The Engstler team switches from Audi to Lamborghini during the GTWCE season: How it came about and what role Gottfried Grasser plays in it
Surprising change of manufacturer for Luca Engstler and his Engstler team in the GT World Challenge Europe (GTWCE): The 24-year-old will no longer be in the Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II at the third event of the GTWCE sprint series at Hockenheim next weekend, but in the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2, as in the DTM
What’s this all about? “Our desire is always to perform. That’s not to say that the Audi isn’t performant, but it helps the whole project if you’re in the same car every weekend.”
“I want to create a construct that allows me to work with the same package as much as possible. So I would like to thank Gottfried for making this possible for me,” says the youngster. What the GTWCE project has to do with Gottfried Grasser?
Engstler to Gottfried Grasser: “I need your help “
Engstler’s DTM team boss has agreed to support the team led by Engstler and his Austrian team partner Max Hofer, which officially competes in the GTWCE sprint series under the name Liqui Moly Team Engstler by OneGroup, with his Lamborghini expertise in the remaining three races of the season.
“As the first two races weren’t entirely successful and things are going so well on the other side, I sat down with Gottfried and said: ‘Watch out, I need your help. Let’s do something about it. It will help the DTM project, it will help me, it will help the company,'” says Engstler, explaining the background. “Gottfried immediately had an open ear and said yes without batting an eyelid.”
Engstler and Hofer did not finish higher than seventh in the Audi at Brands Hatch on the first two GTWCE Sprint weekends, while the Lamborghini youngster has already clinched a victory and a third place in the DTM with the Grasser team
Why the DTM project should benefit
He hopes that the fact that he no longer has to switch between two cars will also have a positive impact on the DTM project with the Grasser team. So far, it has become clear that Engstler is getting better and better with the Lamborghini, which he is still not very familiar with, as the weekend progresses
Additional driving time should therefore be an advantage. “That’s the be-all and end-all,” Engstler is convinced. “You can see that with the top guys: Mirko Bortolotti sits in a ‘Lambo’ like this every week. That helps him for the DTM project, that helps him with the other projects. And that’s basically my wish for next year: to be on the road somewhere in the world with the same package as much as possible.”
Incidentally, the car that Engstler and Hofer will be driving next weekend in Hockenheim is Engstler’s DTM Lamborghini, which will also be seen in a similar livery. Despite the Grasser support, the Engstler team in the GTWCE will continue to be supported by the British engineering team led by ex-Red Bull race engineer Ron Hartvelt, who worked with Christian Klien in Formula 1, among others.
