“Petr and Ondra delivered a truly impressive performance,” said RTR projects Managing Director Tomáš Fanta, praising the Czech pairing. “It was a very successful weekend for us. We managed to find the right setup for the car, which proved to be crucial. If someone had told us before the weekend that we would come away with two second-place finishes, I would have been very pleased with that result,” Fanta added.
Rokos and Lisa had already shown the field last season that they were a force to be reckoned with. In their eight races together, the RTR projects pairing claimed no fewer than seven podium finishes. Lisa also secured the runner-up spot in the Masters category — then known as the Am class — while Rokos narrowly missed out on the same achievement after being forced to sit out two rounds following the birth of his daughter. However, plenty of question marks surrounded the competitive order heading into the opening round of the 2026 season at Monza.
The GT2 European Series grid underwent significant changes ahead of the new season. Drivers holding Gold-rated licences were now eligible to compete, while the introduction of the GT Academy programme added a further incentive, with its top prize being a fully funded race seat in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup for the 2027 season. These developments played a major role in increasing the size of the grid to 22 entries. At Monza, the largest representation came from the Pro-Am and Masters categories, with no fewer than nine crews battling for points in the latter.
Rokos and Lisa quickly demonstrated from the very first practice sessions that they remained among the frontrunners in the Masters class. They capped off their strong form in Saturday’s qualifying sessions. First, Rokos secured pole position in class for Race 1, and just minutes later Lisa repeated the feat for Race 2. The Czech duo’s pace was equally impressive when measured against the entire field. Rokos set the fifth-fastest overall time in the first qualifying session, while Lisa went one better in the second, recording the fourth-fastest lap outright.
The situation changed, however, ahead of the opening race as the organisers stepped in. “Following qualifying, the Balance of Performance was adjusted and the Mercedes had its power reduced,” explained Tomáš Fanta. As a result of the revised BoP settings, Lisa and Rokos were ultimately unable to convert their pole position into victory, despite starting the race from the front of the Masters field.
In both 50-minute races, it was Philippe Prette who emerged at the front of the Masters category in his Maserati. Last season’s dominant class contender arrived at Monza with a replacement car after crashing his original machine during Thursday’s practice sessions. Even so, Lisa and Rokos had every reason to celebrate on both Saturday and Sunday. The RTR projects pairing secured second place in the Masters class in each race, collecting two valuable podium finishes. They also proved highly competitive against the entire field, consistently running in the faster half of the grid and ultimately taking ninth place overall in both contests.
“We probably achieved the maximum that was possible under the circumstances,” reflected Petr Lisa after the weekend. The Czech driver and his team-mate certainly had their hands full throughout both races. “The temperatures were extremely high. We had to be careful approaching every corner. We were also struggling with brake pedal fade. When you’re travelling at 300 km/h, that’s quite a daunting experience,” Lisa explained.
For Ondřej Rokos, the opening race weekend of the season will go down as one of the highlights of his career so far. “These two second-place finishes are certainly among the most valuable results I have ever achieved,” he said, emphasising the significance of the outcome. Rokos only began his racing career alongside Petr Lisa in 2024. “The level of competition on track was high, and the conditions were demanding due to the heat. I am very satisfied with the weekend,” Rokos concluded.
Petr Lisa was equally quick to praise his team-mate’s performance. “Ondra is once again a bit more experienced. His driving level has moved up another step. He’s already gaining confidence in wheel-to-wheel racing and building up speed. Over the entire weekend he didn’t make a single mistake in either qualifying or the races, despite us struggling with brake pedal issues. He was absolutely outstanding,” Lisa said, tipping his hat to his partner. He also paid tribute to the whole team. “The guys worked flat out from morning until evening throughout the weekend. They definitely deserve credit for the job they did. Hats off to them. I’m very grateful for their effort,” Lisa added.
The second RTR projects crew, Davit Kajaia and Viktor Mráz, also collected Masters category points in Italy, finishing fifth in one race and sixth in the other. However, the weekend proved challenging for the KTM X-Bow pairing right from the very start.
“During the private test session they didn’t get any running due to a red flag, which immediately pushed the entire plan back,” explained Tomáš Fanta, adding that circumstances were generally unfavourable for the KTM cars during the opening round. The results of other teams supported that assessment. Across both races, only one of the Austrian-built machines managed to break into the overall top ten. “KTM didn’t have the same pace as the rest of the field, and even SRO were surprised by that. Several factors played a role, particularly the extreme heat. On top of that, KTM cars aren’t really designed to attack kerbs heavily,” Fanta reflected.
For the KTM entry of the RTR projects team, the driver line-up had to be changed at the very last minute ahead of the weekend. Maťo Homola, who plays a key role in the project both as a driver and coach, was hospitalised shortly before the event. The team therefore called up the experienced Davit Kajaia as his replacement — a familiar face who had already worked with the squad last year. In the GT2 European Series, Kajaia previously achieved two podium finishes in the Pro-Am class alongside Homola.
“Davit was a strong choice given his experience with the car and his outright pace,” praised Fanta, referring to the Georgian driver. Kajaia brings a broad motorsport background to the programme, having competed in touring car racing as well as the Ferrari Challenge Europe. This season, he is also taking part in the European NASCAR Championship.
Maťo Homola was nevertheless involved in the weekend’s action despite his absence from the cockpit. “He has already been discharged from hospital, which is very good news for all of us,” said Fanta. “He stayed in constant contact with the team throughout the event. We went through onboard footage together and discussed setup. I strongly believe he’ll be with us at the next round, even though he won’t be back behind the wheel just yet,” Fanta concluded.
The GT2 European Series season will continue with its second round on the weekend of 20–21 June at Spa-Francorchamps. The championship heads to Belgium as part of Spa Speedweek, taking place just one week ahead of the prestigious 24 Hours of Spa.
