The opening round of the 21st edition of the Italian GT championship was held in Misano on 6 and 7 May. A warm and sunny weekend allowed the drivers to get the best out of themselves on track.
 
Race 1 Saturday
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, the 16-year-old driver of Antonelli Motorsport, son of the team owner, was a real revelation in Race 1 on Saturday. He took victory, proving that he is capable of pushing hard in his first race in a GT car.

Antonelli immediately pulled away from the pursuers, despite having a 5-second handicap due to racing alone. He confirmed his lead right from the start and had no opponents throughout the race. He crossed the finish line ahead of Liberati-Michelotto (Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo-VSR) and Klingmann-Spengler (BMW M4 GT3-BMW Italia/Ceccato Racing Team).

Klingmann-Spengler finished in third place after a race conducted in second place, battling with D’Auria. D’Auria was eager to overtake and bumped Klingmann-Spengler a few laps from the end. Both drivers went off the track, but they returned and finished the race.

D’Auria was penalized by 25 seconds for the rear-end collision, which was determined by the stewards at the end of the race. He finished in seventh place.

Race 2 Sunday

Stuart White and Jean Luc D’Auria (Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo) of AF Corse won Race 2, followed by Petrov-Cazzaniga (Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo-Vincenzo Sospiri Racing) and Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes AMG GT3-Antonelli Motorsport).

The Swiss driver led for almost the entire first part of the race, and the crew was also able to manage tire wear well, despite the 42°C heat on the track. Petrov-Cazzaniga finished in second place, after an excellent first stint. Third place was decided at the last corner, when Antonelli braked very hard and overtook Klingmann (BMW M4 GT3-Ceccato Racing), winning by 39 thousandths of a second.

Antonelli put on a show at Misano, making many overtaking moves, especially with the Belgian Moulin. The public was delighted with his performance.

The next round will be in Pergusa, where a great show is expected with the endurance race and the debut of the new R8 from Audi Sport Italia.

Article by Alessio Romanò