Pitlane carnage after FIGHT breaks out involving F1 star's team

GT cars squabble for position — Photo: © IMAGO

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Pitlane carnage after FIGHT breaks out involving F1 star's team

The season opener was at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Monday 11 May 2026 11:56 Updated: 12:42

A huge brawl broke out in the pit lane following the season opener in a racing series last weekend.

The Italian GT Endurance Championship got underway at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, with Alessandro Balzan and Dylan Medler winning the three-hour race in their Ferrari 296 GT3.

But amid a rain-soaked, chaotic event, arguably the main spectacle came after the race, when the crews of the No. 66 Vincenzo Sospiri Lamborghini and the No. 99 Tresor Attempto Audi came to blows.

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Vincenzo Sospiri was a part of the struggling Lola team in the 1997 season, but did not actually qualify for a single race.

His GT racing team have been a bit more successful though, being created in 2001 and still competing to this day.

But at the race this weekend at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, it was the crew of his team that were involved in an astonishing incident, a proper fight in the pitlane featuring around 20 different personnel.

The fight is believed to have started because, with around 20 minutes left in the race, Vincenzo Sospiri Racing's Edoardo Liberati crashed into the back of Tresor Attempto Auid's Alex Aka while the pair were fighting for the race lead.

While Liberati and team-mate Mattia Michelotto were able to carry on in the race and finished 10th, Aka's team finished fourth but were later disqualified for 'unsportsmanlike behaviour'.

It's understood that the crew of Aka's No. 99 Tresor Attempto Audi started the fight, storming over to their rivals' garage.

Following the incident, race organisers ACI released an official statement: "The finishing order of the 3 Hours of Misano, the opening round of the 2026 Italian Gran Turismo Endurance Championship, has been revised.

"In the post-race review, the stewards have ruled out the crew of Aka–Frassineti–Levi from the event; they had finished the race in fourth place overall in the Tresor Attempto Racing team’s Audi R8 LMS GT3.

"The decision was taken due to unsportsmanlike behaviour at the end of the race and results in the crew being removed from the final standings of the Romagna-based event."

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Italian GT Endurance Championship 2026 season

The season got underway at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli this year, with Balzan and Medler taking the victory.

Following that, the season moves on to Monza in June, before taking to the Imola track in September, the former home of F1's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix which does not feature on this year's calendar.

The tour of Italy's most famous circuits then finishes at Mugello in October, when this year's Italian GT Endurance Championship champion will be crowned.

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