It’s Nürburgring for the third time for GRT this weekend from 4th to 6th August. After victories in the ADAC GT Masters and the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, the Austrian Lamborghini Team will hit the legendary asphalt in the Eifel mountains one last time this year in the DTM. At the fourth round of the high-calibre championship, Grasser Racing is aiming for the points and welcomes a new face to the team. Maximilian Paul will drive the #19 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 alongside Clemens Schmid.
The 23-year-old takes over Mick Wishofer's seat at the Nürburgring to make his second start in the DTM, this time sporting the GRT colours. He once before competed in the prestigious racing series at the wheel of a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO in 2021, narrowly missing out on a Top-10 finish in eleventh place at the Red Bull Ring. The German, who has been active in GT3 racing since 2019, can look back on a wealth of experience with the Italian sports car manufacturer's GT3 machines.
In the ADAC GT Masters, Paul raced in a Lamborghini for the first time in 2021 and was part of the Lamborghini Junior squad that year and the following year. In the league of super sports cars, he took five podiums with the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO. Most recently, he finished third at the Nürburgring race weekend one day before GRT celebrated the first victory of the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 in the ADAC GT Masters. With this success, Paul gave the perfect credentials for the DTM entry with GRT.
At the Nürburgring alongside Clemens Schmid, a new challenge awaits the talent who in 2023 was called up to be a Lamborghini Young Professional Driver. For Paul, the weekend on the 3.629 km-long sprint layout will be the first outing with the new Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2. The omens for the races in the Eifel region are good for Team Principal Gottfried Grasser's squad. Thanks to the events in the ADAC GT Masters and the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, as well as additional test days, the team arrives well prepared.
After two difficult weekends in Zandvoort and at the Norisring, the outfit wants to build on the strong performance from the season opener at Oschersleben, where Clemens Schmid finished a strong fifth on Sunday as the best-placed Lamborghini driver in the field. The 32-year-old Austrian was in top form at the Nürburgring last weekend. In the Endurance Cup, he was part of GRT’s winning Silver Cup trio and matched the pace of the front runners with his lap times.
At the Nürburgring, he and DTM returnee Paul will start the weekend as usual with the two practice sessions on Friday, where drivers and crew will have 45 minutes each to set up the two Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2s. The weather forecast is once again typical for the Eifel, with a chance of rain of up to 80 per cent and temperatures just above 10 degrees Celsius on all three days. The qualifying sessions and races on Sunday promise plenty of excitement in mixed conditions. The DTM action from the Nürburgring will as always be broadcast live in over 70 countries.
Maximilian Paul: "I am very happy to compete in the DTM at the Nürburgring for such an experienced and successful team as GRT. I will give everything to get the maximum out of it together with the crew so we can have a good weekend. A big thank you for this opportunity to Gottfried Grasser and his team as well as to Lamborghini Squadra Corse, all my supporters and my family!"
Gottfried Grasser, Team Principal of GRT: "The third time at the Nürburgring this summer will definitely be the highlight of our little Eifel tour. The victories in the ADAC GT Masters and the GT World Challenge Endurance Cup were very important for us, but of course the DTM is a different kind of game. The many kilometres here have prepared us very well for the challenge and we are confident that things will go better than last time. Clemens has shown with his victories at the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps and here at the Nürburgring that he is a force to be reckoned with when we get everything right. With Maximilian Paul, we made the best choice for our second car this weekend. He knows the Lamborghini and was very strong at the Nürburgring recently. I'm sure we're in a good place both technically and driver-wise to finish in the points with both cars."
