The 2026 GTC Endurance Challenge has had a fantastic start, thanks to a thrilling first stage at the Autodromo di Vallelunga. Sharing the track with TCR European Endurance, the series promoted by Riza International enjoyed an action-packed maiden stage in its history, with overtakes all the way up to the last few minutes.
In the Pro-Am class, it was smooth sailing for Davide Nardilli and Giacomo Maman (BMW M4 GT4 Evo). As Nardilli took the start from P2 in class, the Italian was able to rise to first by the end of the opening lap, overtaking Autorlando’s Adriano Visdomini (Porsche Cayman 718 GT4), while Tiago Bastos (Aston Martin Vantage GT4) held third place. After the overtake, Nardilli created a healthy gap to his opponents in the first 18 minutes of Stage-1, though a safety car intervention erased that. As that happened, the pit window opened, with Casals Motorsport retaining the lead with Nardilli leaving his BMW to Giacomo Maman. Behind him, Visdomini left room for Koray Kamiloglu, staying in front of Pedro Ebrahim, who took over from Bastos in Gino Motorsport’s Aston Martin. After the restart, Maman was virtually untouchable, claiming the race lead after Stage-1 ahead of Visdomini/Kamiloglu and Bastos/Ebrahim.
The fight for the AM lead was as intense as it was exciting. A strong start enabled Sebastian Gavazza (BMW M4 GT4 Evo) to leapfrog Edoardo Maccari (Alpine A110 GT4) for the class lead; the two then created a nice gap over the two Lema Racing’s Mercedes AMG GT4s of Kornelia Olkucka and Alberto Antonucci. During the pit stop phase, the Alpine of Tuder Motorsport was able to take the lead back, with Emilio Damante now in front of Luca Esposito. Olkucka retained third as she set her sights on completing Stage-1 on her own, while Antonucci let Christian Mancinelli behind the wheel of his Mercedes. Mancinelli then went on a tear after the safety car restart: the Italian overtook all three drivers in front of him – including a decisive move on Damante for the lead with just four minutes left. This led Antonucci/Mancinelli to take the lead after Stage-1, narrowly beating Damante/Maccari. Esposito/Gavazza had to settle for third after leading the first half of the stage, with Olkucka missing out on the podium but securing P4 in front of Trost/Eder (Porsche Cayman 718 GT4), who had issues early on and lost fatal ground.
The on-track action will resume on Sunday 19 April for one final day of racing, with Stage-2 set to start at 14:15 local time. The final stage of the weekend will be broadcast on GO-TV’s official YouTube channel, as well as on PitwallTV and Acelera GP’s.
