First victory worldwide for the Lamborghini Temerario GT3 – which confronted heavy criticism at the beginning of the season – in Sunday’s DTM race at Oschersleben! After a powerful second place by Abt Lamborghini driver Luca Engstler on Saturday, Grasser driver Mirko Bortolotti went one higher on Sunday and secured the breakthrough for the automobile. However are the Temerario’s issues solved now?
“I don’t suspect that it’s going to proceed like this,” staff principal Gottfried Grasser says in an interview with Motorsport-Complete.com, remaining skeptical. “Every thing got here collectively at the moment, however I imagine that tracks just like the Sachsenring shall be comparatively troublesome.”
Regardless of the euphoria on the conventional Lamborghini squad, which helped the predecessor Huracan GT3 to its first victory worldwide ten years in the past, Grasser stays life like, stating “that with this single consequence, after all, not all issues are solved.”
“Nonetheless have not discovered all of the solutions”
“We nonetheless have not discovered all of the solutions relating to the efficiency of the automobile. We see that repeatedly in qualifying and in addition on sure race tracks. So there’s nonetheless a whole lot of work forward of us.”
However why did the Temerario GT3 work so nicely in Oschersleben? “Within the first sector with the tight corners, we’re unbeatable,” Grasser explains. “In Sector 3, the place there are regular corners, we’re on the again once more. This reveals the present traits of the automobile. In tight corners with few braking zones, the automobile could be very robust.”
In truth, within the first sector in Oschersleben, which consists of the primary three corners, there isn’t a exhausting braking level. And the brakes stay the most important development web site for the automobile, which, because of a DTM waiver, is used with extra rear-axle downforce and extra enhance stress than permitted by the FIA homologation.
Why the primary sector was tailored for the Lamborghini
“The primary nook shouldn’t be a brutal braking level since you brake gently into that kink. It’s not like Monza, the place you arrive at 250 km/h after which need to brake absolutely,” explains Grasser. Other than that, based on the engineer who helped develop the predecessor mannequin Huracan, the automobile fits sluggish corners, that are plentiful in Oschersleben.
“We additionally noticed that on the Norisring. Braking was a problem there, however within the corners the whole lot was high-quality,” he says, referring to Nurnberg, the place the Grasser staff was within the midfield and Bortolotti completed eighth and eleventh.
Quickest man within the first sector: Luca Engstler showcases the Temerario’s power
Foto: Alexander Trienitz
The Oschersleben knowledge additionally confirms Grasser’s assertion: Abt Lamborghini driver Engstler was absolutely the quickest within the two qualifying classes within the first sector with a 29.833 seconds – even forward of Thomas Preining (29.849), who dominated the weekend within the Manthey Porsche.
In third and fourth place had been HRT drivers Arjun Maini (29.858) and Finn Wiebelhaus (29.909), additionally drivers whose Ford Mustang GT3 Evo shouldn’t be precisely identified for its brakes being a power.
“If we had nailed the primary cease, we’d have led”
“I do not assume we had been the quickest on the market,” Bortolotti additionally says. As an alternative, “the technique in our case was the important thing to success,” because the Italian, who began from sixth place, was the final to pit throughout the first window, which moved him as much as second place.
And this even supposing the tire change, at 9.2 seconds, really went flawed and a couple of.2 seconds had been misplaced to chief Thomas Preining. “If we had nailed the primary one, we’d have led after the primary cease,” Grasser believes. After the cease, Bortolotti was 3.1 seconds behind Preining, however Preining would have needed to get previous Bortolotti first.
Why the overcut labored so nicely for the Lamborghini
“We had been stunned why hardly anybody relied on this technique, as a result of driving lengthy has all the time been good in Oschersleben,” says Grasser. “In our case, we even have a automobile that could be very simple on the tires anyway. And also you get the tire as much as temperature instantly as a result of many corners, and nobody can simply draw back from you. That’s unimaginable on one other observe.”
Mirko Bortolotti pulled away from Maro Engel by a number of seconds after the cease.
Foto: Alexander Trienitz
Earlier than the second cease, Bortolotti put himself in place and lurked straight behind chief Preining to then revenue from the pit cease blunder at Manthey. The Grasser crew dealt with the 2024 DTM champion in 7.3 seconds, making them 2.2 seconds sooner than Manthey this time, which gave Bortolotti the lead and in the end the victory.
“One should emphasize Mirko’s good efficiency,” says Grasser after the primary joint DTM victory along with his long-time companion and pal Bortolotti, who reached the end line three seconds forward of Preining. “What he fired off once more with that machine! He even pulls out a spot on the finish, so actually, hats off to him.”
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