Lamborghini tour de force in ADAC GT Masters at Red Bull Ring

• Zaugg and Bortolotti secure maiden victory for new Lamborghini Huracán
• Home win for Knittelfeld-based Grasser Racing at Red Bull Ring
• Nissan duo Jöst and Scholze pick up Gentlemen trophy

Spielberg (Austria): Lamborghini put the rest of ADAC GT Masters field in the shade at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. Adrian Zaugg (28) from South Africa and Mirko Bortolotti (25) from Trentino in northern Italy steered the new Lamborghini Huracán to a maiden race win on Sunday. Success was particularly sweet for the Grasser Racing team, who are based in nearby Knittelfeld, because this was the first time they have won their home race at the Red Bull Ring. It was a one-two victory for Lamborghini, with the new Gallardo R-EX driven by Saturday’s winners David Russell (33, AUS) and Tomas Enge (38, CZ) and entered by Reiter Engineering finishing second. Because the victorious Huracán was competing in a guest role and therefore not eligible for points, Russell and Enge go home with a maximum yield of 50 points from their outright win on Saturday and second place today. The Austrian pairing of Philip Eng (24) and local favourite Klaus Bachler (23) in a GW IT Racing Team Schütz Motorsport Porsche 911 claimed the third podium spot. “This is the fourth successive year we have been trying to win our home race in the ADAC GT Masters, and now the dream has come true,” beamed Team Principal Gottfried Grasser. “This ADAC GT Masters weekend has given us so much fun, I hope we can come back again this year.”

Corvette fast but unlucky

Held in scorching temperatures of 30°C, Sunday’s race on the circuit near Spielberg in the southeast of Austria turned on a thrilling battle between Corvette and Lamborghini. Daniel Keilwitz (25) in the Callaway Competition Corvette pulled ahead of pole-sitter Enge in the Lamborghini on the entry to Turn 2 and took a first stint lead. Enge then had to let Bortolotti through in an internal duel with the other Lamborghini. The Italian, who now lives in Vienna, immediately put race leader Keilwitz under pressure and reduced the gap to two seconds. After the driver change, Andreas Wirth (30) and Zaugg continued the duel for the lead throughout the second half of the race. The luminous green Lamborghini increased the pressure on the Corvette and eventually seized the lead five laps before the end when Wirth was forced to pit with strong vibration on the rear axle, thereby losing all chance not only of victory but even a points finish. This cleared the way for a Lamborghini one-two of Huracán followed home by Gallardo.

“I don’t know exactly what happened to the Corvette,” said Adrian Zaugg. “I could see that he had a problem two corners before I overtook him, so I made the most of the chance. This was the first victory for the new Huracán in a sprint race. Lamborghini can be very proud. I’m particularly pleased that we were able to give the Grasser team a victory in their home race."

"We pushed really hard and got everything we could out of the car, as I’m sure you all saw," added Mirko Bortolotti. "The key to our win was getting past Enge’s Lamborghini with a good overtaking manoeuvre, after which I was able to put the leading Corvette under pressure. We were constantly getting a bit faster than the Corvette, and Adrian then put in a great stint to clinch the victory. I am delighted for Lamborghini and the fans; we’ve generated a fabulous atmosphere here and delivered a great race.”

Local favourite Bachler in Porsche finishes in Top Three

The Austrian duo of Eng and Bachler drove a tidy race in their Porsche to claim the remaining podium spot. Meanwhile, fourth-placed Sebastian Asch (29) and Luca Ludwig (26) in their Zakspeed Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 managed to successfully hang on to the championship lead which they had secured in Saturday’s race. Luca Stolz (19) and Dutchman Jeroen Bleekemolen (33) in the Bentley Continental entered by Bentley Team HTP made a magnificent charge up field from P12 on the grid to cross the line in fifth position.

After suffering bad luck in the first race on Saturday, Dominic Jöst (36) and Florian Scholze (42) in their MRS GT-Racing Nissan GT-Rs had a trouble-free outing, finishing in sixth place. This was not only the best result so far for Nissan in the ADAC GT Masters but also earned them a winner’s trophy in the Gentlemen category. Second in the class and seventh overall was Remo Lips (32) in an RWT Racing Team Corvette, ably abetted by Sven Barth (34).

Clemens Schmid (24) and Fabian Hamprecht (19) in the second HTP Bentley Continental took the chequered flag in eighth position ahead of Claudia Hürtgen (43) and Uwe Alzen (47) in a BMW Sports Trophy Team Schubert BMW Z4. The best of the Audi R8s was driven by Daniel Dobitsch (30) and Edward Sandström (36) of kfzteile24 MS RACING who filled the final points-scoring position after incurring a time penalty for an infringement at the start.

Result: Race 2

1. Adrian Zaugg / Mirko Bortolotti (Grasser Racing, Lamborghini Huracán GT3), 38 laps
2. David Russell / Tomas Enge (Reiter Engineering, Lamborghini Gallardo R-EX), +2.997 sec
3. Philipp Eng / Klaus Bachler (GW IT Racing Team Schütz Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R), +9.648 sec
4. Sebastian Asch / Luca Ludwig (Team Zakspeed, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3), +12.981 sec
5. Luca Stolz / Jeroen Bleekemolen (Bentley Team HTP, Bentley Continental GT3), +13.645 sec
6. Dominic Jöst / Florian Scholze (MRS GT-Racing, Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3), +14.361 sec