MOTORSPORT – BAHRAINI-BRITISH motor racing team 2 Seas Motorsport were in sensational form on track yesterday as the third round intensified in the 2026 season of the GT World Challenge (GTWC) Europe.
2 Seas, co-owned by Bahrain’s Shaikh Isa bin Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa, had both their cars in leading positions in their respective categories at the end of the two-hour paid test session at Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Italy.
2 Seas’ #3 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, which they are running in cooperation with Team Verstappen Racing owned by four-time Formula One drivers’ world champion Max Verstappen, powered to second on the overall timesheet as well as amongst the Pro Cup contenders.
2 Seas’ #222 Mercedes-AMG, meanwhile, ranked seventh in the Bronze class as they stepped up their preparations for the weekend’s more intense sessions.
Today, both cars will hit the track for the two 90-minute practices – the first starting at 10am and the second at 3.25pm. Qualifying will then be held tomorrow at 10.50am, which will set the grid for the meeting’s main event, the three-hour race, scheduled for flag off at 4.30pm.
All times are Bahrain.
In yesterday’s paid test, the #3 trio of Daniel Juncadella, Chris Lulham, and Jules Gounon registered a fastest lap of one minute 46.278 seconds while completing just 12 laps of work – going just 0.032 seconds from pace-setters Lucas Auer, Luca Stolz, and Maro Engel behind the wheel of the #48 Mercedes-AMG of Team Mann-Filter.
Garage 59’s #59 crew of Joseph Loake, Dean Macdonald, and Marvin Kirchhofer in their McLaren 720S GT3 Evo completed the session’s top three, going 0.084s adrift.
Meanwhile, the crew of Reece Barr, Charles Dawson, and Kiern Jewiss in 2 Seas’ #222 car clocked a best mark of 1:46.959 – 0.713s behind the leaders to place 35th overall and seventh in class.
Going quickest amongst the Bronze runners were JMW Motorsport’s #60 trio of Thomas Kiefer, Rolf Ineichen, and Tim Heinemann in their Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo. They set a fastest lap of 1:46.594 while completing 43 laps all together.
2 Seas’ two challengers are part of a massive 57-car field that includes 17 competitors in the Pro class, nine in Gold, 15 in Silver, and 16 in Bronze.
2 Seas are competing with their two-car entry for the GTWC Europe’s full 2026 calendar, which features both endurance and sprint events.
This weekend’s third round of the season marks the second of five endurance meetings. Others will be held in Belgium next month, in Germany in August, and in Portugal in October.
A sprint weekend has already taken place in the UK earlier this month, with others to follow in Italy in July, in France in July and August, in the Netherlands in September, and in Spain in October.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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