Heated pit-lane brawl sparks disqualification in Misano GT race

Last weekend, the opening round of the Italian GT Endurance Championship took place at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, delivering plenty of drama both on and off the track. However, it was the post-race scenes in the pit lane that attracted the most attention in the hours that followed, after Alex Aka’s Audi and Edoardo Liberati’s Lamborghini came together during the race, sparking heated moments behind the scenes.

The clash allowed Balzan to move into the lead, while Liberati and his team-mates Mattia Michelotto and Ignazio Zanon were later hit with a drive-through penalty that dropped them down the order. Meanwhile, Aka, Andrea Frassineti and Ariel Levi managed to recover and cross the line in fourth place before the later disqualification.

However, the drivers themselves were not the ones involved in the heated scenes in the pits, as tensions instead erupted between members of Tresor Attempto Racing and Vincenzo Sospiri Racing. In footage that surfaced on social media after the race, several team members were caught pushing and shoving each other, with a number of people also ending up on the ground during the scuffles.

The altercation ultimately led to drastic action from race officials, with the #99 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi - which had originally finished fourth overall - being disqualified from the event. The decision consequently reshuffled the final classification, although victory still remained in the hands of Balzan and Mettler for Rinaldi Racing. The decision, according to ACI Sport, was taken due to “unsportsmanlike conduct at the end of the race, resulting in the crew being removed from the final classification of the Romagna event.”

Formula 1 world championship leader Kimi Antonelli was also present at Misano over the weekend, enjoying a home event during another short break between the Miami Grand Prix and the Canadian Grand Prix, which is scheduled for next week.