“We’re pleased to have scored more valuable points,” said team CEO Tomáš Fanta. “We made it onto the podium in the first race. What mattered most was that we had the pace and were able to compete with Audi and Mercedes. However, our weekend was heavily affected by refuelling,” he added.
RTR Projects celebrated a podium finish during the fourth round of the season, held on a hot Saturday. Petr Lisa and his team-mate Viktor Mráz crossed the line in third place in the AM class in the opening race.
“Misano suited me quite well — I had no real problems with it,” praised Petr Lisa, reflecting on his first experience at the challenging Italian technical circuit. Still, reaching the podium was no easy feat. “Qualifying and the race didn’t go exactly as I had hoped. The setup didn’t quite suit me,” the Czech driver admitted.
Sunday, however, got off to a much better start for the Lisa–Mráz crew. “Viktor got a perfect start and kept both the Audi and Mercedes behind him,” Lisa recalled, reflecting on the promising beginning that hinted at another podium finish. But the scorching conditions soon took their toll, dashing the duo’s hopes of a top-three result.
“Our fuel was overheating, and during the pit stops we had to fill the tank very slowly. This was our biggest issue during the stops for both cars. It was extremely frustrating, and we’ll be working to solve it before the next round. Without this problem, we would have seen both cars on the podium,” lamented Tomáš Fanta.
When Petr Lisa took over from Viktor Mráz behind the wheel, he managed to close in on the rivals, but the nearly two-minute deficit proved too great to overcome. The crew ultimately crossed the line in fourth place.
“We had strong pace. Viktor drove perfectly, setting excellent lap times and keeping two cars behind him. Compared to Saturday, I also improved significantly. On worn tyres, I was lapping faster than in qualifying. It was a superb performance from Viktor and the whole team. Unfortunately, we were let down by the car,” Lisa reflected.
Although the weekend at Misano didn’t deliver quite the finish the crew had hoped for, Petr Lisa could take satisfaction from his progress in the championship standings. With two rounds remaining, he sits third in the AM category. He holds a 13-point lead over fourth-placed Oliver Freymuth, while the second-best crew, Pascal Gibon and Christophe Bourret, are 29 points ahead of the Czech driver.
In the first eight races of the season, Petr Lisa has stood on the AM class podium five times. He contested the opening four rounds alongside Ondřej Rokos in the Mercedes-AMG, and the remaining races with Viktor Mráz in the KTM X-Bow. Together with the Slovak driver, he claimed victory in the second race at Belgium’s Spa-Francorchamps.
PRO-AM: Just shy of the podium
The second KTM of the RTR Projects team, driven by Maťo Homola and Davit Kajaia, was also in contention for the podium at Misano. The Slovak-Georgian duo finished fourth on Saturday and fifth on Sunday. Especially in the first race, the podium was within reach — they were just a tenth of a second behind the Italian pair Diego Locanto and Luca Segú in the Lamborghini Huracán ST EVO2.
“In the last ten laps, I was closing in on Segú. He’s an outstanding driver. I managed to pull back five seconds,” Homola described his strong final stint. In the end, though, it wasn’t enough. “It was quite frustrating. I keep wondering if maybe I could have found that extra tenth somewhere, but that’s history now. After a battle, everyone’s a general,” he reflected.
Homola was also running in fourth place during the second race when he came into the pits to hand over to Davit Kajaia. However, the previously mentioned refuelling issues came into play. “We lost 47 seconds. Without that, we could easily have fought for third, or even second place. We had the pace for it,” Homola rued.
The GT2 European Series season will conclude with its final two rounds in the autumn, both taking place in Spain. Racing will be held in Valencia from 19–21 September, with the finale scheduled for 10–12 October in Barcelona.
It won’t just be Petr Lisa competing for overall podiums in the final two rounds — Maťo Homola will be in contention as well. The Slovak sits fourth in the PRO-AM standings, just 19 points shy of third place, currently held by Nil Montserrat and Alberto de Martin.
