Mirko Bortolotti and Marco Mapelli gave GRT Grasser Racing Team the first Lamborghini win in the ADAC GT Masters since 2019 in race 1 at Hockenheim, while the key title contenders ended up in the top five and the championship fight became even tighter.
The two Lamborghini works drivers won with a lead of around half a second over championship leaders, Montaplast by Land-Motorsport pair Ricardo Feller and Christopher Mies.
The two Audi drivers increased their points cushion to eleven points. Third place went to Porsche works driver Mathieu Jaminet and defending champion Michael Ammermüller in their SSR Performance Porsche 911 GT3R. “I’m so happy. We waited a long time for victory and finally, everything worked out, ”said winner Bortolotti. “We have shown character and shown that we can always be reckoned with.”
Pole-setter Bortolotti got off to a good start and gapped his pursuers on the opening lap with his Lamborghini, one lap later his cushion was almost two seconds.
Ricardo Feller responded thereafter though and reduced the gap to less than a second before the driver change.
After the mandatory pit stops, the Lamborghini, now with Marco Mapelli at the wheel, stayed ahead of Feller’s partner Christopher Mies.
Two late safety car phases then pushed the field together again and ensured a tight final phase. Mies tried several times to pass Mapelli after the restarts, but in the end, had to admit defeat.
Thanks to his seventh victory in the ADAC GT Masters, Bortolotti kept his title chances as the new fourth in the table; for team-mate Mapelli, who shared a Lamborghini with his compatriot for the first time this season, it was the second victory in the racing series.
In second place, Mies and Feller increased their points lead in the overall standings from two to eleven with their fifth podium of the season.
In the battle for third place, the Porsche duo Jaminet / Ammermüller prevailed, followed by a long-lap duel between four Mercedes-AMG works drivers. In the end, fourth place went to Mercedes-AMG Team Toksport WRT pair Luca Stolz and Maro Engel and while Raffaele Marciello and Maximilian Buhk initially brought home their Mann-Filter Team Landgraf – HTP / WWR) in fifth they were dealt a post-race 30-second penalty for contact with a WRT Audi, that dropped them out of the points.
That put the Phoenix Audi of Jusuf Owega and Patric Niederhauser into fifth place after starting 16th on the grid.
Behind them followed Rolf Ineichen and Franck Perera in another GRT Lamborghini. David Jahn and Jannes Fittje took the points for seventh in their Team Joos Sportwagentechnik Porsche 911 GT3 R.
Tim Zimmermann and Hugo Sasse made it three GRT Grasser Racing Team Huracans n the top eight ahead of local hero Luca-Sandro Trefz and Christopher Haase in their Montaplast by Land -Motorsport Audi with Igor Waliłko and Jules Gounon’s Team Zakspeed Mobil Krankenkasse Racing AMG completing the top ten.
Mirko Bortolotti: “After the unfortunate weekend at the Sachsenring, where we lost important points in the title fight we needed a result. Everything went well today and we were able to convert pole position into victory. I thank the team for the good preparation.
Marco did a great job today and defended the lead excellently. The last 20 minutes were again very exciting, but I knew that my teammate would do everything to bring the victory home. That was a perfect day for us. ”
After Franck Perera set the pace in qualifying, the Frenchman was in a class of his own in the first half of the race. He got off to an ideal start, with lap times that included the fastest race lap, and pulled away from his pursuers. His lead was almost six seconds when he handed over the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo to partner Rolf Ineichen on lap 19. The Swiss took the win by 2.615 seconds. For Ineichen & Perera it was the first win of the season, for Lamborghini and the GRT Grasser Racing Team the second triumph of the weekend.
Throughout the race, title contenders Raffaele Marciello / Maximilian Buhk fought with their Mercedes-AMG colleagues, Luca Stolz / Maro Engel, for second place, which they defended to the finish.
Igor Waliłko and Jules Gounon in their Team Zakspeed car completed a Mercedes-AMG three-way battle for the podium for much of the race, Waliłko up to second shortly after the pit stops in second place, but he fell back in the final phase behind the best-placed Porsche of defending champion Christian Engelhart and Thomas Preining in fifth place. Nevertheless, Waliłko won the Pirelli Junior classification.
Marco Mapelli: “Mirko and the team really deserved the win. He handed the car over to me in a perfect position and I was able to drive home the win for us. The last 20 minutes were again very intense, there was really a lot of pickup on the track during the safety car time. But then I focused on the restart and was able to manage the gap to the rear in a solid manner. ”
Race 2
Sunday’s race result sees the title go to the final race weekend of the season at Nürburgring on 6/7 November after the championship leaders Ricardo Feller and Christopher Mies finished only seventh in the Sunday race in their Montaplast by Land Audi. Their closest rivals, Mercedes-AMG Team Toksport WRT crew Luca Stolz and Maro Engel came home third on Sunday, the points gap now down to just four! 13 drivers still have title chances.
Victory in Sunday’s race went to Lamborghini again, though this time it was Rolf Ineichen and Franck Perera who brought their GRT Lamborghini home ahead of fourth-in-the-points Raffaele Marciello and Maximilian Buhk.
“That was a perfect day for us, but also a great weekend for the GRT Grasser Racing Team and for Lamborghini,” said former Formula 1 test driver Perera. “To win in such a highly competitive racing series is always something special.
After Franck Perera set the pace in qualifying, the Frenchman was in a class of his own in the first half of the race. He got off to an ideal start, with lap times that included the fastest race lap – and pulled away from his pursuers. His lead was almost six seconds when he handed over the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo to partner Rolf Ineichen on lap 19. The Swiss took the win by 2.615 seconds. For Ineichen & Perera it was the first win of the season, for Lamborghini and the GRT Grasser Racing Team the second triumph of the weekend.
Throughout the race, title contenders Raffaele Marciello / Maximilian Buhk fought with their Mercedes-AMG colleagues, Luca Stolz / Maro Engel, for second place, which they defended to the finish.
Igor Waliłko and Jules Gounon in their Team Zakspeed car completed a Mercedes-AMG three-way battle for the podium for much of the race, Waliłko up to second shortly after the pit stops in second place, but he fell back in the final phase behind the best-placed Porsche of defending champion Christian Engelhart and Thomas Preining in fifth place. Nevertheless, Waliłko won the Pirelli Junior classification.
Title contenders were also involved in battles for positions in the second half of the top ten.
In a three-way battle for sixth place, Küs Team Bernhard Porsche duo Dylan Pereira and Joel Eriksson narrowly beat championship leaders Ricardo Feller and Christopher Mies in their Montaplast by Land-Motorsport who had to settle for seventh place in the best finishing Audi R8 LMS. Mathieu Jaminet and Michael Ammermüller in the SSR Performance Porsche, third in the Championship standings followed directly behind, leaving the Porsche pair 17 points behind ahead of the final weekend of the season.
Jeffrey Schmidt and Marvin Kirchhöfer finished ninth in the Callaway Competition Corvette C7 GT3-R, followed by David Jahn and Jannes Fittje in tenth in the Porsche 911 GT3 R of Team Joos Sportwagentechnik.
Franck Perera: “The race wasn’t easy, the start was very decisive. I tried to pull away f as much as possible, which I succeeded in doing. Because the car worked really well today. Rolf also did a great job and brought home the win safely. The season so far hasn’t been the easiest for that Team, I’m all the more pleased with the result today. ”
Rolf Ineichen: “I have loved Hockenheim since my Porsche Carrera Cup times and I have already tested a lot here. Our car has a very good package, which works particularly well here. I knew that my half of the race meant a lot to the team, we had to accept setbacks, again and again, this year, so it was very important to bring this success to the finish line. The pressure after qualifying was also very high, but Franck handed me a good car with solid tires and I was able to secure victory without major mistakes. The light conditions were difficult due to the low sun, in some bends, you couldn’t even see where you were going. ”
