Chritian Engelhart with double podium in Zandvoort

Christian Engelhart, his teammate Mirko Bortolotti and the GRT Grasser Racing Team finished second in both races at Zandvoort in the Netherlands. The team therefore captured the largest points haul of all drivers over the weekend – a resounding success. Whereas the first race was more of a battle to defend their position, Christian and his team turned the tables in the second to fight their way up from fifth and into second.

After Brands Hatch and Misano, Christian lined up on the course in the dunes by the North Sea coast for the third race of the season in the Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe. The car with the start number 63 had a very good springboard after the qualifying: starting positions 2 and 5 on the grid on a drying track.

A three-way battle for second place soon ensued in the first race and, after the pit stop, continued right to the checkered flag. Christian summoned up all his ability and kept the upper hand.

The shoe was on the other foot in the Sunday race, as Christian exerted huge pressure on the cars ahead of him right from the start. Once again, the pit stop was decisive. Thanks to Christian’s GRT Team, which produced a brilliant tire change at lightning speed at the right moment, Mirko was able to overtake two cars in the pits, an advantage he later extended to take a comfortable second place and even chase the leader to the very end.

The duo is now within striking distance of the leaders in the championship with four races remaining. So Christian will travel in a positive mood to the next highlight of the season in just under two weeks’ time (July 25 to 28), this time another endurance race: the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.

Christian Engelhart: “The first race was great fun and I’m happy with second spot. We decided in favor of an early pit stop – but unfortunately so did our rivals. At the beginning of my stint I focused on the leaders and closed the gap to them. In the end, I had to keep on defending against attacks from the third-placed team. The situation was reversed on the Sunday and we were able to turn the pressure on throughout the stint. The team deserves big praise – the boys did a super job and improved the car even further. Our second-place finish again on the Sunday is down to our pit crew – I was close, but they managed to produce an outstanding tire change. As a result, Mirko came back on to the track in second.”