Mirko Bortolotti (ITA), Lamborghini Temerario GT3 #63, Copy: Axel Weichert
For TGI Team by GRT, the first of eight rounds on this year’s DTM calendar took place from 24 to 26 April. For the first time in the history of the iconic championship, the season opener was held at the Red Bull Ring, which is located in the immediate vicinity of the team’s headquarters in St. Margarethen. From a sporting perspective, the home race presented a major challenge for Gottfried Grasser’s outfit and their two new Lamborghini Temerario GT3s. Lamborghini Factory Driver Mirko Bortolotti once again made the impossible possible on Saturday, finishing in the points after coming back from a difficult position. Like his team-mate, Maximilian Paul saw the chequered flag in both races, therefore also racking up valuable mileage for the further development of Lamborghini’s new GT3 car.

Last year, TGI Team by GRT competed for the DTM championship with the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2, securing one victory and two podium finishes. This season, the team is one of just two in the DTM to field the successor to the legendary Huracán GT3. The test sessions on the 4.326-kilometre Red Bull Ring in the week leading up to the season opener already indicated that 2026 would be a learning year with the Temerario GT3.

The first race weekend took place in glorious spring weather, with sunshine and temperatures of around 20 degrees Celsius, in front of 51,000 fans. In the high-calibre DTM field of 21 drivers, Mirko Bortolotti was the highest-placed of the four Lamborghini drivers in both qualifying sessions. Starting positions 17 and 18, with a gap of around eight-tenths of a second to pole position, confirmed the findings from pre-season testing. Maximilian Paul finished 21st and 20th in the qualifying sessions.

In the first race, over 38 laps, Mirko Bortolotti once again achieved the best possible result against all odds. At the halfway stage, the 36-year-old Italian was in 20th place due to a penalty lap. In the closing stages, he fought his way up from 18th to 13th position within eight laps. Following a penalty imposed on a rival, he moved up one place in the final standings and secured four championship points in 12th place. Maximilian Paul spent almost the entire race in close proximity to his team-mate, but the 26-year-old from Dresden narrowly missed out on the points, finishing 16th. In Sunday’s race, Mirko Bortolotti once again achieved the best result of any Lamborghini driver, but came away empty-handed this time, finishing 16th. Maximilian Paul finished 20th.

TGI Team by GRT welcomes family, friends and partners to the Red Bull Ring
Away from the track, the races at the Red Bull Ring were once again marked by the home fixture feeling for TGI Team by GRT. At the circuit, just a ten-minute drive from the Grasser Racing Workshop, the team welcomed not only family and friends but also 200 guests from other partners and sponsors. The majority of these were provided by TGI AG, a long-standing team partner of GRT and, since 2025, also the title sponsor.

Guests of Grapos Softdrinks and MEYLE also enjoyed the experience. The Austrian drinks manufacturer has been a loyal supporter of the team since 2020, whilst the Hamburg-based automotive company, as a partner of Maximilian Paul, is helping to advance his career. In the first-class TGI Hospitality area, they experienced the thrill of the DTM up close with its spectacular GT3 cars. As well as meet-and-greets with the drivers, DJ Wolfram Amadeus got the guests in the mood with his music. The models from the young fitness brand Gtrix also added a splash of colour to the paddock.

#63 Mirko Bortolotti (ITA)
Qualifying 1: P17 – Race 1: P12
Qualifying 2: P18 – Race 2: P16

Mirko Bortolotti: “We can only focus on things that are in our hands and from this side I’m very pleased and proud with the job we’ve done together with the team. We extracted the absolute maximum possible on both days by finishing 12th and 16th – scoring some points, which is an incredible result if you put things into perspective.”

#19 Maximilian Paul (GER)
Qualifying 1: P21 – Race 1: P16
Qualifying 2: P20 – Race 2: P20

Maximilian Paul: “After the weekend, the only sensible thing for me to do is to focus on the positives – and those are the team, which is working brilliantly and is really close. The whole atmosphere is great too, all our partners are right behind us. Especially TGI, and for me personally, MEYLE as well. Now we need to keep at it so that, together with Lamborghini, we can take a big step forward as quickly as possible. We all deserve better than what the first weekend at the Red Bull Ring brought us.”

Gottfried Grasser, Team Principal: “The Red Bull Ring is always a special experience for us, and this time too it was a wonderful home race. We had an incredible crowd. I was really impressed by just how busy it was on Saturday already. It was of course particularly special for our partners and friends from TGI AG. In that respect, it was a successful event for them and all our guests. As for the result, we weren’t satisfied, of course. We’d already seen during testing and at the GT World Challenge season opener that things were going to be a bit tricky with our car. So far, we haven’t managed to close the gap. We’ve identified a few areas we can work on, and we’ll now focus on those to improve the package ahead of Zandvoort. We’re taking it step by step. On the other hand, it’s relatively clear at the moment that we’re not up to speed, and we need to change that as quickly as possible.”