In an exclusive interview with Pit Debrief, the drivers of the Grasser Racing Team revealed their expectations for this GTWC Endurance Cup weekend at the Nürburgring. After winning the CrowdStrike 24 hours of Spa, Jordan Pepper, Mirko Bortolotti and Luca Engstler, are aiming to fight for the win. While the GT World Challenge Endurance Cup season coming to an end, the championship is still in reach for the team.
Currently sitting in P5, with 22 points behind P1 and two Endurance races left on the calendar, everything is possible for the Grasser Racing team ahead of the penultimate race of the Endurance Cup at the Nürburgring.
The positives and negatives of winning the 24 Hours of Spa
After winning “the biggest GT race in the world” Bortolotti and the rest of the team are motivated, entering the weekend with the right mindset. However, Bortolotti also touched on the negative sides of winning, hinting at rivals more motivated to beat the team.
With the team being in a position to still win the Endurance Cup, they need to execute two perfect races. Bortolotti added that him and the Grasser Racing Team will aim for the highest result and get everything out of the car.
“Well, we’re coming into the weekend knowing that we’ve won the biggest GT race in the world, first of all,” explained Mirko Bortolotti.
“Let’s say the mindset and motivation we have cannot be higher. But on the other hand, obviously, it also brings some negatives because when you win that race.”
“Obviously, let’s put it that way, they don’t want you to win the next race, that’s pretty clear. But that will not stop us from trying to extract everything we have in the car and trying to go for the maximum results.”
From underdogs to possible championship winners
While the team is “still in an underdog position” due to a rather rocky start to the season. Not scoring points for the team at Paul Ricard and Monza, despite having good qualifyings for both Endurance rounds. Having confidence in Grasser, Bortolotti added, that they have had good races at the Nürburgring and could reach victory in previous Endurance races here. Though, “it is no guarantee in GT3 racing” with constant changes of BOP and a highly competitive field.
“We are, I think, around 20 points behind, so we definitely know that with two rounds to go, we will need two perfect races,” added Bortolotti.
“Because unfortunately, our start of the season was not as good as we wanted. Despite having two very strong qualifying and being twice on the second row of the grid. We were not able to get points in Paul Ricard and in Monza, which obviously compromised a little bit the championship.”
“But with the Spa win, we are back in a good position. And we know that we’ve always been strong in Nürburgring. Both the team, us as drivers and the car, so we know the package on paper was good in the past. But this is no guarantee in GT3 racing. As I said, situations are not going to be easier than before.”
“I think they’re going to be the highest difficulty that we ever faced, also looking at the BOP. But no excuses, we will just give it everything we have, and I’m pretty sure with our maximum performance, we will still hopefully be in a good position.”
Good Qualifying performance as key to win again at the Nürburgring
Pepper added that Grasser has “a simple goal” this weekend for the Endurance round at the Nürburgring. The South African driver pointed out that they need to deliver a good qualifying to have an advantage for the race on Sunday. Pepper doesn’t see a problem in it, as all three of them are strong qualifiers.
“It’s a simple goal. Quite clear, we need to win or at least podium to keep that championship fight alive and beat our rivals,” stated Pepper.
“Never easy in such a championship. But a strength of ours for sure this year has been our qualifying performance is very good on average. Which is making the difference here.”
With the championship fight in mind, the Grasser car sporting the number 63, “need[s] to win or at least [get a] podium” at the Nürburgring. Past races at the Nürburgring have shown that the car and the team can succeed in the Eifel. Pepper added, that the main goal is to stay in the championship fight until the last endurance round in Barcelona.
“I think we have to approach it like that. Approach Sunday with that mindset really to execute qualifying quite well, and I think that’s a strength of all three of us. Plus the team and managing that and then all to play for in the race. Last year we obviously won, it would be cool to repeat that. Very nice, that’s obviously a successful track for the car and brand and for the team. But never easy in GT World.”
“To get one win in a season is really good. Considering it was Spa, even greater. And for sure, if we can keep the championship fight alive to Barcelona, that’s the goal.”
