The 2026 GTC Endurance Challenge season has kicked off in style in Vallelunga, with the Roman circuit hosting the very first race in the history of the championship promoted by Riza International, as the series shared the track with TCR European Endurance.
After a thrilling opening stage, today’s action was no different. In Stage-2, the Pro-Am fight saw Nardilli/Maman (BMW M4 GT4 Evo) come out on top once again. The Italian pair was perfect from start to finish; Maman dominated the first half of the stage, creating a healthy 15-second gap to his nearest rival, Brazil’s Pedro Ebrahim (Aston Martin GT4 Evo), while Koray Kamiloglu (Porsche 718 Cayman GT4) lost ground after fighting for the lead in the opening lap. Two minutes after the pit window opened, the safety car was brought out on track; this did not shuffle the cards in play, however, as Maman handed the car to Davide Nardilli to retain first ahead of Tiago Pinto Bastos, who had taken Ebrahim’s spot in the Aston Martin, with Adriano Visdomini in third for Autorlando. Nardilli did his part and crossed the line in first, securing the Stage-2 win for his team; Ebrahim/Bastos took a promising second place, with Visdomini/Kamiloglu in third. The final race results mirrored Stage-2’s, with Nardilli/Maman dominating the final standings thanks to both stage wins.
In the AM category, everything was yet to play for after a tremendously close finish in Stage-1. On Sunday, Emilio Damante (Alpine A110 GT4) was quick off the line to stay at the top of the class standings, with Casals Motorsport’s Luca Esposito (BMW M4 GT4 Evo) right behind him. The two created a nice gap over Christian Mancinelli (Mercedes AMG GT4), who stood out on Saturday to give Lema Racing the race lead after the opening stage. When the pit window opened, both Damante and Esposito opted to come in straight away; this decision proved to be ill-timed, as the safety car came out shortly after. Mancinelli benefitted from that, leaving the car to Alberto Antonucci who rejoined the track with the AM lead. Jacob Trost did the same, leaping all the way up to second with Hans Peter Eder in for the second half of the stage. Once green flag racing resumed, Antonucci was free to take the chequered flag first, as Antonucci/Mancinelli secured the Stage-2 win ahead of Trost/Eder and Damante/Maccari. Thanks to their double stage success, Antonucci/Mancinelli are the maiden AM race winners in the history of GTC Endurance Challenge, taking home victory ahead of Damante/Maccari, with Esposito/Gavazza in third.
Following a successful start to its journey, the GTC Endurance Challenge is set to resume its maiden season in less than two months, when the championship promoted by Riza International will travel together with TCR European Endurance to the Slovakiaring, with round two scheduled from June 5 to June 7.
