A regular meeting on the calendar since the series debuted in 2021, Misano’s round offers competitors a taste of summer vacation. Just a few kilometres from Rimini, one of Europe’s largest seaside resorts, the circuit’s location is highly popular.
On the 4.2‑km layout, the powerful GT2 machines can really stretch their legs. Free practice ran under clear skies and 29 °C air temperatures, with Bourret and Gibon settling into the top ten.
During pre-qualifying, the French duo's #53 Mercedes-AMG significantly improved its times. The fastest of the AMs, it finished seventh overall.
In the first qualifying session, Christophe Bourret set the second fastest AM time, securing a good grid position. However, the gearbox began to falter. In the second session, Pascal Gibon could only manage the fourth fastest AM time.
Unwilling to jeopardize any chance of scoring points, the gearbox was replaced before Race 1.
Race 1 – Just off the podium
The first race of the weekend took place on Saturday afternoon. The heat was still very much present, and the track temperature was over 41°C (29°C in the air).
Starting from the fourth row of the grid, Christophe Bourret held his position as the lights turned green. The pace was frantic and the gaps widened fairly quickly as battles erupted front and rear.
While firmly established in second place in the AM category, after 20 minutes of racing, the #53 Mercedes-AMG GT2 fell back in the standings. On a downshift the gearbox flares up again, costing roughly 20 seconds before Christophe Bourret can regain speed and get back into the race, albeit at the back of the pack.
On the attack again, Christophe Bourret tried to regain precious seconds to rejoin the pack. At the driver change, Pascal Gibon continued to close the gap with the same energy. At the checkered flag, the driver of the #53 was fourth AM, just off the podium.
Race 2 – Seventh podium of the season!
The next morning, shortly after 9 a.m., the second GT2 race opened. It was already 29°C and the track was overheated.
Pascal Gibon was in the cockpit of the Mercedes-AMG and started from the back of the grid. Determined not to be left behind, he pushed from the start and stayed in contact with the pack.
At the driver change, halfway through the race, the #53 was in P4 AM. Christophe Bourret emerged, beating the #789 to third place in the class. But a few minutes later, the #53 was penalized 10 seconds for not respecting the minimum time during the driver change. The pit stop was too short by… 2 tenths.
To save the podium, the driver of the #53 went on the offensive. With 15 minutes to go, he was onto the exhausts of the #88 Audi and put it under a lot of pressure. A few minutes later, he seized the opportunity to pass and moved into second place in the AM class. The class leader was out of reach, so Christophe pushed harder still, aiming to open at least 10 seconds on the No. 88 to neutralise the penalty. But it was tricky to get rid of Stéphane Ratel... The battle continued for a while before Christophe managed to distance himself.
Second under the checkered flag, but only 4.5 seconds ahead of the #88, the #53 Mercedes-AMG finished third and reached the podium for the seventh time in eight races.
In the overall championship standings, the Bourret-Gibon duo retained their second place with 129 points.
After a break of several weeks, the fifth round of the GT2 European Series will take place on September 20 and 21 in Spain at the Valencia circuit.