The Lamborghini Team Grasser played poker their way to two podium finishes at the Norisring: Why rain tires were not an issue and Engstler was already thinking of giving up
The Grasser team was the big winner of the weather poker game at the Norisring: The Lamborghini squad opted not to change to wet weather tires for both drivers after the mandatory stop – and Franck Perera and Luca Engstler took second and third place (race report). “I didn’t understand why the others switched to rain tires,” said Gottfried Grasser after the race. But why was he so sure of himself?
The key was in the side box at Paul Motorsport, because Maximilian Paul had already gambled on rain tires during the mandatory stop. “We were always watching him and saw that he wasn’t going any faster than us, even when it was really raining.”
“13, 14 laps before the end, when everyone was changing, we were half a second slower than Paul. Then I thought to myself: We are 35 seconds ahead. I still have 14 laps to go. So I can lose at least two and a half seconds per lap without having to worry. So I said: No change!”
“There was complete silence on the radio “
That was the right decision, because the track was only wet in the Grundig hairpin bend. The rest of the track dried out quickly due to the high temperatures of almost 30 degrees – and only Rene Rast was on slicks like the Grasser drivers.
While the Schubert BMW driver himself overruled his team’s instruction to switch to wet weather tires, the Grasser radio was remarkably quiet despite the difficult conditions.
“There was complete silence on the radio,” confirmed Engstler to ran.de. “We didn’t speak at all. It was clear from both sides that we would stay out because we were nowhere – either you jump or you turn off. “
Why Engstler thought about giving up
Before that, it was even an issue to park the Lamborghini. “I had contact in the first corner, so the brake cooling was gone,” says the youngster, who started from 15th on the grid after a botched qualifying session. “I was last there. But something told me to keep going. “
He could have “saved tires, but since people had been talking about the rain all day, I thought: Let’s keep going, make sure the car stays in one piece and save the tires. Then came the stop and it started to drizzle slightly. That’s when we knew: We have to do the opposite of the others and make sure we survive. “
How Engstler learned that the podium was possible
Why Grasser didn’t give any big instructions either? “I’m not a fan of taking a driver out of rhythm,” says the team boss. “And the rhythm was damn good when the rain started.”
The Austrian only spoke up once, as Engstler reveals: “He said: ‘So boy, don’t fuck up now. You can finish on the podium. And then I knew, okay, now it’s go-time!” Engstler used his slicks and overtook the two SSR Lamborghini drivers and the two van der Linde brothers shortly before the end. “They were on rain tires and had no chance of defending themselves,” says Engstler.
Perera was inspired by Rast – victory even possible?
Perera wasn’t exactly in a top position before the poker race either with tenth place. The Frenchman was inspired by Rast. I wasn’t sure, but the team asked me to stay out,” he says. “When I saw a few cars on rain tires, they weren’t that much faster than us. I tried to believe that it was possible.”
He also noticed that Norisring specialist Rast did not pick up rain tires either. “I saw that he stayed out – and because of his experience, I found it interesting to follow. Besides, the ‘Lambo’ is a good car in these conditions.”
In the end, he could even dream of a second DTM victory, as Perera came ever closer to the Schubert-BMW driver and was only 2.272 seconds behind at the finish. “The race could have lasted a few laps longer,” grinned Grasser. “But not much longer, because of the rain. “
