The second race began and Rusalka took an early lead with Danger in close proximity. Both AKV Ferraris got decent starts and Sonic Flash got the jump on Oscura heading to towards Tamburello. But before all the cars made it through the chicane. There was contact between the #718 Alfa Romeo 4C GT3 of Aurora White and the #741 BMW M4 GT3 of Namiko Tanigawa which gave Astral to avoid all of the drama and slot herself into a higher position.
Meanwhile, Akula overtook Danger at turn 8 and was now in the fight for the lead. But it was still in Rusalka’s hands and with the pair of them towards Acque Minerali, Akula tried a ‘Kamikaze’ on the Porsche in front Rusalka’s defence however, wasn’t enough for the Ferrari and was overtaken in an instant. Rusalka herself was wondering how her teammate is doing.
Beatrice was also within close proximity the top 10 after benefiting from the chaos the Tamburello chicane. By lap 4, the top ten was Akula, Rusalka, Danger, Viral, Oscura Sonic, Danny, Hatsune, and Starlight. But with both Seneca Racing Mercedes AMGs in 13th and 18th, the pressure was on for her. Even the Terra Tenebris Porsche of Mae Su-Jung was chasing her since lap 3. Despite being in an older generation Porsche compared to Beatrice, it didn’t deter Mae in the slightest. Both Porsches headed the straight towards the Villeneuve chicane. Beatrice got the nose of her 992 Porsche in front, but Mae got better corner exit speed and stole 11th from her.
A full course yellow on lap 8 was needed after three separate events occurred. The first being the #18 Ferrari of Valentin Manzi was beached on the second Rivazza corner, the second was the #925 Audi of Hayden Nightrunner turned the Tamburello chicane into the Tamburello straight, although his steering was limited as a fault at the Rivazza 1 was the cause of it. Hayden would retire from the race as his engine failed on him at Tosa. The third event was the Ferrari of Danger Dean crashing at Variante Alta as his Ferrari snapped right on exit. This damaged his suspension and ended his race. Danger wanted to use the 296 GT3 from the next GT3 race as the glory days of the 488 GT3 EVO were over for him.
By lap 11, the race was restarted with Rusalka challenging Akula. Viral was being hounded by the Ferrari of Oscura Galaxia and Starlight got a bit of a shock as looked at her mirrors and also a Seneca Mercedes. It was Carvalho. Having got screwed over by Oscura on race 1, her revenge was imminent and at Piratella, Lara passed Starlight with ease and soon her next target would be Beatrice Radiance.
The race heated up on lap 15 as Akula and Rusalka were in a tight battle for the lead with Viral acting as a inspector if, for any unknown reason, Akula made contact with the Porsche. Rusalka tried to squeeze by the Ferrari at the second Rivazza but the Ferrari’s speed on the exit kept Akula in the lead. Rusalka tried again at Bassa but Akula defended up until Tamburello when Rusalka made a move the inside of the Ferrari to take the lead away.
From laps 16 to 21, the man in the clouds began to glitter Imola in Italian rain. This caused the majority of the field to pit. The drivers that didn’t were Rusalka and Akula as the battle seemed to be never-ending. Both Seneca AMG GT3s of Carvalho and Tanaka didn’t pit and even Starlight and Beatrice. Oscura fell to 7th but as long as Ravenwest were scoring points, she didn’t mind helping out the team. Suddenly on lap 22, both Rusalka and Akula pitted for wets as two Seneca drivers inherited first and second with Beatrice now in third. Rusalka dropped to 6th and Akula fell to 9th after mistake on the right front cost him more time.
After both Yume and Lara pitted on lap 24, falling to 6th and 7th. The top 10 was Beatrice Radiance, Starlight Glimmer, Oscura Galaxia, Aria Blaze, Rusalka Swordlight, Yume Tanaka, Lara Carvalho, Akula, Viral and Danny Dean. Danny was wondering how his team-mate was doing after he passed Viral at Piratella. Sonic had retired from the race on lap 21 due to a transmission issue which explained why he wasn’t in the fight.
By lap 26, the rain continued to pour and with Beatrice pitted for fresher wets. Starlight inherited the lead as Beatrice dropped to a distant 4th behind both Oscura and Aria. But then at the Tosa, Starlight suffered a puncture as she rode the kerb a bit longer than she should have.
Oscura, now in the lead of the race, was beginning to realise that from lap 27 onwards, the race would turn to a race of attrition as the rain was getting heaviler by every 3 laps. With two laps to go, the bottom 2 of the top 10 was Danny Dean in the Aston Martin, the Ravenwest Ferrari of Nathan McKane. With the Mercedes of Iris Dayspark in 11th place, things got interesting. All three of them were in tight battle to the finish as Oscura took her first GRID series win with Aria Blaze and Beatrice Radiance on the podium, Rusalka Swordlight, Yume Tanaka, Lara Carvalho, Viral and Akula had finshed but Danny would hold off both Iris Dayspark who overtook Nathan at the second Rivazza.