.jpg) | |
| Founded | 2011 |
|---|---|
| Base | Sankt Margarethen bei Knittelfeld,Styria |
| Teamprincipal(s) | Gottfried Grasser |
| Current series | Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters GT World Challenge Europe ADAC GT Masters |
| Former series | DMV GTC Euro GT Series IMSA SportsCar Championship 24H Series |
| Current drivers |  Luca EngstlerChristian Engelhart Hugo Cook Mateo Llarena Haytham QarajouliMarco Mapelli Franck Perera Taylor Hagler Jannik Julius-Bernhart Benjamín Hites Tim Zimmermann |
| Teams' Championships | Blancpain GT Series(2017) |
| Drivers' Championships | Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup(2017) Blancpain GT Series(2017) |
| Website | http://www.grasser-racing.com/ |
Gottfried GrasserGmbH racing asGRT Grasser Racing Team is an Austrian racing team. The team, based only 10 kilometers away from theRed Bull Ring, has raced in variousGroup GT3 based racing series with support fromLamborghini since 2015, includingDTM,ADAC GT Masters, GT World Challenge Europe or the GTD category of theIMSA SportsCar Championship.
Team founderIng.Gottfried Armin Grasser (born 8 December 1978 inLeoben,Styria) startedkarting in 1997.[1] Grasser raced inFormula König in 1999 and 2000. He finished third in the rookie standings in 1999.[1] In2001 and2002 Grasser joinedTeam Ghinzani in theirGerman F3 campaign.[2] The Austrian also tested theirFormula 3000 car, as well asMinardi's car. After taking over his parentsMazda dealership, he retired from single seater racing.[3]
In 2004 Gottfried Grasser started the development of the Grasser-Ultima GTR. TheUltima GTR was introduced in 1999 byUltima Sports.[4] The car was raced in various championships such as the2002 24 Hours of Daytona. After building thekit car Grasser tested it at thePannonia Ring to conclude that the whole car had to be modified to compete in motorsports.[5] With support from tire manufacturerYokohama. The car was fitted with crashboxes, a flat bottom anddiffuser. The car was fitted with aPorsche engine that was redeveloped byRichmond Racing Engines.[5]
After the end of theEuro GT Series after the 2006 season, the team sought another championship to enter the Ultima such as theSpezial Tourenwagen Trophy (STT) and theDivinol Cup.[6] Grasser raced the car for the first time in the STT at the Jim Clark Revival at theHockenheimring.
Peter Ebner joined Grasser in the2011 ADAC GT Masters. The team entered aDodge Viper Competition Coupe in theNürburgring andRed BUll Ring rounds.[7] After the team failed to start the races at both rounds, the team ended their 2011 season. For 2012 the team bought aLamborghini Gallardo LP520 from the NK Racing Team which contested the car in the 2011 season.[8] Teamowner Gottfried Grasser was joined byMario Dablander in the first round andTomáš Enge in the second round. After two disappointing rounds with only one top twenty finish, the team switched to the newer Gallardo LP600+ model, developed byReiter Engineering. Luxembourgian driverDaniel Bohr joined the teamowner/driver at the fourth round of the series at the Nürburgring.[9] The team struggled with their new car in heavy rain. In the first race the duo started 34th and finished in 26th place. For the second race, Bohr spun at the Kurzanbindung section finishing in 35th place.[10] Bohr was replaced by2012 24 Hours of Spa winnerAndrea Piccini for the Red Bull Ring round.[11] After a retirement in the first race, the team finished twentieth in the second race. For theLausitzring round Piccini was replaced byCarsten Seifert. The team again failed to score points with a retirement and a 24th place. Grasser Racing Team did not start the final two rounds of the championship.
For 2013 Grasser Racing Team expanded their efforts with a fullBlancpain Sprint Series campaign and partialBlancpain Endurance Series and ADAC GT Masters campaigns.Hari Proczyk andDominik Baumann were successful in the Pro-Am category of the Blancpain Sprint Series. After five consecutive third place class finishes, the team won the sixth race in class. The Grasser Racing Team finished fifth overall, taking their first class victory.[12] Proczyk, partnered withGerhard Tweraser for theNavarra round as Baumann had other obligations in the ADAC GT Masters. Twerasser and Baumann finished third overall, first in class at the Spanish track.[13] Baumann returned for the season finale atBaku. Proczyk was still in the race for the Pro-Am championship. Title competitorsSergey Afanasyev andAndreas Simonsen qualified first in class, while Proczyk and Baumann qualified third on the street circuit.[14] A crash for Proczyk mid-race caused Simonsen and Afanasyev to secure their title.[15] Proczyk and Baumann won the second race in Baku ending their season on a high note.[16] Proczyk finished second in the Pro-Am standings, as Baumann missed two races he finished third.
The Grasser Racing Team also entered the first three races of the Blancpain Endurance Series. Owner/driver Gottfried Grasser was joined by Proczyk and Tweraser. At the season opener atMonza, the team encountered vibrations caused by a damaged splitter. Due to lengthy vibrations the team chose to retire the car.[17] Finally, the team entered two cars in the Red Bull Ring round of the 2013 ADAC GT Masters. Former F3000 driverBernhard Auinger made a short comeback into motorsports. Auinger started the car shared with teamowner Grasser. Auinger made contact with a Porsche in the Rauch bend. The duo finished third in the gentleman driver standings. The second car with Proczyk and Twerasser did not finish.[18]
In 2014 the team focused on the Blancpain Sprint Series with a strong line-up. Car 27 was rotated between Enge,Sascha Halek,Stefan Landmann andTomas Pivoda. Car 28 was raced by Proczyk joined byJeroen Bleekemolen.[19] Bleekemolen scored the team's first pole position atNogaro.[20] Bleekemolen, with less experience at Nogaro then his competition, lost the lead of the first race at the start in very wet conditions. After the driver change Proczyk made contact with Audi driverEnzo Ide which ended with Proczyk in the gravel trap.[21] The Bleekemolen/Proczyk duo was dominating in the second round winning both the first and second races.[22][23] Bleekemolen put the Lamborghini on pole at his home race atCircuit Zandvoort.[24] The Dutch driver won the first race in wet conditions, finishing fifth in the second race.[25][26] The successful duo won a fourth race atPortimao. Bleekemolen defended a strong start to lead from start to finish.[27] Proczyk and Bleekemolen finished third in the drivers championship. In the second car, Sascha Halek and Stefan Landmann finished second in the Pro-Am Trophy.
From 2015 on the Grasser Racing Team entered the newLamborghini Huracán GT3 with factory backing. The team straight away took a memorable home victory for Lamborghini at Monza in the Blancpain Endurance Series. Over the following years the team would rack up several wins in the Blancpain endurance and sprint cups. In 2017 the Grasser Racing Team won the Overall Drivers' titles in both theBlancpain GT Series andBlancpain GT Series Endurance Cup as well as the Teams' championship in theBlancpain GT Series.
On the 28th of January 2018 GRT won the24 Hours of Daytona in the GTD class, the opening race of the2018 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, with driversMirko Bortolotti, Rik Breukers, Rolf Ineichen andFranck Perera, a feat they repeated one year later by winning the2019 24 Hours of Daytona. Less than two months later they won the2019 12 Hours of Sebring, again in the GTD Class. From 2020 on the team decided to shift its focus on theADAC GT Masters and theWeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
| Year | Car | Drivers | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | D.C. | T.C. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo | Mirko Bortolotti | 16 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 121 | 4th | 9th |
 Rolf Ineichen | 14 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 27th | |||
| Franck Perera | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34th | |||
 Clemens Schmid | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 22nd | 16th | ||
| Alessio Deledda | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 26th | |||
| 2023 | Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2 | Christian Engelhart† | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 54 | 17th | 12th |
| Clemens Schmid | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 19th | |||
| Maximilian Paul | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 28 | 21st | |||
| Andrea Caldarelli | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31st | |||
| Mick Wishofer | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33rd | |||
| 2024 | Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2 | Luca Engstler | 16 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 92 | 14th | 8th |
| Franck Perera | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 39 | 17th | |||
| Christian Engelhart | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 20th | |||
 Jordan Pepper | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 22nd |
† Engelhart drove forToksport WRT until round 4.
