Last weekend, Rinaldi Racing travelled to Misano in Italy for the opening race of the Blancpain Sprint Series.

The green Ferrari with start number 333 was among them, with Alexander Mattschull and Daniel Keilwitz sharing the steering wheel work in the ProAm class.

In the first free practice session in glorious sunshine, Alexander Mattschull and Daniel Keilwitz were able to get used to the track conditions and the brand new Ferrari 488 GT3. In the evening, they went into the second free practice, which went into the night. This gave both drivers a chance to get an idea of the track in the dark.

On Saturday afternoon, Rinaldi Racing went into qualifying. In the first qualifying session, Alexander Mattschull took the wheel of the Italian car. He achieved a very good second place in the ProAm class, only a few hundredths away from the first-placed driver in the class. Daniel Keilwitz contested the second qualifying session. Unfortunately, he was hindered by another car in his first sector when trying to drive a fast lap. In the end, it was only enough for third place in class and 23rd overall for the qualifying race.

The first race started punctually at 8.30 p.m., with Daniel Keilwitz as the starting driver. But already in the first lap, there was an accident involving six cars. Daniel Keilwitz was able to avoid the cars thanks to his quick reactions, but nevertheless, he caught a wing of an Audi, which got caught on the splitter at the front. During the safety car phase, Keilwitz came into the pits so that the mechanics could remove the car part. Just as he was coming out of the pits, the race was interrupted with a red flag. As a result, the number 333 car was now at the end of the pit lane and had to take up the restart from there. This meant that Rinaldi Racing lost a lap to the field. After the restart, Daniel Keilwitz was able to work his way to the front and convinced with very good lap times. After a good pit stop by drivers and team, Alexander Mattschull took the wheel of the Ferrari 488 GT3. In the end, it was only enough for a disappointing fourth place in the ProAm class.

On Sunday afternoon, Alexander Mattschull started into the main race. Right in the first laps, he was able to work his way up from 4th to 2nd place in the ProAm class. With very good lap times he secured first place in the class and was able to hand over this position to Daniel Keilwitz at the pit stop. Keilwitz was then able to drive the place home safely.

Michele Rinaldi: “From that point of view, the first race was a complete washout. To start the race one lap behind the field gave us no chance to catch up. Nevertheless, our Ferrari convinced with fast lap times and was able to keep up with the speed of the front runners. On Sunday, we were rewarded with first place. These are important points for the championship. ”

This weekend, Rinaldi Racing continues with the second round of the VLN.