Grasser Confirms Blancpain GT, GT Masters Programs

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

Grasser Racing Team has confirmed its European program, running Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evos in the Blancpain GT Series and ADAC GT Masters.

The Austrian operation has been planning a downsize of its European entries for some time, partly because of its new IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup program in North America.

Team principal Gottfried Grasser revealed to Sportscar365 in January that he planned to run three cars in GT Masters, two in the Blancpain GT Endurance Cup, and either one or two in Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe.

It comes as FFF Racing Team, which is co-owned by long-time Grasser driver Andrea Caldarelli, adds a European GT3 program with Lamborghini factory support for the upcoming season.

Mirko Bortolotti and Christian Engelhart will again spearhead Grasser’s Blancpain GT program, sharing the Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe entry.

The same pair, along with Rolf Ineichen, have also been confirmed as part of its two-car Endurance Cup program, while the other three drivers will be revealed at a later date.

While not yet revealing exact driver pairings, Grasser has confirmed that Bortolotti, Engelhart, Ineichen, Marco Mapelli, Franck Perera and Michele Beretta will drive its three cars in ADAC GT Masters.

The trio of Bortolotti, Engelhart and Ineichen will also complete the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup season after winning the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

“I’m pleased to see our program for 2019 taking shape,” commented Gottfried Grasser.

“With the Lamborghini SQ, we can field works cars with high-caliber drivers in each series, so I’m looking forward to the upcoming season.

“Despite our mega success with a win in the 24 Hours of Daytona, we embarked on an intensive programme of testing with the new GT3 Evo early this February and I’m really looking forward to the season with the new car which showed great potential right from the very first tests.”

Jake Kilshaw

Jake Kilshaw is a UK-based journalist. He is a graduate of Politics and International Relations.