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Misano Adriatico

GTWC: Italy's hot foretaste of summer break

Misano Adriatico, 07-03-2022

Intense weeks, contested duels, demanding moments and the place at the top of the championship - with a packed suitcase of experiences from the first half of the motorsport season Christian Engelhart says goodbye to his summer break. But the break will be a short one.

Almost 40 degrees air temperature and 65 degrees on the asphalt surface - the peak values determined the Misano race weekend in the GT World Challenge at the end of the half of the season so far. Together with Adrien de Leener and Dinamic Motorsport, Christian suffered a mixed race weekend with no points to be scored this time.

"That happens in motorsport. Luck was not on our side this time - but things will already look better again at the next race," said the driver from Starnberg, summing up the weekend on the Italian Adriatic coast.

But first it's time for a summer break for Christian - and time to recharge the batteries and relax from the intense weeks in the recent past. And these have been quite successful. In the ADAC GT Masters, he and his teammate Ayhancan Güven are leading the championship, level on points with their direct rivals. In addition, his team Joos Sportwagentechnik celebrated its first podium at the Red Bull Ring.

"We can be satisfied with the development in the first part of this season. However, this is by no means a reason to let up or even sit back. It's going to be a challenging second round and we want to contest it as successfully as we can - and have something countable in our hands at the end."

Next opportunity: At the beginning of August at the Nürburgring. And that also shows, the break for the Porsche driver is not that long. "It's actually a breather, but not a time for long recovery. But that's good, because on the one hand it keeps me in the training rhythm. On the other hand, we also keep the tension and concentration at a good level in the team and are right back in attack mode for the restart."

So the anticipation is already palpable - especially since the traditional circuit in the Eifel is also another highlight in terms of the track. "Definitely. After all, I was already here this year at the almost sold-out 24-hour race and it was gigantic in terms of atmosphere. When we now host the GT Masters again, it's also simply a nice opportunity for my partners and sponsors to be close to the racing action - and thus to be able to give something back to them. Without these strong partners, our successful first half of the season would not be possible - and for that I can only say thank you."