GENNEP (5 July, 2024) – PTT by Schnitzelalm Racing fought off a determined run from former series champion Herberth Motorsport to take a maiden pole on its first 24H SERIES powered by Hankook outing in Misano.   

The PTT by Schnitzelalm Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO (#74, Martin Kaczmarski / Mateusz Lisowski / Jay Mo Härtling) moved into provisional pole during the second, 15-minute qualifying session for the GT3 and 992 entrants, albeit by just 0.011s over the Hofor Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 (#11, Michael Kroll / Chantal Prinz / Alexander Prinz / Maximilian Partl / Kenneth Heyer) that finished on top in Q1.

Even after a strong run by Mateusz Lisowski, the Polish team was in danger of being toppled by the hard-charging Herberth Motorsport Porsche 992 GT3 R (#91, Scott Noble / Ralf Bohn / Jason Hart) during the closing moments of Q3, but ultimately held on to secure its first overall pole position for the 2024 Hankook 12H MISANO.  

Impressively, PTT Racing is now the sixth different overall polesitter from the six official 24H SERIES events held so far in 2024. 

“I feel really amazing!” Lisowski explained to radiolemans.com’s John Hindhaugh. “Our team has done a really good job throughout the weekend [so far], and I really appreciate that. Now I will try my best to achieve, for them, the best result in the race.”

2017 Overall GT Teams’ ‘Continents’ champion Herberth Motorsport lines up 2nd overall for the second 24H SERIES event in a row, while Hofor-Racing will start tomorrow’s 12-hour race from 3rd on the grid, having missed the front row by just 0.017s.

The Saintéloc Junior Team Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II (#18, Michael Doppelmayr / Pierre Kaffer / Elia Erhart / Swen Herberger) was the fastest of the GT3-PRO/AM runners, and will start 4th. The French team lines up just ahead of the returning BOEM by Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 (#8, L. M.D.V / Alessandro Cutrera / David Fumanelli / Marco Frezza), which set the fastest lap of any GT3 entrant during qualifying: a 1m 34.269s in Q3 courtesy of David Fumanelli. 

Having been among the frontrunners early on, the Juta Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II (#71, Arunas Geciauskas / Leonardas Dirzys / Justas Jonušis / Simas Juodvirsis) eventually slipped back in the pack, though the Lithuanian team still salvaged 6th on the grid ahead of series newcomer Prime Speed Sport (#42, Heremana Malmezac / Liam Talbot / Earl Bamber). 

The New Zealand team has entered the updated ‘EVO’ version of Aston Martin’s Vantage AMR GT3 for this weekend’s Hankook 12H MISANO, and will compete with 2017 FIA World Endurance Champion Earl Bamber.

GT3-PRO/AM standings leader E2P Racing (#90, Pablo Burguera / Antonio Sainero / Álvaro Parente) lines up 8th with its Porsche 991.2 GT3 R, ahead of the RD Signs – Siauliai racing team Lamborghini Huracán GT3 (#69, Audrius Butkevicius / Nicola Michelon / Paulius Paskevicius / Tim Müller) and the Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II of reigning GT3 Teams’ champion Haas RT (#1, Marcel Zalloua / Sergio Pires / Theo Koundouris). 

Land Motorsport, winner of the 24H DUBAI in 2009, rounds out the GT3 field with its Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II (#71, Arunas Geciauskas / Leonardas Dirzys / Justas Jonušis / Simas Juodvirsis).

Red Ant Racing locks out the 992 front row after a controlled qualifying session. The Belgian team finished two of the three 15-minute sessions 1st and 2nd, and the #903 Porsche (Ayrton Redant / Yannick Redant / Kobe de Breucker), which currently leads the 992 Teams’ standings, will start ahead of the #904 992 GT3 Cup (Brent Verheyen / Peter Guelinckx / Michiel Haverans).

Red Camel-Jordans.nl (#909, Ivo Breukers / Luc Breukers / Rik Breukers / Fabian Danz) endured a tough start to its weekend, with engine, throttle and electrical issues, among other niggles, afflicting its new chassis during Free Practice. The Dutch team bounced back however to qualify 3rd overall in 992, just ahead of 992-AM polesitter RPM Racing (#907, Tracy Krohn / Niclas Jönsson / Philip Hamprecht). Impressively, the 992-AM standings leader set the fastest time of any 992 runner – a 1m 37.995s – during Q3.

HRT Performance (#967, Nicolas Stürzinger / Amedeo Pampanini / Linus Diener) and the returning Fulgenzi Racing (#922, Andrea Buratti / Corrado Costa / Eric Wagner / Enrico Fernando Fulgenzi) round out the top three 992-AM, and will start 5th and 6th in 992. 

Vortex V8 Vortex 2.0 (#701, Lionel Amrouche / Philippe Bonnel / Gilles Courtois) is the GTX polesitter, and will start tomorrow’s race from 19th on the overall grid.

24H SERIES newcomer StreetArt Racing (#407, Jahid Fazal-Karim / Pascal Bachmann / Julien Darras) secured pole position at the very end of GT4 and TCE qualifying, despite the Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 suffering rear left suspension issues towards the end of Q2. A quick turnaround meant the Belgian team missed only four minutes of Q3. 

A succession of fastest laps by Hamofa Motorsport (#419, Rob Verhoeven / Kris Verhoeven / Mark Verhoeven) during Q3 rocketed the BMW M4 GT4 into GT4 provisional pole, and in the end, the Belgian team was denied pole by just 0.017s. Impressively, Kris Verhoeven was one of only two drivers to dip below the 1m 44s mark, and even managed to set a 1m 43.814s and a 1m 43.811s on consecutive laps!

The Mercedes-AMG GT4 of GT4 Teams’ standings leader Buggyra ZM Racing (#416, Aliyyah Koloc / David Vršecký / Adam Lacko) will start tomorrow’s race from 3rd on the GT4 grid, just ahead of its nearest championship rival, the Lionspeed GP Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport (#424, José Garcia / Patrick Kolb / Dennis Bohn).

Despite an off-track moment towards the end of Q1, the CWS Engineering Ginetta G55 (#178, Colin White / Daniel Morris) secured TCE pole ahead of the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS of series debutant SR Motorsport (#111, Michael Sander / Wilhelm Kühne / Tim Neuser). Impressively, the British team ended Q2 with a faster average qualifying time than any of the GT4 runners!