Rosina And Slodeka Give True Racing by Reiter A Dream Home Race Result In Race 1
Stefan Rosina and Filip Sladecka made True Racing by Reiter Engineering’s home race dreams come true with victory in the Fanatec GT2 European Series’ first ever outing at the Red Bull Ring. The Slovakian driving duo kept their cool amid a dramatic and incident-packed first 50-minute race of the weekend to take a comfortable win in front of the team’s home crowd in Austria.
The pole-sitting #16 crew took command after the pitstop window, overtaking the #88 LP Racing Audi which had jumped to the order following confusion under the safety car required after an opening lap incident. After a stellar opening stint by Sladecka, who only joined the team this weekend to stand in for Sehdi Sarmini, Rosina continued unchallenged to take his first win since Spa last year.
In the Am battle, Henry Hassid spoiled KTM’s intensions of a 1-2 finish on home soil. The Frenchman managed to overhaul class polesitter Klaus Angerhofer heading into the final 10 minutes to take LP Racing’s second class win of the season.
Peter Guelinckx and Bert Longin finished third after steadily climbing the order from ninth on the grid, maintaining their 100 per cent podium record so far this season.
The Fanatec GT2 European Series’ first race in Austria was a dramatic one, with thrills and spills from the start. Although the grid initially got clean away, contact in the mid-field heading up to turn one caused a domino effect which pitched Aurelijus Rusteika’s High Class Racing Audi into the barriers and brought a premature end to Kris Rosenberger’s home race in the #15 KTM.
Whilst the safety car led the field through the pit lane to allow the track to be cleared, confusion for the #88 car meant Diego Alessi continued on track, leaving the LP Racing Audi in the lead when racing resumed 10-minutes later. A stop-go penalty would later rectify the order after the pitstops, reinstating KTM to the top spot.
In the meantime, the battle raged in the mid pack, Gianluca Giorgi making gains from his seventh-place grid start to overhaul Angerhofer for the Am class lead and third overall. Not far behind, things got a bit too close for the SPS Automotive Performance Mercedes-AMG GT Track Series invitational entry with Stephane Ratel and Nicolas Saelens’s PK Carsport Audi making contact in turn five just ahead of the pitstop window.
Once the pitstops played out, the real racing order was established, with Rosina – now in the lead KTM able to make good his escape – but the order was far from set behind him. Although a well-timed late pitstop returned the #17 KTM to second spot, Hubert Trunkenpolz came under growing pressure from the four-car train of Hassid, Anders Fjordbach in the Brabham BT63 GT2, Giorgi’s Porsche and Bert Longin’s Audi.
The final 15-minutes of the race was almost as intense as the start, with Hassid making his move stick to regain the Am lead, and the pursuing pack followed suit demoting Trunkenpolz to sixth. But with the Brabham still to serve a penalty that would drop the #1 car down to finish ninth, the fight for third between Giorgi and Longin Sr went down to the wire – a late-breaking move into turn four eventually securing the spot for PK Carsport.
Series newcomers, Horst Felbermayr Jr and Reinhard Kofler opened their Fanatec GT2 European Series account with third in Pro-Am, pipping the EbiMotors Porsche for fourth overall, whilst Trunkenpolz held onto sixth to complete the Am-class podium.
Leonardo Gorini finished seventh in the LP Racing Porsche ahead of the recovering #88 Audi, with Bernd Schneider bringing the Mercedes home tenth overall.
LP Racing & PK Carsport Audis come out on top of second Red Bull Ring thriller
Elia Erhart clinched his first Fanatec GT2 European Series outright and Am class win in Sunday’s second race at the Red Bull Ring, overcoming an additional 30 seconds in the pits to take the top step of the podium in Austria.
The #18 LP Racing Audi had to serve the additional time during the pit window as team-mate Michael Doppelmayr was unable to compete due to unforeseen circumstances on Sunday. Driving solo, Erhart delivered a stellar drive to negate the deficit, moving his way up the order from fourth after the pitstops to take Nicolas Saelens for the lead on the penultimate lap of the 50-minute encounter.
Although usurped to the outright lead in the closing stages, the #11 PK Carsport crew of Saelens and Stienes Longin can be more than satisfied with a hard-earned second Pro-Am win of the season, having started from 10th on the grid and suffered a non-finish in race one on Saturday.
Five-way fight for second race spoils in Austria
The second Fanatec GT2 European Series outing of the weekend in Austria served up one of the closest contests so far in the championship’s short history. Once again, the Austrian True Racing by Reiter Engineering #16 KTM took up pole position for the race two start but the home team immediately came under pressure as the field roared up and into turn one.
Although holding the lead for the first four laps, Rosina could do little to keep the sister #14 KTM and Brabham BT63 GT2 at bay around the 4.318km circuit. A superb move up the inside earned Reinhard Kofler the lead on lap five and Anders Fjordbach duly followed suit.
Rosina was consequently pushed back to third and into the clutches of Erhart’s Am-leading LP Racing Audi, whilst DTM legend Bernd Schneider was on a blistering charge from the back of the grid in the Mercedes-AMG GT Track Series invitational car to take both and place second as the pitstop window opened.
Although the Brabham got the jump in the pits, a drive-through penalty put the #14 KTM back in front with Horst Felbermayr Jr. With the #16 KTM and Gianluca Giorgi’s Ebi Motors Porsche both falling a fraction short on pitstops and having to serve drive-throughs, the PK Carsport machine moved up to second following a strong opening stint by Stienes Longin to bring the Audi up from 10th on the grid.
Giorgi’s drive-through duly promoted Erhart back into the Am-class lead and onto the rear bumper of the High Class Racing Audi, leaving the Italian to snatch second from Aurelijus Rusteika with just over six minutes remaining.
An intense final five minutes saw Saelens slash the KTM’s advantage before pulling off a pass for the lead, only for Erhart to follow and pile on the pressure. A brilliant move into turn one on the penultimate tour secured the German driver’s maiden outright and Am class win.
Saelens retained second overall, claiming a second Pro-Am win of the season in the process, ahead of the two True Racing KTM’s of Felbermayr Jr and Hubert Trunkenpolz. Yesterday’s Am winner, Henry Hassid had another good run to finish fifth overall and second in class ahead of the PK Carsport Audi of Bert Longin and Peter Guelinckx. Yesterday’s outright winners, Stefan Rosina and Filip Sladecka finished seventh.
Stéphane Ratel brought the SPS Mercedes-AMG home an impressive eighth overall, with Giorgi ninth and the #88 Audi completing the top 10. Pro-Am leaders heading into round two, the High Class crew had to settle for P11 ahead of Gorini’s LP Racing Porsche and the Brabham, which suffered a puncture in the closing stages.
The Fanatec GT2 European Series continues with round three at Misano, Italy, 2-3 July.
