Kirchhoefer Beats Marciello to Misano Race 2 Pole

Marvin Kirchhoefer beat Raffaele Marciello to secure pole position for GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup Race 2 at Misano.

The German racer put in a lap of 1:31.482 aboard the No. 59 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo to outpace Marciello, the winner of Race 1 on Saturday, by 0.192 seconds.

Marciello’s No. 46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO was, in turn, 0.137 seconds quicker than the No. 48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo in the hands of Maro Engel.

Kirchhoefer’s pole was McLaren’s first in Sprint Cup competition since the Valencia round in 2021, which came courtesy of Ben Barnicoat and JOTA.

Vincent Abril took fourth in the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3, with Gilles Magnus securing Gold Cup pole in the No. 25 Sainteloc Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II in fifth overall.

Thierry Vermeulen, also in Gold Cup, qualified sixth in the No. 69 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari, a mere 0.060 seconds faster than the No. 96 Rutronik Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R in the hands of Sven Mueller.

Kobe Pauwels, who was quickest in the first ten-minute segment reserved exclusively for Silver and Bronze Cup entrants, qualified eighth overall.

The Belgian also captured Silver Cup pole in the No. 21 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo he shares with Jamie Day.

The overall top ten was completed by the No. 9 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG of Luca Stolz and the Henrique Chaves-driven No. 35 Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin.

Dustin Blattner took pole position in Bronze Cup aboard the No. 74 Kessel Racing Ferrari, qualifying 28th overall.

The second and final race of the weekend at Misano starts at 2:45 p.m. CEST (8:45 a.m. EST).

RESULTS: Qualifying 2