Grasser Aiming for Dubai Win in Gen 1 Lamborghini’s Final Race

Grasser Racing Team is aiming to take its first Creventic race win in this weekend’s Hankook 24 Hours of Dubai, in its final race with the first-gen Lamborghini Huracan GT3.

Team owner Gottfried Grasser said it would be “really nice” to end the outgoing Huracan GT3’s career on a high, making the point that his team won at its first race with the car almost four years ago.

Mirko Bortolotti took the car to pole in qualifying on Thursday afternoon, repeating a similar achievement at the same event last year.

“It’s a little bit of a personal thing for me because this is the last race that we run the old Huracan,” Grasser told Sportscar365.

“To close this topic with a nice result would be really nice. The first race we won so it would be nice to win the last race! That’s my personal wish.”

The team’s first win with the Huracan GT3 came in the Blancpain Endurance Series opener at Monza in April 2015, with a car piloted by Fabio Babini, Jeroen Mul and Andrew Palmer.

Grasser has so far only taken delivery of one of its new Huracan GT3 Evos, and with the car stationed at Daytona ahead of the Rolex 24 later this month, it is running the outgoing car for its third attempt at the 24H Dubai.

“We never won a Creventic race, never ever,” he said.

“First of all, you see that it’s a strong championship, especially Dubai which is a very strong race with a lot of famous teams and it’s full of factory drivers and brands. It’s really tough competition.

“It will be so tough, even if you have a competitive car, it’s nothing here. You must have the right strategy, and be on the right spot of the track at the right moment.”

The Austrian team has just one car entered this weekend, driven by Bortolotti, Christian Engelhart, Rolf Ineichen and Mark Ineichen.

Grasser Praises Creventic’s Am-Oriented Approach

Grasser is very positive about the future of the Dubai event, now in its 14th year, and the Creventic organization as a whole, stressing the importance of it safeguarding opportunities for amateur drivers.

“What I like the most in this championship, and what has fallen out of GT3 racing in Europe, is amateurs,” he explained.

“They take really good care of amateurs, and that’s the base of GT3. When you see IMSA, what they’re doing with the lineups and only Pro-Am is allowed, honestly I think this is the right way to go.

“In Blancpain, without a factory car, you cannot dream of wins anymore. In 2015, it was slightly possible still, in 2016 it was quite tough, and since 2017, without full factory driver lineups, it is not possible to run for a title.”

Despite the Am-oriented focus of 24H Series events, Grasser is pleased to see increasing professionalism, and thinks this year’s smaller grid is an improvement.

“I’m happy for the series that it goes this way, and I think there’s a big change compared to last year with the 99 cars to now 60, but I see this change as positive,” he said.

“It’s quite good for the fast cars because lots of slower cars have passed away from the last few years. The quality gets higher and still.”