Neubauer Tops Misano Pre-Quali in Silver Cup Lexus

Thomas Neubauer staged an upset in GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup Pre-Qualifying at Misano by leading overall in Tech 1 Racing’s Silver-class Lexus.

Neubauer shot to the top of the order with less than 20 minutes of the 80-minute session remaining, to eclipse the previous best set by Haupt Racing’ Team’s Luca Stolz.

The Tech 1 driver clocked a 1:31.826 aboard the No. 15 Lexus RC F GT3 that he is sharing with Aurelien Panis this weekend.

Neubauer ended up beating Stolz in the No. 4 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo by 0.129 seconds, while these were the only two drivers to break the 1m 32s barrier.

Third-quickest was Dries Vanthoor who posted a time of 1:32.019 aboard the No. 32 Team WRT Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo to lead the session at halfway, while Nelson Panciatici placed fourth in the No. 107 CMR Bentley Continental GT3.

Raffaele Marciello rounded out the top five with his early-session time at the wheel of AKKA-ASP’s No. 88 Mercedes which led the way in Free Practice 1 on Friday.

The Pro-Am pace was set by Eddie Cheever III who registered a 1:32.414 in the Sky Tempesta Racing Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020.

Pre-Qualifying ran without any major incidents while the green flags stayed out for the full 80-minute duration.

Next up is qualifying for Race 1 this evening and Race 2 on Sunday morning. The first 20-minute qualifying run is due to start at 1:20 p.m. CEST (7:20 a.m. EST).

RESULTS: Pre-Qualifying