Aiva Anagnostiadis claims second GT4 Italy podium, Jorden Dolischka extends top-10 streak at Mugello
- RACERS
- Jul 27
- 6 min read
Aiva Anagnostiadis recovered from a Race 1 technical issue to secure her second GT4 Italy podium of the season at Mugello, while fellow rookie Jorden Dolischka added another top-ten finish to her consistently impressive campaign, securing her personal best finish to date.
Aiva Anagnostiadis returned to the GT4 Italy podium at Mugello after an impressive recovery from Saturday's misfortune, while fellow rookie Jorden Dolischka continued her remarkable consistency with another pair of top-ten finishes and secured her personal best finish to date in the series. It proved a much tougher weekend for Kornelia Olkucka, whose promising pace went unrewarded after technical issues struck in both races of the third round of the 2026 GT4 Italy season.
The Mugello weekend marked the third round of the championship following the opening events at Misano and Vallelunga, with three female drivers once again represented across the competitive GT4 field.
Eighteen-year-old Australian Aiva Anagnostiadis continued her debut GT campaign with Promodrive alongside teammate Andrea Palazzo after switching from single-seaters following her F1 Academy season. The pair had already demonstrated impressive pace throughout the opening rounds and, despite a luckless season opener at Misano, celebrated their maiden GT4 podium at Vallelunga with third place in Race 1 before adding sixth place in Race 2. Arriving at the demanding Mugello circuit, the BMW duo aimed to continue that upward momentum.
Another standout rookie has been Austrian youngster Jorden Dolischka, who has quickly adapted to GT racing in her first season with Centro Porsche Ticino. Sharing the #76 Porsche 718 Cayman with Noah Massa, Dolischka had already secured three top-ten finishes from the opening two weekends, including an excellent seventh place at Vallelunga.
Polish racer Kornelia Olkucka also continued her transition from Formula 4 machinery to GT racing, balancing a dual programme between GT4 Italy and GTC Endurance. Racing solo aboard the #19 Lema Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 to maximise valuable seat time, Olkucka entered Mugello encouraged by a career-best sixth-place finish at Vallelunga after a frustrating opening weekend.
The competitive form shown by all three female drivers immediately carried into Friday practice. Dolischka topped the female entries in the opening practice with fifth overall, while Anagnostiadis and Palazzo finished just behind. Olkucka also comfortably placed herself inside the overall top ten in ninth.
The second session saw Promodrive make another significant step forward as Anagnostiadis and Palazzo climbed to third overall, just seven tenths away from the outright pace-setter in a highly encouraging performance. Olkucka again finished ninth overall, while Dolischka remained comfortably among the leading runners in P10.
Saturday qualifying continued that strong form; Anagnostiadis delivered one of her strongest qualifying efforts to date, recording a 1:57.773 to secure fifth overall and fourth in Pro-Am. Dolischka qualified tenth overall with a 1:58.538, eighth in Pro-Am, while Olkucka set a 1:59.359 for 14th overall and 11th in class.
During the second qualifying session, Andrea Palazzo backed up Anagnostiadis' effort with fourth overall in the BMW after posting a 1:57.744. Noah Massa qualified seventh overall in the #76 Porsche, while Olkucka almost exactly matched her earlier pace before a red flag interrupted the session, ultimately leaving her just behind the Porsche pairing.
Saturday afternoon's opening 50-minute contest saw Anagnostiadis line up fifth overall, Dolischka tenth and Olkucka fourteenth. Unfortunately, Olkucka's race effectively ended before it even began: the Polish driver encountered a technical issue during the formation lap and immediately returned to the pits, eventually retiring after losing several laps.
Anagnostiadis made a cautious getaway, briefly dropping to seventh through the opening corners before immediately recovering sixth place. From there, the Australian settled into an impressive rhythm, consistently matching the pace of the leading group with laps below the two-minute barrier while remaining close to Marco Esposito and Matteo Frizza ahead.
Meanwhile Dolischka enjoyed another composed opening stint, holding tenth overall while maintaining safe margins to the cars around her. Running consistently in the 2:01 range, the Austrian gradually closed onto Matthias Lodi before completing a clean overtake to move into ninth overall and seventh in Pro-Am.
As fierce battles unfolded among the top five, Anagnostiadis remained poised just behind, waiting for any opportunity to capitalise while maintaining excellent pace.
With the pit window approaching, both female drivers elected to extend their opening stints. Anagnostiadis climbed as high as fourth overall during the pit cycle before stopping on lap 12 to hand over to Palazzo. However, disaster struck for the Promodrive crew when debris had punctured the radiator, forcing lengthy repairs in the pit lane that ultimately led to retirement.
Dolischka, meanwhile, produced one of her strongest stints; by staying out longer than many rivals she briefly climbed all the way to second overall and inherited the Pro-Am lead before finally pitting on lap 14 to hand the Porsche over to Noah Massa.
After the driver change, Massa rejoined seventh overall and sixth in class before steadily working his way forward. Despite increasingly severe tyre degradation during the closing stages, he climbed into fifth overall before eventually losing one position to Manuel Lasagni after a close late-race battle. Massa ultimately brought the Porsche home sixth overall, securing valuable championship points.
The result marked Dolischka's personal best finish in GT4 Italy, improving on her previous career-best seventh place from Vallelunga.
For Anagnostiadis, however, what had looked set to become another excellent result instead ended in disappointment due to the mechanical issue during the mandatory pit stop.
Sunday provided the perfect opportunity for redemption. Andrea Palazzo started fourth overall in the Promodrive BMW, while Noah Massa lined up eighth in the Porsche. Olkucka returned hoping for much better fortunes after barely completing a lap on Saturday.
Palazzo immediately held fourth into Turn 1 while staying within striking distance of the leading trio. Massa also made an aggressive start, challenging Wagner's Mercedes before contact during an attempted overtake dropped him down to eleventh overall. Wagner was later penalised for causing the incident.
Olkucka's difficult weekend unfortunately continued: after spinning on the opening lap and dropping to the back of the field, she fought back towards Anastasopoulos before another technical issue forced her into the pits after only five laps, ending another frustrating race prematurely.
Massa quickly recovered from the earlier contact, first overtaking Simunovic's Alpine before repassing Wagner to regain ninth overall as the pit window approached.
At the front, Palazzo remained glued to the battle for the podium, running consistently within half a second of Zanin before moving into third - and briefly second overall - as the leaders completed their pit stops.
Both Palazzo and Massa extended their opening stints before making their mandatory stops. Massa handed over to Jorden Dolischka from sixth overall, while Palazzo anticipated a potential caution period and pitted from second place to hand the BMW over to Aiva Anagnostiadis.
The race remained green throughout the pit cycle, allowing Anagnostiadis to rejoin in a third overall position.
From there, the Australian produced another outstanding drive. Running consistently in the low 2:02s and later dipping into the 2:01s despite tyre degradation, she steadily increased her advantage over Filippo Bencivenni while gradually beginning to reel in Danilo Arfini's Porsche ahead.
With five minutes remaining, Anagnostiadis had reduced the gap dramatically, gaining almost three seconds in a single lap before continuing to close during the final tour. Ultimately, time ran out before she could challenge for second, but the Australian comfortably secured third overall, earning her second GT4 Italy podium, and second GT podium overall, in her rookie season.
Dolischka delivered another mature second stint. Running consistent 2:02 laps, she inherited eighth overall after Lodi served a drive-through penalty and comfortably managed the closing laps despite having the much faster Aston Martin of Pedro Ebrahim rapidly closing behind. Thanks to the sizeable cushion built earlier in the race, Dolischka secured eighth overall and her fifth top-ten finish from six races this season.
Although Mugello ended in frustration for Olkucka after two technical retirements despite showing encouraging pace throughout practice and qualifying, Anagnostiadis and Dolischka both continued to strengthen their highly positive rookie campaigns.
After three of five championship rounds, Anagnostiadis now sits ninth in the GT4 Italy standings with 30 points following her second podium of the season. Dolischka occupies 11th with 20 points after another remarkably consistent weekend, while Olkucka remains 16th with 10 points following her unfortunate Mugello outing.
Following the summer break, the GT4 Italy championship resumes at Imola on 5-6 September, where all three drivers will look to continue their development in the increasingly competitive GT4 series.
