Lamborghini left the rest of the field standing in Sunday’s ADAC GT Masters race at Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, as Mirko Bortolotti (28, ITA) and Andrea Caldarelli (28, ITA, both ORANGE1 by GRT Grasser) won by a 1.8-second margin ahead of fellow Lambo drivers Rolf Ineichen (29, ITA) and Christian Engelhart (30, GER, both GRT Grasser Racing Team). Third-placed Dominik Schwager (41, GER) and Luca Ludwig (29, GER, both HB Racing) delivered a first podium finish for the Ferrari 488 GT3 making its debut in this year’s Super Sports Car League. “That was just perfect,” said winner Bortolotti. “The performance was really good. We didn’t make any mistakes and we are feeling very satisfied.”
Key facts, Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, Oschersleben, Round 2 of 14
Track length: 3,667 metres
Weather: 20°C, slightly cloudy
Pole position: Christian Engelhart (GRT Grasser Racing Team, Lamborghini Hurácan GT3), 1:23.362 mins
Winners: Mirko Bortolotti and Andrea Caldarelli (ORANGE1 by GRT Grasser, Lamborghini Hurácan GT3)
Fastest race lap: Christian Engelhart (GRT Grasser Racing Team, Lamborghini Hurácan GT3) 1:25.306 mins
Lamborghini duo out in front
More than 25,000 fans came through the gates at Oschersleben over the weekend. Sunday’s crowd saw two Lamborghini Huracáns first stage a front row lockout in qualifying and then proceed to dominate the second race of the season. Pole-sitter Christian Engelhart defended his lead at the start from fellow Lamborghini driver, Andrea Caldarelli. While the order at the top remained unchanged until the round of compulsory pit stops in the middle of the race, the two cars steadily drew away from the rest of the field. P1 eventually changed hands, however, shortly after Rolf Ineichen had taken over from Engelhart and Mirko Bortolotti from Caldarelli. On Lap 23, Bortolotti overtook the sister car to claim first place. The two Lamborghinis continued to have the upper hand and had pulled out a lead of around ten seconds by the time the safety car came out to facilitate recovery of the stricken Mercedes-AMG driven by Kim-Luis Schramm (20, GER). Bortolotti then secured the win without any further problem, taking the chequered flag 1.8 seconds up on Ineichen. This was Bortolotti’s third win in the ADAC GT Masters and a maiden victory for his new team-mate Caldarelli. Runner-up Ineichen took the win in the Pirelli Trophy classification.
Third place went to Dominik Schwager and Luca Ludwig, who gained several places at the start, laying the foundations for the Ferrari 488 GT3’s maiden podium in the ADAC GT Masters. P4 went to Robert Renauer (33, GER) and Mathieu Jaminet (23, FRA, both Precote Herberth Motorsport), who were the most successful Porsche drivers, as in Saturday’s race. The Mercedes-AMG pairing of Markus Pommer (27, GER) and Maximilian Götz (32, GER, both MANN-FILTER Team HTP) crossed the finish line in P5 followed by another Mercedes-AMG with Christopher Friedrich (23, GER, Car Collection Motorsport), who took the win in the Pirelli Junior for sixth place overall, ably assisted by Lance David Arnold (31, GER). Series newcomer Timo Bernhard (37, GER, KÜS Team75 Bernhard) was delighted with his first points in the ADAC GT Masters. The two-time WEC champion and Le Mans winner finished seventh with partner Kévin Estre (29, FRA).
Three Audi R8 LMS supercars completed the Top Ten. Nicolaj Rogivue (21, CH) and Frédéric Vervisch (31, BEL, both Aust Motorsport) took eighth place ahead of fellow Audi drivers, Florian Spengler (30, GER) and Dries Vanthoor (19, BEL, both EFP by TECE), while Ricardo Feller (17, CH) and Christopher Haase (30, GER, both BWT Mücke Motorsport) finished tenth.
Comments from the winners
Mirko Bortolotti (ORANGE1 by GRT Grasser, Lamborghini Hurácan GT3): “Thanks to the team and to Lamborghini. We got the maximum out of today’s race. Our work on the car has been going in the right direction from the first practice session, and we made the right decisions in the setup. That was obviously a big help. The team have done fantastically well to give us such a great car.”
Andrea Caldarelli (ORANGE1 by GRT Grasser, Lamborghini Hurácan GT3): “Finishing the weekend with a win is fantastic. Christian Engelhart and I refrained from attacking each other so that we could distance ourselves from the field. Shortly after the pit stop, Mirko then took the lead. The strategy worked brilliantly. The track here is not an easy one, and you have to watch out for your tyres. In that respect, we were successful.”
Calendar for the 2018 ADAC GT Masters
13/04/18 – 15/04/18 Motorsport Arena Oschersleben
27/04/18 – 29/04/18 Autodrom Most (CZ)
08/06/18 – 10/06/18 Red Bull Ring (AUT)
03/08/18 – 05/08/18 Nürburgring
17/08/18 – 19/08/18 Circuit Zandvoort (NL)
07/09/18 – 09/09/18 Sachsenring
21/09/18 – 23/09/18 Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg
Source. ADAC GT Masters/Photo. ADAC Motorsport
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