Mugello, Italy (21 March 2025):
Ferrari 296 GT3 team CCC Kessel Racing will start the weekend’s Michelin 12H MUGELLO from pole position, largely thanks to an outstanding performance in the decisive third and final GT3 qualifying session by Italy’s David Fumanelli – which put the team 0.6 seconds clear on average times.

During the early running at the overcast Tuscany track, three of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO squads, HOFOR Racing, Red Ant Racing and Heart of Racing by SPS, were the pace-setters, but CCC Kessel Racing came to the fore in sessions two and three with Fumanelli, in particular, impressing. 

Marking an excellent start to the opening event of the new Michelin 24H SERIES European Series season for the Swiss team, Fumanelli and team-mates Marco Frezza, Alessandro Cutrera and L.M.D.V were understandably delighted.

“It was great, we got our first overall pole position with our PRO-AM line-up”, said Fumanelli, “We had a very difficult day, so it’s great to give this gift to the team as they work so hard. It was an amazing qualifying, we are close to the sunset [at the end] and I like those conditions. The car was great, at the beginning I was on the limit and had a few mistakes, but then put the lap together.”

Heart of Racing by SPS produced three very consistent qualifying sessions with the No.27 Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO to secure a superb front-row start as well as the AM class pole with Hannah Grisham, Ian James and Gray Newell.

The best outright GT3 squad was Red Ant Racing with its No.93 Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO shared by Ayrton Redant, Yannick Redant and Kobe de Breucker. The trio will be joined in the race by Kenneth Heyer. Sharing row two will be the No.81 Ferrari 296 GT3 of Era Motorsport, Ryan Dalziel and Jake Hill, in particular, rapid in qualifying. They are partnered by Dwight Merriman and Kyle Tilley.

Just as exciting was the 992 qualifying for Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992) cars, only a tenth of a second the difference after the three sessions. Red Camel-Jordans.nl with Rik Breukers, Luc Breukers and Fabian Danz will begin the Michelin 12H MUGELLO from pole position in their No.909 entry.

Starting alongside will be Muhlner Motorsport’s No.921 driven by Martin Rump, Valters Zviedris and Julian Hanses. In the AM class for 992, SebLajoux Racing took pole and a strong third overall with team principal Sebastien Lajoux, Stephane Perrin and Paul Meijer.

In GTX the No.702 Vortex 2.0 was unchallenged, with brothers and Vortex Racing owners Olivier and Arnaud Gomez sealing a dominant pole position. Father and son Jim and Nikolas Gebhardt made it another familial pole in GT4, with their CCS Racing No.718 Porsche Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport.

Session one developed into a battle of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO entries, with Alexander Prinz ending the run quickest for HOFOR Racing – also fastest in the AM class – with a lap of 1m46.948 seconds. Prinz was less than a tenth of a second ahead of the Red Ant Racing car in the hands of Kobe de Breucker, with Ian James third and also second in AM for Heart of Racing by SPS.

Behind the lead trio, ARC Bratislava’s Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO was fourth in the hands of Zdeno Mikulasko, David Pogosyan fifth in the Continental Racing by Simpson Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II and Matus Vyboh sixth in Scuderia Praha’s Ferrari 296 GT3, also leading PRO-AM.

In session two the average times showed little more than a tenth covering the top three of HOFOR Racing, Red Ant Racing and Heart of Racing by SPS, but then the Ferrari 296 GT3 entries of Scuderia Praha and CCC Kessel Racing surged into contention in the hands of Josef Kral and Marco Frezza.

Kral’s time of 1m46.674 seconds looked to be provisional pole for Scuderia Praha, but Maximilian Partl hit back for HOFOR Racing to leap back ahead. Although his time of 1m47.652 seconds was some way shy of Kral’s pace, average times meant HOFOR had an advantage of 0.1 seconds at the end of the run. Frezza ensured CCC Kessel Racing was third on average times, just 0.2 seconds away.

Only half a second covered the top six going into the third and final session for GT3 and the battle was intense from the outset, with the order changing dramatically. Hannah Grisham impressed by moving Heart of Racing by SPS onto provisional pole with 10 minutes to go, before David Fumanelli leapt to the top for CCC Kessel Racing thanks to a time of 1m46.733 seconds. 

Fumanelli gained another 0.6 seconds to really stamp his authority, a time of 1m46.062 seconds pushing pole well out of reach. Heart of Racing by SPS put Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO on the front row, and the AM pole, with Red Ant Racing’s Mercedes-AMG third from Era Motorsport’s Ferrari.