Lamborghini will have some good representatives in Europe this year, aiming for titles in the Blancpain GT World Challenge and the Blancpain GT Series, and multi-car programs continue the norm at FFF Racing by ACM and Grässer Racing Team, the main squads of the Italian manufacturer.
GRT will reduce their program compared to 2018, with a single car in the Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe and two Huracán GT3 Evos in the Endurance Cup. The only things that isn’t expected to change in the Austrian team is that Mirko Bortolotti and Christian Engelhardt will stay on board, as the duo tries to recover ground lost last year, especially with the unfortunate exclusion at the Blancpain GT Sprint Cup finale and a dismal performance in the Endurance Cup.
Bortolotti and Engelhardt will act in both sprint and endurance, so they are eligible for the overall Blancpain GT Series title, and Rolf Ineichen jumps to the first team as the third endurance driver. With most of the Squadra Corse roster being reallocated, the trio of the second car still needs to be announced.
From the FFF Racing side, things looks even more promising, as three cars will contest both in sprint and endurance events, with two Pro Cup entries along a Silver Cup entry in endurance and an entry for the Pro, Pro-Am and Silver Cups in the sprint races.
FFF Racing started its existence in Asia, then going to Europe and moving back to Asia. Their return to Europe comes on a high note, as the team carries the Blancpain GT Series Asia title conquered in 2018 in the overall GT3 class, in the Silver Cup and the teams title.
Andrea Caldarelli is Squadra Corse driver and spent the 2018 season with GRT, but he is also team principal of FFF Racing, and will do the driving in one of the cars, with Marco Mappelli following him and Dennis Lind coming from Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia. Caldarelli and Mapelli will form the lineup for the sprint events.
The other car will be filled by factory drivers too, as recently hired Phil Keen joins Giovanni Venturini and Franck Perera, who is jumping in from Grässer Racing too. Keen will drive in the sprint events and will share the car with Japanese driver Hiroshi Hamaguchi, a long time driver in the organization.
The final car will be a Silver Cup one, as Michele Beretta comes from a successful program at Barwell Motorsports and will be followed by Taylor Proto and Diego Menchaca. Proto is coming from the Super Trofeo series, and won a World Final in 2017, having also won the Middle East series title last year with FFF Racing. Menchaca will debut in GT racing after spending all of his career in open wheelers, with the GP3 Series being his latest stop.
The 2019 Blancpain GT Series starts on April 14th at Monza with the Endurance Cup while Brands Hatch opens the World Challenge Europe calendar on May 4th and 5th.
PHOTOS: SRO, FFF Racing by ACM
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