Vanthoor Takes Pole for Sunday Race at Misano

Dries Vanthoor broke Raffaele Marciello’s pole position streak in Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup by topping qualifying for Race 2 at Misano.

The driver of the No. 32 Team WRT Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II posted a time of 1:30.942 to beat fellow Audi Sport factory driver Christopher Haase by 0.188 seconds.

Vanthoor and Charles Weerts’ Sprint Cup title rivals Marciello and Timur Boguslavskiy will start from fourth after the former set a time of 1:31.335 in the No. 89 Akkodis ASP Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, which was the best of the non-Audi runners in Qualifying 2.

With an additional point to their name, Saturday race winners Vanthoor and Weerts now hold a seven-point edge over Marciello and Boguslavskiy at the top of the standings.

Marciello had taken pole in the last three GTWC Europe Sprint Cup events, while Vanthoor’s last pole in the series came before Race 2 at the Nürburgring in 2019.  

Christopher Mies qualified third in the No. 33 WRT Audi, two-tenths behind Haase who was driving for Tresor by Car Collection.

Haase was the early pace-setter in the 20-minute session, registering a 1:31.591 to lead from Vanthoor after the first set of runs before the field came in for new tires.

The Car Collection driver improved during the late flurry of attempts near the end of qualifying, but couldn’t quite match Vanthoor who surged under the 1m 31s barrier.

Dennis Marschall completed the top five for Audi squad Attempto Racing, as the German manufacturer’s GT3-spec R8 package once again proved strong at the Italian circuit.

Ulysse de Pauw claimed the Silver Cup class pole in sixth with a time of 1:31.590 in the No. 53 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 from AF Corse.

Mattia Drudi was seventh in the other Tresor by Car Collection Audi, one place ahead of Christian Engelhart driving Dinamic Motorsport’s No. 54 Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Pro-Am pole-sitter Dean MacDonald reached the overall top 10 with the ninth-fastest time aboard the No. 188 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3.

MacDonald, who won Saturday’s race in class alongside Miguel Ramos, put five cars from other categories between his McLaren and the next car in the Pro-Am order.

Sainteloc Left “Disappointed” at Early Exit

Sainteloc Junior Team driver Aurelien Panis said that he was “very disappointed” that his Audi was forced to miss Race 2 because of chassis damage from a Race 1 collision.

The Frenchman was turned around by the Sky-Tempesta Racing Mercedes-AMG at Quercia on the opening lap and was subsequently hit by the No. 99 Attempto Racing Audi and the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari. The latter car also withdrew from Sunday’s action.

Chassis damage forced Sainteloc to park its No. 25 car after leading both Friday practice sessions, while the Sky-Tempesta car was handed a three-place grid drop for Race 2.

“I think the Mercedes was very optimistic behind me,” Panis told Sportscar365.

“I exited Turn 6 and there was a big gap behind me. I got hit from behind and spun. When the Ferrari got into me, that was it. It’s just bad luck.

“It’s a shame because we had nice pace on this track, but now the weekend is over.

“The car was very good. The team did an amazing job and it was very fast [on Friday].

“In [Race 1] qualifying, after the first run we were P3 and unfortunately run two was a bit harder with traffic management. But we were on the pace and I think we were able to fight for a very good position. It’s just a shame. I am very disappointed.

“We will continue to push. For the last round of Sprint, I hope to fight for the podiums and victory.”

The second race of the Misano weekend takes place at 2:45 p.m. CEST (8:45 a.m. ET).

RESULTS: Qualifying 2