A Clean Sweep at the Ring
Orange1 by Grasser Racing Team put both of its Lamborghini Huracán GT3 entries on pole position at the Nürburgring in August 2019 and converted each into a commanding victory, sweeping the ADAC GT Masters double-header against factory-backed opposition from Mercedes-AMG, Audi, and Porsche. The weekend was the clearest possible demonstration of what a naturally aspirated V10, paired with a team that understood every nuance of the car’s setup window, could accomplish against the best customer racing hardware in the business.
Saturday’s opening race belonged to the #63 car. Mirko Bortolotti qualified on pole in dry conditions for the first time that season, then built a gap of more than three seconds over the Audi of Dennis Marschall and former Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe driver Carrie Schreiner. After the mandatory driver change with roughly 27 minutes remaining, Christian Engelhart stretched the advantage to over five seconds ahead of the Mercedes-AMG of Luca Stolz and Maro Engel. Engel clawed back to within three seconds by the flag, but the result was never seriously in doubt. Bortolotti praised the entire field for navigating a tricky first corner on full tanks and cold tires, then credited a well-timed pit stop for allowing the team to extend its advantage. “All in all, a great performance and a perfect race for us,” Lamborghini quoted him as saying.
Sunday told a different story for the #63 crew. Engelhart was caught up in contact on the opening lap and retired with accident damage. The #82 Huracán GT3, however, picked up exactly where its sister car left off. Franck Perera started from pole and immediately opened a three-second margin over Kelvin van der Linde’s Audi. After Perera handed the car to Rolf Ineichen, the lead ballooned to more than seven seconds. Ineichen brought the #82 home 5.366 seconds clear of the Porsche of Timo Bernhard and Klaus Bachler.
A Footnote Worth Knowing: The Race 2 Disqualification
The weekend’s narrative took a complicated turn weeks after the checkered flag. One report indicates that on September 13, 2019, the #82 Huracán GT3 was disqualified from both Nürburgring races after scrutineers found the geometry of its air-intake restrictor did not conform to the reference part or submitted drawings. According to the same reporting, the revised Race 2 result elevated the Porsche of Bernhard and Bachler to the top step, with Kelvin van der Linde’s Audi classified second. Orange1 by Grasser Racing Team announced its intention to appeal.
Lamborghini’s own account of the weekend, published on race day, naturally does not reflect the post-event ruling. On track, the Huracán GT3 was unquestionably the fastest car at the Nürburgring that weekend. The restrictor issue, whatever its final resolution, was a technical compliance matter, not a performance deficit. Enthusiasts should be aware of both the on-track dominance and the regulatory asterisk.
The Huracán GT3: A Naturally Aspirated Weapon in a Turbo World
What made the Huracán GT3’s Nürburgring results particularly striking was the engine sitting behind the driver. In a field populated by turbocharged machinery from Mercedes-AMG and Audi, the Lamborghini relied on a naturally aspirated V10 derived from the road car’s powertrain. One source describes the later EVO2 variant as producing 640 PS from a 5,204 cc displacement, paired with a six-speed sequential gearbox and bodywork co-developed with Dallara Engineering. The 2019 car predated the EVO2, but the fundamental architecture was the same: big displacement, high revs, no forced induction.
Balance of Performance regulations exist to equalize different engine concepts, yet the character of a naturally aspirated V10 on corner exit, its throttle response and linear power delivery, gives drivers a distinct tool. Bortolotti’s ability to pull a three-and-a-half-second gap on the opening stint of Saturday’s race speaks to that advantage in a driver’s hands. Teams running the Huracán GT3 in this era often remarked on the car’s predictability and the confidence its power delivery inspired, qualities that translated directly into consistent qualifying and race pace.
The platform served Lamborghini for a full decade in global GT3 competition. That longevity is remarkable. As Road & Track noted when covering the Temerario GT3‘s debut, the class became “more professional, more complicated, and more factory-focused” during the Huracán’s entire competitive life, yet the car remained a frontrunner throughout. The Nürburgring weekend was one vivid chapter in that longer story of sustained competitiveness.
Grasser Racing: Lamborghini’s Sharpest Customer Team
No discussion of the Huracán GT3’s dominance is complete without the Austrian outfit that extracted so much of its potential. Grasser Racing Team fielded Huracán GT3 cars with factory-caliber driver lineups, and the 2019 Nürburgring weekend illustrated why Lamborghini Squadra Corse trusted them with its best talent. Bortolotti and Engelhart were established factory drivers. Perera and Ineichen brought proven GT3 experience. Pairing that level of driver with a team that understood the Huracán’s setup window inside out produced results that looked, from the outside, almost routine.
The relationship extended well beyond a single weekend. Grasser Racing replicated the double-victory format at Hockenheim in 2021, with Bortolotti and Marco Mapelli winning one race while Perera and Ineichen took the other. That kind of consistency across seasons and circuits reflects deep institutional knowledge of the car, strong communication with Squadra Corse on setup data, and the operational discipline that separates good customer teams from great ones.
For prospective GT3 buyers evaluating which manufacturer program to invest in, the quality of the customer racing ecosystem matters as much as the car itself. A team like Grasser, with years of data and a direct line to the factory, represents the kind of support structure that can make or break a racing season. Lamborghini’s customer racing program, built around the Super Trofeo feeder series and the GT3 platform, was designed to cultivate exactly this kind of team loyalty and institutional depth.
Lamborghini Against the Field: Positioning in GT3’s Most Competitive Era
The ADAC GT Masters grid in 2019 read like a who’s who of supercar manufacturing. Mercedes-AMG, Audi, Porsche, and Lamborghini all fielded competitive entries, with factory or factory-supported drivers behind the wheel. Beating Stolz and Engel’s Mercedes-AMG on Saturday and Bernhard and Bachler’s Porsche on Sunday (on track, at least) meant the Huracán GT3 was measured against the best customer racing hardware in the business.
Porsche and Ferrari both run extensive GT3 programs globally, and their presence in championships from the Nürburgring to Bathurst to Daytona ensures that any Lamborghini GT3 victory carries weight beyond a single series. The ADAC GT Masters, as Germany’s premier GT championship, attracts manufacturer attention precisely because the competition is genuine. A win at the Ring against Bernhard, a two-time Le Mans winner, is not the same as padding a record in a thin field.
Lamborghini’s competitive position in customer GT3 racing now enters a new chapter. The Temerario GT3, which Road & Track covered alongside the Super Trofeo variant, replaces the naturally aspirated V10 with a twin-turbocharged V8. The shift mirrors what Lamborghini did with its road car lineup, but it also means the next generation of GT3 customers will need to adapt to fundamentally different power delivery characteristics. Whether the Temerario GT3 can replicate the Huracán’s decade of dominance remains the central question for Lamborghini’s motorsport future.
From the Ring to the Road: Why GT3 Wins Still Matter to Owners
Lamborghini sells the connection between its racing program and its road cars more aggressively than almost any competitor. The Huracán STO borrowed its name (Super Trofeo Omologata) directly from the one-make racing series. The GT3’s aerodynamic development fed insights back into road car calibration. When Lamborghini wins on a circuit like the Nürburgring, the company wants every Huracán owner to feel a measure of reflected credibility.
Whether that connection is engineering substance or marketing narrative depends on your tolerance for brand storytelling. The honest answer is: both. GT3 racing does generate real aerodynamic and thermal management data that influences road car development. It also generates press coverage that reinforces the idea of Lamborghini as a performance brand rather than a luxury-lifestyle accessory. The 2019 Nürburgring double, even with its post-race regulatory complication, served both purposes.
Lamborghini’s broader motorsport ambitions now extend to the SC63 hypercar program in the World Endurance Championship and IMSA. Early results at that level have been difficult, with mechanical issues curtailing the car’s running at events like the 24 Hours of Daytona. The GT3 program, by contrast, remains Lamborghini’s most reliable source of racing success and the most direct connection between Sant’Agata’s competition department and the customers who buy and race these cars. For anyone following Lamborghini’s motorsport trajectory, the Huracán GT3’s record at circuits like the Nürburgring represents the foundation on which everything else is being built.
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