At the start of the new season in Misano, Rinaldi Racing emphasized its ambitions with a strong performance. The start of the Blancpain Sprint Series season saw the team make its mark in both races, having started from third on the grid. In both, the qualifying and main races, the team came in sixth and secured important championship points.

After qualifying third, Marco Seefried and Norbert Siedler proceeded on to an eventful qualifying race on Saturday evening. Right from the start, Siedler fought an enthralling battle with his competitors for podium positions. After half of the race, the Austrian passed on the Ferrari lying third, to Marco Seefried. Unfortunately, an accident immediately after the driver change meant “Full Course Yellow” and the duo lost valuable time and fell back into sixth place. Teams which had not yet stopped at this time were able to pass the Rinaldi-Ferrari. “That was rather tough luck for us. A podium position was within reach, because the car was working perfectly”, Norbert Siedler explained.

In the main race, which was held on Sunday afternoon, Marco Seefried and Norbert Siedler showed another great performance and repeated their sixth place. Team Principal Michele Rinaldi saw positive progress after this weekend's action: ”We can be satisfied with the Misano race. Third out of 39 cars on the grid proves our potential. We would also have been fast enough for a podium finish, but when you look at the race’s immense performance density, both sixth places are a wonderful success for the team”, Rinaldi summed up.

Christian Hook and Steve Parrow got off to a spectacular start in their debut in the Blancpain Sprint Series. The pair secured a class victory in the first AM Cup race. Despite difficult conditions, both drivers performed impressively in the Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 and secured a well-earned first place in the Gentlemen-Drivers classification.

After the Blancpain Sprint Series season’s start in Misano, Rinaldi Racing will soon be taking part in the next race in Italy. From 23rd -24th April, the team from Mendig is at the start of the first race of the Blancpain Endurance Series on the high-speed Monza circuit.