Strong Pitstops secure Emil Frey Racing two Top-5 Finishes at GTWC Sprint Cup in Misano

Fast Facts – The Press Bulletin
The Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli hosted the second round of the GT World Challenge Sprint Cup this weekend – and Emil Frey Racing experienced a weekend of contrasts. In scorching heat that pushed drivers and machinery to their limits, the #69 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo of Thierry Vermeulen and Ben Green shone in both races with outstanding pitstops, while the #14 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo of Matteo Cairoli and Konsta Lappalainen was unable to match expectations in either race.

Press Release
The Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli played host to the GT World Challenge Sprint Cup this weekend. While drivers and teams battled intense heat throughout, Emil Frey Racing experienced a weekend of many highs and lows – and once again, motorsport showed just how fine the line is between fortune and misfortune.

Race 1 – Saturday, 18th July 2026
The two Emil Frey Racing cars headed into the first race from very different grid positions: Thierry Vermeulen started the #69 Ferrari from P14 overall, while Matteo Cairoli was forced to begin the race in the #14 sister car from the back of the field, after his lap times were deleted due to track limits violations in qualifying.

Both drivers gained positions at the start, but a Safety Car was deployed after the very first lap, bringing the action under caution. After the restart, Thierry Vermeulen held his P12, while Matteo Cairoli had already worked his way up to P38 by lap 7.

On lap 15, the #69 Ferrari was the first to pit, with Thierry Vermeulen handing over to Ben Green. One lap later, the #14 also came in and Finnish driver Konsta Lappalainen joined the action. The early undercut strategy paid off handsomely for the #69 – a critical factor in sprint racing: thanks to an excellent pit stop, Ben Green rejoined in fourth place. Meanwhile, Konsta Lappalainen delivered an impressive stint, gaining three positions in a single lap.

With just under four minutes remaining, a Full Course Yellow brought the race to a conclusion under caution. Ben Green crossed the line in a strong fourth place, having recovered ten positions across the race. Konsta Lappalainen classified in P20, but a post-race penalty for track limits dropped the #14 to a final result of P22.

Race 2 – Sunday, 19th July 2026
Qualifying for the second race went considerably better for Emil Frey Racing: the #69 Ferrari with Ben Green and the #14 Ferrari with Konsta Lappalainen lined-up in formation on the grid in eighth and ninth place respectively.

At the start, Ben Green immediately gained two positions, while Konsta Lappalainen lost ground in the opening battle and dropped to P13. In the early laps, an entertaining battle for position developed between Jordan Pepper in the #31 BMW and Ben Green in the #69 Ferrari. In the close fight, the BMW driver initially had the upper hand after Green was briefly forced off the circuit.

On lap 19, Green came in for his mandatory pitstop and driver change. Thanks to another lightning-fast and perfectly executed stop from the Emil Frey Racing crew, Thierry Vermeulen took over the wheel and returned to the race in fifth place. The #69 also benefitted from a penalty handed to the #31 BMW, stemming from the earlier on-track battles. One lap later, the #14 Ferrari also pitted: Konsta Lappalainen handed over to Matteo Cairoli. Just three laps later, Cairoli was forced to park the car at turn 8 with a technical failure and retire from the race.

A Full Course Yellow was subsequently deployed. As the sole remaining car in the fight for Emil Frey Racing, Thierry Vermeulen brought the #69 home safely in fifth place – a solid result for the team on a challenging weekend.

For further information, please visit www.emilfreyracing.com.

TEAM QUOTES – Emil Frey Racing

Lorenz Frey-Hilti, Team Principal
"We were able to secure two solid results with the #69 Ferrari, and I think against the Mercedes and BMW we couldn't have done much more. It's great that we were able to gain positions through the pit stops in both races. Of course, it's a real shame for the #14. On Saturday, the track limits cost us a qualifying lap – that's simply something that cannot happen. Then today the retirement after Konsta's strong qualifying, which was very bitter."

Jürg Flach, Technical Director
"In terms of the #69, P4 and P5 was realistically the maximum available to us, as both Mercedes and BMW were simply too strong despite the BoP adjustments. I'm very pleased that we once again delivered strong pit stops in both races, gaining positions each time. We need to take the positives forward into the next races."

DRIVER QUOTES – Emil Frey Racing

Matteo Cairoli (Italy)
"I'm obviously very unhappy, especially since we've now had a run of races that haven't gone the way they should. The track limits mistake is on me – I'm the one behind the wheel, and I take full responsibility. But I hope we can find a solution to our issues quickly, because the way the last two weekends have gone is very difficult and very painful – and we all know we're capable of more."

Konsta Lappalainen (Finland)
"We had issues with the car throughout the weekend, and the retirement today was ultimately very disappointing. My stint on Sunday felt good and I think we could have scored points. Now we need to analyse what happened and look ahead to Magny-Cours."

Thierry Vermeulen (Netherlands)
"It's not easy to be consistent and error-free all weekend, but that's exactly what we managed to do. The pitstops were once again simply outstanding – and in the Sprint Cup, that has an enormous impact on results. We didn't extract the maximum in qualifying, and that's something we need to work on for Magny-Cours. But all in all, I'm very satisfied."

Ben Green (Great Britain)
"I'm really very happy with this weekend. I feel like we extracted the maximum from our starting positions. The team delivered a fantastic performance during the races, and thanks to the great pitstops we were able to gain positions every time. I don't think Thierry and I could have done any more, and we're both very pleased with the results."

ABOUT EMIL FREY RACING

Emil Frey Racing is a storied Swiss motorsport team based in Safenwil. Founded in the 1960s on the foundations of the Emil Frey Group, the team can look back on decades of motorsport experience, ranging from single-seater and rally racing to long-distance GT series. Today, Emil Frey Racing competes internationally, currently in both the DTM and the GT World Challenge with the Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo.

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