GRT GRASSER RACING TEAM SET FOR ANNIVERSARY SEASON: FOUR RAGING BULLS ON A MISSION TO SECURE TITLE HONOURS IN THE ADAC GT MASTERS

The raging bulls at GRT Grasser Racing Team are sharpening their horns for the 2021 ADAC GT Masters. To mark their special anniversary in the Super Sports Car League, the Lamborghini team are set to launch their biggest offensive since first joining the series in the 2011 season. It’s been ten years since the Knittelfeld-based outfit made its first appearance with Team Principal Gottfried Grasser at the wheel, and now, the Austrian and his team intend to deploy two teams of drivers and four Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVOs in their bid to win the championship. A squad of top professionals from Lamborghini’s racing stable will ensure that the team are extremely well placed as they fight for the title of International German GT Champions.

Pro-team with three Lamborghini Squadra Corse works drivers plus speedy Silver class veteran

A professional team of three works drivers from the ranks of Lamborghini will be the leading players in GRT Grasser Racing Team in 2021. Once again, three absolutely top-class drivers from the world of GT3 motor racing – Albert Costa Balboa, Franck Perera and Mirko Bortolotti – will compete for the Italian sports car manufacturer from Emilia-Romagna, all of whom can look back on having achieved success in previous outings for GRT Grasser Racing. Swiss veteran Rolf Ineichen will be the fourth member of the group. Like Bortolotti, he will be back in the cockpit of a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO after a year away from the fold.

These famous drivers will have different partners for the new season. Costa Balboa and Bortolotti will join forces in the hunt for the title in car number 63. 31-year-old Bortolotti from Italy is keen to build on the success he achieved from 2015 to 2019 when he secured no less than six wins and five pole positions in the ADAC GT Masters with GRT Grasser Racing. His 30-year-old Spanish team-mate, Costa Balboa, first joined the outfit in 2020. Despite having a tough debut season, he had a couple of impressive showings with two fastest race laps and two podiums.

Ineichen and 36-year-old Perera will drive the sister car, the #19. By combining a seasoned professional with one of the fastest Silver class drivers in GT3 motor racing, the outfit will have another really formidable driver pairing in its ranks. Perera has driven for Lamborghini since 2018 and has taken two pole positions and five podiums to date in the ADAC GT Masters. As regards Ineichen, this will be his fifth season with the team. Having secured three wins and twelve podium finishes, the 42-year-old veteran Silver class driver can also look back on an impressive career so far in the series.

Top-class drivers from Lamborghini Youngster programme head Junior team

On the other side of the garage, GRT Grasser Racing Team are continuing their recipe for success from the 2020 season by bringing on drivers from Lamborghini’s Youngster programme. Two Lamborghini Huracán GT3s crewed by high-calibre Youngsters will be in the frame to take top honours in the overall standings of the 2021 ADAC GT Masters and to win the Junior Trophy title. Steijn Schothorst and Tim Zimmermann will be embarking on their second season in this hard-fought GT3 series in car number 82.

These two Lamborghini Juniors certainly have plenty to live up to after an impressive first year, during which 26-year-old Schothorst secured two pole positions, two fastest race laps and a podium. The Dutchman’s 24-year-old team-mate, Tim Zimmermann, is just as good. He successfully made the switch from the Porsche Cup to GT3 in 2020 with one pole position and a podium. The names of the two drivers in the second Junior Lambo, car number 11, will be released shortly, as one of the positions is still vacant.

Team Principal Gottfried Grasser: “Reaching our tenth anniversary in the ADAC GT Masters is a major milestone for all of us here at GRT Grasser Racing, and therefore, we are particularly pleased to be tackling the season with the strongest line-up since first making our debut. Besides, we still have a score to settle, because we narrowly missed winning the title in 2019 and things last year did not quite go the way we would have liked either. Our primary objective is to win the championship. We’re fired up and perfectly prepared for the challenge. The Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO is simply is a car that is in every way suited to our mission. Also, we have a line-up of drivers that is top-class in every aspect and that makes me feel very proud. I firmly believe in my team and hope that we and the sport can have a terrific season, and hopefully, we will be in a position once more to welcome fans, friends and sponsors back to the racetrack as our guests.”

Source. GRT Grasser Racing/Photo. Axel Weichert