Challenging Season Opener

Twice finishing in the top ten of the class standings: for Christian Engelhart, the season opener of the GT World Challenge was all about damage limitation. At the race weekend in Zandvoort, the driver from Starnberg launched a new project together with Georgi Donchev, with the duo competing in the sprint championship in a Lamborghini run by the Grasser Racing Team.

Just a week earlier, Christian had been racing on the Nürburgring Nordschleife in the NLS series with ABT SPORTSLINE and teammates Mirko Bortolotti and Luca Engstler.

In the GT World Challenge, the experienced GT3 driver brings his wealth of experience from DTM, GTWC, and GT Masters to support his teammate in becoming competitive quickly in the new environment. “Georgi and I have known each other for a long time and from other racing series. Now to be racing together for success and growing step by step into a team with GRT Grasser is an exciting challenge.”

The duo was able to make a strong statement right from their first joint outing on the Dutch dune circuit of Zandvoort. Friday’s practice sessions went very positively before a few challenges emerged over the course of the weekend. “It was a first weekend full of new experiences—definitely turbulent and eventful. Despite a foot injury, Georgi fought bravely through the races and showed great pace given the circumstances.”

Now, Christian and Georgi will conduct an in-depth analysis of the season opener to “come back stronger in Misano and take the next step.” The next race weekend in the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup will take place from July 18 to 20 at the Misano World Circuit in Italy.

There’s no break for Christian, though. As a Lamborghini works driver, the season highlight—the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring—is fast approaching. He’ll be back behind the wheel of the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo for Team ABT this coming weekend, using two 4-hour races as preparation.

“The recent NLS3 weekend was a solid preparation for the upcoming 24-hour race. We focused on finding a good setup for the car. It was my first outing with the new team. Our Lamborghini was perfectly prepared, and the collaboration was highly professional.”

Spending time in the new environment is crucial for preparing for the endurance classic. At the same time, Christian is also focusing on physical preparation with an intensive training program. “Together with my teammates and the entire crew, we want to be able to extract the maximum when it counts.”

Accordingly, the work continues at the upcoming race weekend, building on the insights gained and meticulously preparing the car. “This weekend, we head into the qualifiers. The weather forecast looks good for the Eifel, which is always an important factor. I’m really looking forward to it—especially since the big race is just around the corner.”