Mattia Michelotto and Gilles Stadsbader (Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2) claimed victory in race-1 GT3 of the first round of the Italian GT Sprint Championship currently underway at the Misano World Circuit. The VSR team duo had the best of Di Amato-Boguslavskiy (Ferrari 296 GT3-AF Corse) and teammates Cazzaniga-Di Folco.

In the GT Cup category, the podium was dominated by the Lamborghini Huracan ST Evo2, with Giacomo and Matteo Pollini (Giacomo Race) clinching victory, ahead of DL Racing's two teams, Gattuso-Fontana and Mainetti-Scionti. D’Auria-Oliva (Lamborghini Huracan ST Evo2-HC Racing) secured the top spot on the AM podium in Division 1, while Palma-Navatta (Porsche 992 GT3 Cup-Raptor Engineering) won in PRO-AM, and Polverini-Liana (Porsche 992 GT3 Cup-ZRS Motorsport) triumphed in AM in Division 2.

The final two races of the first round (GT3 at 13:40 and GT Cup at 16:00) are scheduled for tomorrow. They will be broadcast live on Acisport (SKY 228) and Raisport (DT 58) and on the championship's social media channels.

GT3: The victory of the VSR team was well-deserved, starting with Michelotto's pole position in qualifying. He maintained the lead in the initial stages despite some tyre pressure issues. He then handed the car over to Stadsbader with a lead of over 6 seconds, the Belgian driver controlled the race, extending the lead to over eight seconds before managing the final laps to win the season's first race ahead of the Ferrari 296 GT3 of Di Amato-Boguslavskiy.

AF Corse's team secured the second podium spot after a strong stint by the Roman driver, who controlled an excellent third place. At the driver change, Boguslavskiy found himself in second place after Blattner's entry, slipping several positions after his co-driver Marshall had maintained second place, allowing AF Corse's team to finish the race ahead of Cazzaniga-Di Folco.

Despite a 5-second penalty for track limits, VSR's team secured an excellent third position and crucial points in the title race, with Cazzaniga holding fourth place in the initial stint, while Di Folco capitalized on Blattner's failure to secure third place, ahead of Delli Guanti-Mazzola's Audi R8 LMS.

Tresor Audi Sport Italia's team achieved a good fourth place despite a tyre pressure issue that penalized Delli Guanti in the race's early stages. However, the young Apulian driver recovered immediately, allowing his teammate Mazzola to take the car to fifth place, improved by one position on the last lap due to the BMW's off-track excursion, the 22-year-old German Max Hesse. It was an unfortunate race for the BMW Italia-Ceccato Racing Team, with Klingmann gaining fifth place, then improving by one position in the second stint with a good performance by Hesse, but a braking system issue deprived the BMW colours of the podium position during the last lap.

Another Huracan, that of Imperiale Racing driven by Bartholomew-Denes, finished fifth, ahead of Marschall-Blattner's Porsche 992 GT3 R, first in GT3 PRO-AM and in great form in the initial stint with the long-held second position by the German driver, and the second Tresor Audi Sport Italia team, Cola-Moncini (Audi R8 LMS), eighth under the chequered flag.

Completing the top ten were Moulin-Fabi (Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2-VSR), ninth, ahead of Postiglione Coluccio (Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020-Best Lap), while in GT3 AM, victory went to Mcgee-Mcintosh (Mercedes AMG GT3-Antonelli Motorsport), fourteenth overall.

It is worth noting the twelfth position of Biagi-Trulli (Ferrari 296 GT3-Easy Race) with the young Abruzzo-born driver, son of former F1 driver Jarno, authoring numerous fast laps in the second stint, while the Berto-Jelmini team (Honda NSX GT3-Nova Race) retired due to a braking system issue while in ninth position.

Here is the race-1 GT3 leaderboard.

GT Cup: It was the first victory for cousins Giacomo and Matteo Pollini, in their second season in the Italian GT, a well-deserved success after a strong stint by Giacomo, who chased the pole-sitter Di Fabio from the start. At the driver change, Matteo found himself in second place, but Pierantoni, replacing Di Fabio, could not contain the Brescia driver, who, once in the lead, extended the gap to the pursuers, closing the race ahead of DL Racing's two Lamborghini Huracan ST Evo2, Gattuso-Fontana and Mainetti-Scionti, the latter performing a remarkable comeback from sixth place in the initial stint and skillfully gaining the podium on the last lap against Pierantoni, fourth at the finish line paired with Di Fabio.

D’Auria-Oliva (Lamborghini Huracan ST Evo2-HC Racing), GT Cup AM Division 1 winners, were fifth ahead of Badawi's Lambo (DL Racing) and Desideri's (CRM Motorsport), and Trentin-Lovati's Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo.

In Division 2, dedicated to Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, in PRO-AM Palma-Navatta (Raptor Engineering) prevailed over Zerbi-Pisani (SP Racing), while in AM Polverini-Liana (ZRS Motorsport) climbed to the top step of the podium, preceding Knez-Jacoma (Centri Porsche Ticino) and Fabiani-Zanini (SP Racing).

Here is the GT Cup race-1 leaderboard.

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GIACOMO POLLINI-MATTEO POLLINI (LAMBORGHINI HURACAN ST EVO2-GIACOMO RACE)

ANDREA PALMA-MASSIMO NAVATTA (PORSCHE 992 GT3 CUP-RAPTOR ENGINEERING)