Two reasons to be cheerful better than one! GRT Grasser Racing have good grounds to be really looking forward to this next weekend in the 2021 ADAC GT Masters, as the second round in the Super Sports Car League will be a home fixture for the team and their Lamborghinis (June 11th-13th). Races 3 and 4 are scheduled to take place at Spielberg’s Red Bull Ring just a stone’s throw away from team headquarters in Knittelfeld. After making a strong start to the season, the four Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVOs are going for their first win of the year. This weekend would be the perfect opportunity for team boss Gottfried Grasser and team as they welcome fans, friends and sponsors back to Styria for the first time in two years.
Team GRT Grasser Racing will have other irons in the fire this weekend apart from their home round. The squad will be sending out a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO to compete in the next round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in America. The legendary street circuit on Detroit’s Belle Isle is the venue for the second race meeting in the Sprint Cup class of the US sports car championship. The race taking place under the banner of the IndyCar Series is one of the highlights on the racing calendar. Lamborghini works driver Marco Mapelli and IMSA veteran Misha Goikhberg will be going on the offensive for GRT Grasser Racing on the other side of the pond.
GRT Grasser Racing hoping to benefit from home advantage at Spielberg
Over the three days of the event, up to 9,000 spectators will be allowed to come to the ADAC GT Masters to gaze in awe at the GT3 cars as they hurtle around the 4.31km Formula 1 circuit in Austria. Strict rules about hygiene will be in force. GRT Grasser Racing Team will have the wind in their sails after their success at Oschersleben when Mirko Bortolotti and Albert Costa Balboa opened the season with a podium for the car with starting number 63. Thanks to finishing runners-up, the Lamborghini works drivers occupy sixth place in the drivers’ championship while GRT Grasser Racing are ranked fifth in the team standings.
Mirko Bortolotti and Albert Costa Balboa may be intent on securing the championship lead but team mates, Franck Perera and Rolf Ineichen will be hoping to make good. French Lamborghini works driver Perera and his extremely experienced Silver co-driver from Switzerland looked destined to achieve great things at Oschersleben but racing luck was not on their side. However, as far as the Red Bull Ring is concerned, both drivers of car number 19 already know the podium well from previous experience; Ineichen celebrated a home win for GRT Grasser Racing in 2017 while Perera finished third with Costa Balboa in 2020.
After a difficult start, Tim Zimmermann will also be keen to really get his season under way. The Lamborghini Junior secured pole position at Spielberg last year and then went on to produce one of the highlights of his debut season. A new member of the squad at GRT Grasser Racing Team will be lining up alongside him this weekend. Max Hofer is set to make his debut in the #82 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO and has chosen the perfect moment for his first race outing with the squad, because the races in Austria will also be a home round for the 22-year-old driver from Vienna.
This weekend’s event should also prove to be a very special experience for the fourth member of the crew. Just like Hofer, Clemens Schmid from the Austrian Tyrol is looking forward to benefiting from a home advantage in the ADAC GT Masters at the Red Bull Ring where he achieved a strong points-scoring result last year with ninth place. Racing alongside him, new team-mate Mike David Ortmann will likewise be keen to see a repeat of that result after his strong showing in the season opener, driving the #16 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO.
Team Principal Gottfried Grasser: “We are really looking forward to this year’s home race. Spielberg is truly a stand-out fixture for us, because there’s nothing quite like racing at home. Things were just not the same last year without fans, friends and partners. It will be nice to see some life in the stands again this time around. It should give us an extra dose of motivation and in return, we hope we’ll be able to say thank you with another win. We’re all very keen to stay on the ball in the battle for the championship after the Oschersleben opener. Traditionally, this circuit has never been the easiest for our Lamborghinis, but we’ve worked well and are ready to take on any and every challenge that might come our way. The goal is to achieve the maximum, and of course, I would like also like to mention that it gives us enormous pleasure to have another Austrian driver on board for this important weekend, and we’re going to really enjoy working with Max.”
Source. GRT Grasser Racing/Photo. Axel Weichert
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