Mercedes dominates the opening race of the Blancpain GT Sprint Series with Pirelli

Blancpain GT Sprint Cup main race podium

It was another full day of racing for Pirelli at Misano, with the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup main race, the Blancpain GT Sports Club main race, race two for the GT4 European Series Northern Cup plus race two for the F2 Italian Trophy as well as races two and three for the Italian F4 Championship by Abarth, all of which were run on P Zero tyres. HTP Motorsport’s Mercedes-AMG GT3 driven by Maxi Buhk and Frank Perera started the Blancpain GT Sprint Series Cup main race on pole and went on to win the race by just over 23 seconds, with Bentley Team M-Sport in second and Mercedes-AMG Team HTP Motorsport in third.

Blancpain GT Sprint Cup main race

Teams had one mandatory pit stop during the hour-long race, during which the driver and all four tyres have to be changed. All cars used the new P Zero DHD tyre, for the dry conditions of Misano. Once again, the tyres were both consistent and reliable, with lap times getting faster towards the end of both the first and second stints. The fastest lap of 1m33.126s was set by Strakka Racing's McLaren 650S GT3 in the second half of the race. In the GT4 European Series Northern Cup all teams used the P Zero DH tyre, with PROsport Performance’s Porsche Cayman Pro4 GT4 driven by Jorg Viebahn and Nicolaj Moller-Madsen claiming victory at the end of the 60-minute race.

GT4 European Series Northern Cup race two

The opening round of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup takes place at Monza from 22 – 23 April. Quotes: Matteo Braga, circuit activity manager: “The weather conditions today were slightly warmer than last night's qualifying race, which meant the track was hotter. The P Zero DHD tyre continued to perform well and lap times were more or less the same despite the higher temperature. Although Mercedes were dominant this weekend with their performance and reliability, all the manufacturers showed very good pace to fight against each other during the race. We’re now travelling to Sepang for the Blancpain GT Asia Series and we’re excited to continue working within the Blancpain GT family, and the prestigious manufacturers that make up the grid.”

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