Grasser regular Christian Engelhart will also be out of the DTM at the Nürburgring following his knee operation: Why he is following in Auer’s footsteps and who is replacing him
Grasser Lamborghini driver Christian Engelhart will now also miss the upcoming DTM weekend at the Nürburgring after undergoing knee surgery at the Norisring at the end of June. Although the healing process is making progress, the 37-year-old is not yet ready to return to the cockpit
“I’m currently working hard every day to get back in the car as quickly as possible,” “I’m also getting better every day. It’s a process. Lamborghini, Gottfried Grasser and I will decide together when the time is right to get back in the car.”
As confirmed by the Grasser team, Lamborghini works driver Franck Perera, who even finished on the podium on his DTM comeback in Nuremberg and will now take on DTM honors for the second time this season, is once again available as a replacement
Engelhart, who injured his knee in the winter, is currently commuting between his home in Starnberg and the rehab he is undergoing in Austria. “I’m at the same rehab center where Luggi Auer was last year after his Daytona crash,” he reveals.
This is the sports physiotherapy center run by Stefan Mair and Claudio Huber in Neu-Rum near Innsbruck, where the Mercedes-AMG works driver regained his fitness in just three months last year following his vertebral fractures – and was back in the Winward Mercedes at the DTM season opener in Oschersleben.
“It’s a healing process that needs to be accompanied, but you can also do a lot yourself,” says Engelhart, who is now back in training.
After the Nürburgring weekend, there will be a two-and-a-half-week break before the DTM continues at the Sachsenring from September 6 to 8. That would be the next opportunity for Engelhart to make his comeback in the Grasser Lamborghini.
