At the halfway point of the Hankook 12H Mugello race, HAAS RT is in the lead, with an Audi 1-2 ahead of the Sainteloc Junior Team. The No. 21 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II, driven by Stephane Perrin, Mathieu Detry, and Frederic Vervisch, crossed the finish line 34.9 seconds ahead of the Sainteloc duo of Erwan Bastard and Paul Evrard after six hours of racing. This is the first time that HAAS RT has led in a Hankook 24H Series event, as they only started in the Dubai season opener in January.
HAAS RT took the lead from Sainteloc just ten minutes before the overnight neutralization when the French team pitted for fuel. Audi teams dominated the top five positions, with the first four cars being from the same manufacturer. Land Motorsport Audis held third and fourth place, with the No. 34 car driven by Johannes Kirchhoff, Ingo Vogler, and Tim Vogler ahead of the sister Audi piloted by Stefan Wieninger, Tim Müller, and Christopher Mies.
The No. 11 HOFOR-RACING Mercedes of Michael Kroll, Chantal Prinz, Alexander Prinz, and Carsten Tilke completed the top five, followed by the No. 27 Heart of Racing by SPS car driven by Ian James, Roman de Angelis, and Gray Newell. Notable entries, such as the No. 91 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R, No. 8 Kessel Racing Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020, and No. 88 Akkodis ASP Mercedes, encountered issues in the opening six hours of the contest.
In GT4, all three main class contenders ran into trouble before the first half of the race was completed. The No. 403 Atlas BX Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4, driven by Steven Cho, Roelof Bruins, and Jongkyum Kim, lost its left rear wheel on the final lap. The No. 438 BMW M4 GT4 from Simpson Motorsport, driven by David Holloway, Carl Cavers, and Vasily Vladykin, came to a halt on pit exit with just over an hour to go. The No. 416 Buggyra Racing Mercedes lost time early on due to a brake change.
