•    Great start to opening Prototype Cup Europe weekend with highly competitive qualifying
•    Race one pole secured by Mattias Pluschkell in BWT Mücke Motorsport Duqueine D09
•    Theo Micouris heads very tight race two session for Team Virage Ligier JS P325
•    Both Mugello races to be screened LIVE at Creventic Motorsports TV on YouTube

Mugello, Italy (20 March 2026):
Germany’s BWT Mücke Motorsport and Polish squad Team Virage took a pole position apiece during qualifying for the first ever Prototype Cup Europe race weekend at Mugello in Italy this afternoon, with Mattis Pluschkell and Theo Micouris starring in their respective 15-minute sessions.

Driving the No.8 BWT Duqueine D09 LMP3 prototype in the opening session, setting the grid for Saturday’s maiden race of the 2026 Prototype Cup Europe, Pluschkell reeled off a series of very quick laps to claim pole with a best of 1m42.756 seconds – some 0.6 seconds clear of his closest rival.

In the race two session, which followed immediately afterwards at the bright yet chilly Tuscan track, British driver Micouris – taking over the No.74 Team Virage Ligier JS P325 he shares with Dominique Bastien – headed a much tighter battle for pole, setting the fastest time of 1m42.370 seconds. He claimed top spot on the grid for Sunday’s encounter by just 0.153 seconds. 

Allay Racing’s Linus Hellberg started the day’s opening qualifying run strongest in the No.43 Ligier, delivering a lap of 1m46.781 seconds, but the times soon began to tumble with the eventual pole lap of Pluschkell some four seconds quicker. Hellberg’s brother Emil, in the No.48 Allay Ligier, was also in the mix early on as was Maxim Dirickx in the No.3 Aust Motorsport Ligier. 

Pluschkell really came to the fore for BWT Mücke into the second half of the session, first taking provisional pole with a time of 1m43.258 seconds and latterly securing the top spot on the grid for race one with his 1m42.756 seconds best. Dirickx also improved as the session wore on and he duly claimed a front row slot for Aust, although 0.6 seconds shy of pole. 

Valentino Catalano, who had moved into contention in the closing minutes, claimed third for GMS Team’s Ligier just 0.2 seconds adrift of Dirickx, while Linus Hellberg ended fourth – fortunately avoiding any major damage to his Ligier following a brush with the barriers out of Turn One. Row three will be shared by the No.18 BWT Mücke car of Mads Kjelde Larsen and Emil Hellberg’s Ligier.

The competitiveness was ramped up even more for qualifying two, with a fantastic battle between Dirickx, Markus Pommer in the No.18 BWT Mücke entry – shared with Larsen – and Micouris in the No.74 Team Virage Ligier JS P325.

As the action heated up more and more, Micouris started to take charge and with a best of 1m42.370 seconds he secured the race two pole by just over a tenth from the again impressive Dirickx in the Aust machine. 

Pommer heads row three for Sunday’s race, a mere 0.061 seconds away from the front row, with Emil Hellberg fourth fastest a further 0.641 seconds shy. The third row of the grid will feature Linus Hellberg in the No.43 Allay Racing Ligier and Tobias Bille Clausen in the No.8 BWT Mücke Duqueine.

The first ever race of the refreshed Prototype Cup Europe is scheduled to begin at 09.50 local time in Italy tomorrow, Saturday 21 March, while race two will follow on Sunday, 22 March, at 08.40. Watch all of the action live and uninterrupted through Creventic Motorsports TV on YouTube. Find the links to race coverage and live timing at www.prototype-cup-europe.com