Caldarelli, Bortolotti Lead GRT Lamborghini Sweep in Race 2

Andrea Caldarelli and Mirko Bortolotti led a Grasser Racing Team 1-2 at Oschersleben for the second round of the ADAC GT Masters series on Sunday afternoon.

Bortolotti held off pole-sitter Rolf Ineichen in the sister Grasser Lamborghini Huracan GT3 during a one-lap sprint to the flag after a late-race safety car.

Contact between the two Mercedes AMG-GT3 entries from HTP Motorsport and Zakspeed resulted in the latter spinning into the gravel with five minutes of the hour-long contest remaining.

That left Bortolotti with the task of keeping Ineichen behind to claim a 1.8-second victory and make up for the Grasser squad’s triple disqualification from Race 1.

A technical irregularity found at post-race scrutineering on all three Lamborghinis meant Caldarelli and Bortolotti’s second place on Saturday was rescinded.

The Grasser squad dominated at the start of Race 2 as Ineichen’s team-mate Christian Engelhart led Caldarelli off the line.

The order remained static through to the mid-race driver swaps, despite an early safety car intervention that was called after Kelvin van der Linde spun his Land Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT3 into retirement.

After the changes, Bortolotti quickly closed in on Ineichen and moved into the lead with a smart overtake on the inside at the Turn 3 left-hander.

Luca Ludwig and Dominik Schwager completed the podium in their Ferrari 488 GT3 entered by HB Racing, while Robert Renauer and Mathieu Jaminet finished fourth in the Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Ludwig started sixth but moved up to fourth after getting past the pair of Mercedes driven by Markus Pommer and Lance David Arnold.

The Ferrari then progressed into the top three when Jake Dennis experienced problems in his Phoenix Racing Audi.

The sister Phoenix Audi of race one winners Philip Ellis and Max Hofer retired with a mechanical issue 20 minutes from the end.

RESULTS: Race 2