a little over five minutes to go.
Mraz took third overall in the car he shares with Lennart Marioneck, followed by the #119 KTM. Fifth overall and second in Silver went to the #88 Audi. Then it was the #7 Maserati and the penalised #62 CMR Ginetta, which nevertheless took a Pro-Am podium and reduced the deficit at the top of the standings, with the #110 SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm Mercedes-AMG finishing down in fifth.
The GT2 European Series returns to action for the season finale in Portimão over 16th to 18th October 2026.
Images courtesy of SRO/JEP
