> Defending champions back on top with Team WRT BMW
> Pereira and Aka convert pole to Gold victory for Tresor Attempto Racing Audi
> Team WRT doubles up as Lismont and Montenegro grab Silver honours
> GetSpeed Team WRT prevails as Mercedes-AMG squads battle for Bronze win
FINAL RESULT: MISANO RACE 1
Charles Weerts and Kelvin van der Linde delivered a star performance under the lights at Misano by winning Saturday evening's sunset race at the Italian circuit.
The #32 Team WRT BMW emerged from a dramatic start to score a routine win, which puts the defending champions level at the top of the Sprint Cup standings. It was also a landmark result for Weerts, who has equalled his former teammate Dries Vanthoor's record of 19 overall Sprint Cup victories.
The outcome was largely defined by the opening few seconds of the race. Starting from fourth, Weerts got a fantastic launch and charged up the outside. Meanwhile, there was contact between the pole-sitting #46 Team WRT BMW of Valentino Rossi, the #80 Lionspeed GP Porsche of Ricardo Feller, and the #66 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi of Andrea Frasinetti.
This sent the Audi spinning backwards across the circuit, luckily without being struck by any of the oncoming pack. Indeed, the only other car to lose out significantly was the #3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing machine of Dani Juncadella, which could not avoid being hit by the Audi. Both cars were out of the race before reaching turn 1.
The safety car neutralised the field, after which Weerts took the restart in the lead ahead of the #87 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG of Marvin Dienst and the #12 GetSpeed Team Dubai Mercedes-AMG of Fabian Schiller. Rossi ran fourth, followed by the #48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG, the #80 Lionspeed GP Porsche, and the #51 AF Corse Ferrari.
The latter trio resumed their battle from last month's CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, with Lucas Auer keeping a feisty Ricardo Feller at bay and Tommaso Mosca looking to take advantage of any contact between the two. Nevertheless, the order remained unchanged until the pit window opened.
Team WRT produced a typically strong stop to send Van der Linde out in P1, but there were changes behind the leader. With the #87 and the #12 both entered in the Bronze Cup, these cars served a minimum pit stop time and dropped back. The #46 BMW, meanwhile, was handed a 10-second penalty after being found to have jumped the start.
The outcome was that the #80 Porsche – which produced the best pit stop of anyone – jumped to P2 with Bastian Buus now at the controls, followed by Maro Engel in the #48 Mercedes-AMG. The gap between the two closed up, but Engel could not make a serious challenge on the young Porsche ace.
With five minutes left on the clock the race was neutralised by a full-course yellow when the #555 CSA Racing McLaren found itself stranded in the gravel. This continued until the chequered flag, giving Van der Linde a clear path to victory ahead of Buus and Engel.
The #69 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari finished a strong fourth – the best of the Italian marque's cars – thanks to Ben Green and Konsta Lappalainen. Fifth overall went to the Gold Cup winner, Tresor Attempto Racing, which completed a dominant run from class pole to victory with Dylan Pereira and Alex Aka sharing the #99 Audi.
The #46 BMW recovered to P6 overall thanks to a charging second stint from Max Hesse, followed by the sister #31 Team WRT BMW, the #84 Eastalent Racing Audi, and the #50 AF Corse Ferrari. Team WRT capped an extremely strong night by winning the Silver Cup with its #30 crew of Matisse Lismont and Ignacio Montenegro, who completed the overall top 10.
There was little to choose in the battle for Bronze Cup honours. The same two cars that ran at the front of the overall order remained in contention for the second stint, but it was the #12 GetSpeed Team Dubai machine of Gabriel Rindone that edged the #87 Winward Racing entry of Rinat Salikhov. The latter had retained the class advantage after the pit stops, but lost time to an apparent technical issue. Salikhov fought back but could not overhaul Rindone, and was ultimately fortunate to keep Dustin Blattner (#74 Kessel Racing Ferrari) at bay.
Tonight's race has put Weerts and Van der Linde level with Feller and Buus at the top of the Sprint Cup standings, both crews having scored 30.5 across the first three races of the year. The battle resumes on Sunday with Qualifying 2 scheduled for 10:05 and Race 2 taking place at 14:30. Both can be watched live around the globe on the GT World YouTube channel.