France, Paul Ricard, Round 1 – April 8th 2024-

It was a rollercoaster ride for the young #19 crew in the Grasser Racing Lamborghini GT3 Huracán EVO II during the opening round of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe. The Lamborghini Squadra Corse supported team from Austria competed in the first of five rounds in the Endurance Cup on the weekend of 6-7 April. Zyrus supported test and development driver Haytham Qarajouli took his debut in GT3 racing amongst a world class field of drivers and manufacturers.

At the season opener in France, the outfit took on the high-calibre competition in the strong field of 54 GT3 entries.

In the Silver Cup, Qarajouli shared the #19 car with team mates Hugo Cook and Lamborghini Young Driver Mateo Llarena, all gaining valuable insights on their debut in the renowned endurance series of the SRO Motorsports Group.

The young trio managed to secure P4 in Silver class for the 3-hour race on the 5.791 km long Circuit Paul Ricard. On race day Matteo took the first out of three one hour stints in the car, under clear blue skies and beautiful sunshine in the French Riviera.

The #19 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 experienced an eventful debut on the former Formula 1 circuit in Le Castellet as Llarena started the race on row 16 from 31st place in the overall standings.

The opening hour of the race was peppered with four yellow phases due to incidents in the field, and a 10-second time penalty for contact in his Q1 stint set the team back at the first driver change where Qarajouli was eager to take the reigns as the team lay 4^th in class. Qarajouli spent much of his one hour stint trying to make up ground but his progress was hampered by a traffic and unable to progress despite his improving lap times.

The final hour Hugo Cook had work to do, and after a delayed get away out of the pit box the youngsters finished eighth in the Silver Cup.

The team now looks ahead to the official test days at Spa-Francorchamps on May 21/22 in preparation for the showcase 24H of Spa centenary event on Jun 27-30.

Hugo Cook (GBR) / Mateo Llarena (ITA) / Haytham Qarajouli (KUW)
#19 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2
SILVER
Qualifying: P4 – Race: P8

Driver Quotes-

Haytham Qarajouli: “I’m pretty happy with my debut in GT3 racing. Practice and qualifying went well. The pace in the race was also good, but unfortunately, we were stuck in traffic for too long. I lost too much time when overtaking. We always made up ground in the free air, which felt good. It was important to finish the first race. We want to build on that, because there is still room for improvement.”

 

GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup 2024
05/04/24 – 07/04/24      Circuit Paul Ricard 500 km
26/06/24 – 30/06/24      CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa
26/07/24 – 28/07/24      3h Nürburgring
20/09/24 – 22/09/24      3h Monza
21/11/24 – 23/11/24         Jeddah Corniche 1000 km