The GRT Grasser Racing Team made one final impressive impact on the championship battle at the conclusion of the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup season. At the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, Luca Engstler and Jordan Pepper won Saturday’s race in the #63 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 and went into the final race just 2.5 points behind. On Sunday, the duo followed up with another podium finish in second place, securing the runner-up spot in the Sprint Cup drivers‘ standings.

In fifth place, 20 points behind, Luca Engstler and Jordan Pepper headed to Spain for the season finale with only a theoretical chance of winning the Sprint Cup drivers‘ championship. Luca Engstler took the wheel of the #63 car for the first two-part qualifying on Saturday. In the ten-minute session, in which only Pro and Gold category cars competed, he lapped the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in 1:31.525 minutes. The sixth-fastest time in the combined classification meant fifth place on the grid after a subsequent penalty against a competitor. In the hectic early stages, which immediately resulted in the first safety car deployment, Engstler dropped back to sixth place but at the same time took the lead in the Pro classification. He defended his top position until the pit stop window opened. After the driver change, Jordan Pepper was already in third place overall. With just over two minutes to go, the South African made a strong overtaking manoeuvre to move into second place, where he crossed the finish line shortly afterwards. On Saturday evening, the winners were subsequently penalised. Engstler and Pepper inherited first place. As a result, the gap in the drivers‘ championship before the final race day was only 3.5 points. The #63 team could once again harbour justified hopes of winning the title.

In the second time trial on Sunday, Jordan Pepper managed to reduce the gap by another point. With a lap time of 1:31.115 minutes, he secured pole position for Sunday’s race. The championship leaders started the race from fourth place. Pepper remained in the lead when the second race was also neutralised early on by the safety car. However, shortly before the halfway point of the race, he had to let his direct rival pass him in an acceleration duel on the start-finish straight and relinquished the championship lead he had temporarily captured. Because both cars came into the pits at the same time, there was no way to get past him strategically. Luca Engstler increased the pressure once again in the final stages and remained within striking distance for a long time, trailing by around one second. In the end, he was 0.885 seconds behind at the finish line, which made the decisive difference in the championship.

The GRT Grasser Racing Team entered two further Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 cars at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo. Ivan Ekelchik and Baptiste Moulin finished fourth in the Silver Cup with the #19 car on Saturday, achieving their best class result of this Sprint Cup season on the last weekend. The Sunday race ended early for the duo due to a technical defect. Georgi Donchev and Christian Engelhart competed again in the Bronze Cup with the #1 car. They finished fifth in the class on Saturday, also achieving their best result of the season. After ABS problems in qualifying, they finished the Sunday race in ninth place, again in the points.

From 10 to 13 October, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya will host the Endurance Cup final, where the final championship decisions of the GT World Challenge Europe will be made. Engstler and Pepper are 23 points behind in the overall driver standings. In theory, the title is still possible with 26 points still up for grabs. A total of four driver pairings still have a mathematical chance of winning the championship in the three-hour race.

Luca Engstler (GER) / Jordan Pepper (RSA)

#63 GRT Grasser-Racing-Team

PRO CUP

Qualifying 1: P6 (P5) – Race 1: P1

Qualifying 2: P1 – Race 2: P2

Luca Engstler: “The frustration is huge at first when you lose the title by such a narrow margin. But we mustn’t forget where we came from. Looking back at how we started the season and also this weekend, the whole team can be more than proud. I would like to thank our partners and every single member of the team. Everyone really gave their best for us throughout the season. It’s sad that it wasn’t enough. But the pride in what we have already achieved this year outweighs that.”

Jordan Pepper: “It hurts a little when you’ve been so close to the title and given your all throughout the year. We knew we only had an outside chance here. Our goal was therefore to fight for the championship until the last race on Sunday. The whole team did an incredible job to help us fulfil this dream. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to win the title this time. But we can be very proud of how we fought back after a difficult start to the season and kept the championship decision open until the very last second. It was great fun sharing the car with Luca this year. Thank you to the entire team and our partners for this season.“

Ivan Ekelchik / Baptiste Moulin (FRA)

#19 GRT Grasser-Racing-Team

SILVER CUP

Qualifying 1: P10 – Race 1: P4

Qualifying 2: P9 – Race 2: DNF

Georgi Donchev (BUL) / Christian Engelhart (GER)

#1 GRT Grasser-Racing-Team

BRONZE CUP

Qualifying 1: P6 – Race 1: P5

Qualifying 2: P11 – Race 2: P9

Georgi Donchev: “We had hoped for a different end to the season. Nevertheless, it is positive that we finished both races, stayed out of trouble and had no damage to the car. Due to the ABS problem on Sunday, we had to start from the back of the grid. But we kept going and fought our way through. You

just have to accept the result. Now we can take a breather. But I’m already looking forward to next season.“

Christian Engelhart: “First of all, congratulations to #63 on a super strong weekend. On our side of the garage, it was much more difficult. We had a few technical problems in practice, but we were able to solve them. I’m quite happy with my lap in qualifying. Unfortunately, we weren’t fast enough on the straights in the race to move further up the field. On Sunday, we had an ABS problem in qualifying and had to start from the back of the grid. So it was a difficult weekend, but we managed it well overall.“

Gottfried Grasser, Team Principal GRT: “For the team, it was a very nice end to the Sprint Cup Championship, which turned out much better than we had hoped for with this great weekend. A pole position, a race win and a second place – we executed it almost perfectly. Huge compliments to the entire #63 team, who still managed to secure the runner-up spot in the championship from this situation. Everyone did a great job again this weekend. I am very proud and happy. A team principal couldn’t ask for more. Unfortunately, the drivers of the #19 car didn’t find the optimal pace in Valencia. We had a few problems with the Bronze car, but we can be satisfied with P5 on Saturday. All in all, we had a great finish. Now we want to secure a top-three place in the overall standings at the Endurance Cup finale in Barcelona.“