Lamborghini secured its first victory of the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup season as GRT – Grasser Racing Team’s Luca Engstler and Jordan Pepper struck late following a full course yellow period in the opening race of the weekend at Magny-Cours in France.
The Factory Driver duo of the #63 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 led for the majority of the one-hour race and, despite dropping to second place after the mandatory pit-stop, comfortably took victory by just over a second, Lamborghini’s first in the Sprint Cup since 2021. Pepper and Engstler then capped off a superb weekend by taking a fighting second in race two, just 0.156s off the win.
Following a frustrating round on home soil in Misano that left Pepper and Engstler sitting sixth in the Sprint Cup standings, Lamborghini entered the penultimate round of the season in France with a point to prove. The weekend began positively as the #63 topped opening practice, before Engstler again demonstrated the outright pace of the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 by setting the second fastest time in qualifying. However, due to a track limits penalty for the Bronze Cup Ferrari, the #63 was promoted to pole position for race one, held in the evening under the lights.
With the inside line for turn one, Engstler got a strong getaway off the rolling start to maintain his lead as the field negotiated the opening lap. An early safety car period, following a multi-car incident at the Adelaide hairpin which significantly delayed the #78 Barwell Motorsport Huracán of Lamborghini GT3 Junior Driver Hugo Cook, extinguished Engstler’s lead and bunched the pack up once again on the second lap.
Engstler kept his cool at the restart and continued to lead the chasing #92 Porsche until the start of the mandatory pit-stop window, eking out a margin of just over two seconds before coming in to swap with Pepper. Unfortunately, a delay with the front-left wheel cost the #63 valuable time and the lead of the race.
Despite this, the #63 with Pepper at the wheel stayed in touch and nearly got ahead as the two cars went side by side at the Imola chicane. Pepper remained under a second behind the Porsche by the time a full course yellow interrupted the race a second time. Ever vigilant, Pepper made a decisive move at the end of the FCY period, pouncing on the Porsche with 12 minutes remaining to seize the lead once more. From there, the South African stretched his legs and established a slender but comfortable gap, eventually coming home to record Lamborghini’s first GTWC Europe Sprint Cup victory since Zandvoort in 2021 by 1.243s at the flag.
Pepper started race two in the daylight of Sunday afternoon from second on the grid and maintained his position throughout the opening stint before handing over to Engstler at the mandatory pit-stop. The latter kept the pressure on the race-leading McLaren and nearly took the lead at the Nürburgring chicane before a late FCY intervention. Engstler had better pace in the final sector and got alongside the McLaren at the finish, ultimately coming up just 0.156s short of victory. Despite missing out on a double triumph, the Grasser Racing Team crew moved up to fifth in the Sprint Cup standings and boosted their overall GTWC title aspirations heading into the final round of the season at Valencia in September. Elsewhere in the Pro class, the #78 Barwell Huracán of Cook and Lamborghini Factory Driver Sandy Mitchell enjoyed better fortunes in race two, finishing inside the top 10 in seventh.
In the Bronze Cup class, there was also cause for celebration as Lamborghini Factory Driver Loris Spinelli and team-mate Dmitry Gvazava claimed their first podium finish of the year in the #85 Imperiale Racing Huracán GT3 EVO2. The pair produced a solid performance all race, taking third place at the finish and then backed up that with a repeat third place in race two.
QUOTES
Jordan Pepper: “We had an unfortunate issue with the left front [at the pit-stop] but these things happen. We knew we had a strong car in the early stages, so I tried to capitalise on the out-lap against [the Porsche]; we had a touch and he pushed me off a bit, but it was hard racing, and I knew that if I got another opportunity, I was going to grab it with both hands and that restart was perfect. It was an awesome overtake, I risked everything and then pushed until the end.”
