The course has been set. The Grasser Racing Team will line up with a brand-new driver pairing in the 2024 DTM season. The #19 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 will be driven by Luca Engstler on the eight race weekends of the prestigious championship this year. The 23-year-old will line up alongside Christian Engelhart as an official Lamborghini Junior driver and will be competing in his second DTM season with the support of Liqui Moly again.
Luca Engstler made his debut in the high-calibre GT3 championship just one year ago. The German made a name for himself on the international stage as a factory driver in touring cars between 2017 and 2021. After seven national championship titles in Europe and Asia as well as the WTCR Junior title, he ventured into GT racing in 2022. Just one season later, he took on the challenge of DTM. In his debut season, he recorded five points-scoring results, including a seventh place in the most difficult conditions at the rainy Nürburgring.
After two years with Audi, Luca Engstler will switch brands to Lamborghini sporting the colours of GRT in 2024. As a Lamborghini Young Driver, he is now part of the official junior squad of the sports car manufacturer from Sant'Agata Bolognese. For team principal Gottfried Grasser's outfit, the line-up makes for promising new prospects for the team's third season in the DTM.
Grasser Racing's commitment with two Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2s in the DTM is supported by strong partnerships. The internationally renowned lubricant manufacturer Liqui Moly supports Luca Engstler and also acts as this year's sponsor name of Grasser Racing's #19 entry.
Beyond that, a close partnership with the gold trading company TGI has been established since the end of 2023, which will continue with the branding of the number 63 driven by Christian Engelhart. From the start of this season, the financial company Mountain Wolf will also be represented on the number 19 as a new partner of the team. GRT will kick off the 2024 DTM season with the official tests at the Hockenheimring from 9 to 11 April.
Giorgio Sanna, Head of Motorsport, Lamborghini Squadra Corse: "We are delighted to welcome Luca to the Lamborghini family as a new GT3 junior driver, and together with Christian and our expert team GRT, we look forward to a thrilling 2024 DTM season."
Gottfried Grasser, Team Principal of GRT: "We reached a fantastic milestone in 2023 with our first DTM victory, but despite this success, it was a very challenging year. During the winter break, we put everything in place and it feels really good to go into the season with such fantastic partners. The great collaboration with our friends at TGI has opened up unimagined horizons for us in a short space of time and with Mountain Wolf we have another ambitious partner at our side. Thanks to this incredible support and the great partnership with Lamborghini Squadra Corse, we have a mega line-up that we have high hopes for. Luca is one of the most promising talents in GT3 racing. He has already had an impressive career in international touring car racing and we know that he will also show this performance in the DTM with our package. Christian is the perfect team-mate for him and an ideal benchmark. He has been successful with all generations of the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 and I am sure that Luca and he will push each other to the maximum and benefit from each other. We are very much looking forward to fighting at the front of the DTM again this year with this strong team and can hardly wait for the season opener."
Luca Engstler: "I'm super happy to be competing in the DTM again this year with a team like GRT. The switch to Lamborghini is an important step for me and I can hardly wait to get started with the preparations. Switching to a new car is always a challenge, but I feel well prepared. Gottfried and his team have a huge amount of experience with the Lamborghini, which is a big advantage in this respect. We have a top package and I can fully focus on realising this potential on the race track next season. Many thanks to Lamborghini Squadra Corse and my partners for their fantastic support with this project."
Franz Engstler, Team Principal of Engstler Motorsport: "We are very proud that Luca has been able to enter into a partnership with such an experienced and committed team and we are sure that in Christian, Luca has a very capable and ambitious team-mate from whom he can learn a lot."