Rinaldi Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 drivers Alessandro Balzan and Dylan Medler claimed victory in a weather-affected opening round of the 2026 Italian GT Championship (CIGT) Endurance at Misano. In a race shaped by changing conditions, multiple Safety Cars and late incidents, the Ferrari duo fought from 11th on the grid to secure overall victory in the three-hour contest in which tensions boiled over.
A 53-car field across GT3 and GT Cup delivered one of the most unpredictable races in recent memory, with tyre strategy and timing proving decisive throughout the three-hour endurance.
GT3: Balzan and Medler capitalise after dramatic late clash
The #45 Rinaldi Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 of Alessandro Balzan and Dylan Medler emerged victorious after a dramatic late-race incident reshuffled the order. Following a restart with 19 minutes remaining, the leading #99 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 of Alex Aka was spun around by Edoardo Liberati in the #66 VSR Lamborghini Huracán GT3 while the pair battled for the lead. The incident allowed Balzan to move into first place, a position he would not relinquish through the final Safety Car restart and run to the chequered flag.
Liberati later received a drive-through penalty for the contact, ending VSR’s podium hopes, while the #99 Audi initially finished fourth on the road. However, the Tresor Attempto Racing entry was later disqualified after driver Alex Aka and several team members confronted VSR personnel in the pit lane following the race, with the situation escalating into a physical altercation.
Second place went to the #23 Gino Scuderia BMW M4 GT3 of Mathias Villadsen and Jan Magnussen, who recovered climbed the strandings from ninth on the grid in the difficult mixed conditions. The #64 AKM Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Guy Albag and Lorenzo Ferrari completed the podium after starting from pole position and leading the opening stages before slipping back during the changing strategy cycles. They recovered ground in the final stage but despite a late charge by Albag, time running out meant the #64 AKM Mercedes had to settle for third.
Fourth place ultimately went to the #3 Easy Race Ferrari 296 GT3 of Mattia Marchiante, Luigi Coluccio and Carlo Tamburini, with the trio also securing victory in the GT3 Pro-Am class after climbing through the field from 12th on the grid in the challenging mixed conditions.
Easy Race also secured the GT3 Am victory with the #26 Ferrari 296 GT3 crew of Leonardo Gorini, Daniel Mancinelli and Massimo Perrina in 11th place overall, completing a class double for the team.
After struggling through qualifying, Imperiale Racing bounced back with two top ten finishes. The #85 Imperiale Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 of Andrea Cola, Lautaro De La Iglesia and Phillippe Denes produced one of the standout comeback drives of the race by climbing from 21st on the grid to fifth overall, while the #54 Imperiale Racing Lamborghini of Alex Denning, Alessandro Girotti and Jacopo Guidetti recovered from 37th to finish eighth.
The #25 Dragon Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 of Xolile Letlaka, Axcil Jefferies and Stuart White also charged through the field to secure sixth place, ahead of the #51 Spirit of Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 of Francesco Braschi, Riccardo Ponzio and Andrew Rackstraw in seventh. Completing the top ten were the #8 BMW Italia Ceccato Racing BMW M4 GT3 of Filippo Barberi, Jacopo Cimenes and Riccardo Leone Cirelli in ninth and the #63 VSR Lamborghini Huracán GT3 of Alex Bowen, Jesse Salmenautio and Hugo Cook in tenth.
GT Cup: Spirit of Racing takes overall win
In GT Cup, the #150 Spirit of Racing Ferrari 296 Challenge of Edoardo Barbolini, Federico Al Rifai and Simone Patrinicola controlled the Division 1 Pro-Am category after taking the lead on lap nine. Their composed drive through the changing conditions secured overall GT Cup victory.
The #163 DL Racing Lamborghini Huracán ST of Pietro Pio Agoglia, Mattia Bucci and Alessandro Cremona finished second in class ahead of the #184 SF Squadra Corse Lamborghini of Luca Franca, Matteo Roccadelli and Giacomo Trebbi.
Looking ahead
The Italian GT season continues on 22-24 May at Vallelunga with the second round of the Sprint championship, before the Endurance championship resumes at Monza on 19-21 June for the second three-hour race of the season.
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