The #63 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan will sit out the rest of the Nurburgring weekend of the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup after further misdemeanours from Christian Engelhart.
The car had already lost its on-track victory thanks to a post-race thirty-second penalty as Englelhart was found to have worn his frontal head restraint over the shoulder straps of his harness, but subsequent TV footage showed that he broke several regulations once the race had concluded.
“Live TV footage captured by a driver-facing on-board camera showed driver Christian Engelhart’s on-track actions after the chequered flag of Race 1,” read the stewards decision. “The driver was seen to have removed his glove, unbuckle his harness, remove the SD card from the driver facing Onboard Camera and destroy it.
“Car #63 is therefore disqualified from the Event which means the Competitor may not take part in Race 2 and, on the basis of the significant new evidence available and noting the powers of the Stewards under Art 14 of the ISC, the Competitor is removed from the results of Race 1.”
Both the unbuckling of the harness whilst driving on track, and driving without gloves, are both against the regulations, while not having a working Onboard Safety Camera was also against the Article 120 of the Blancpain GT Series’ Sporting Regulations.
“A driver coming into the pits cannot unfasten his safety harness or racing net until his car is completely stopped in front of the pit garage,” read the regulations, and “After a pit stop, the car can only start moving after the driver’s safety harness and racing have been fastened.”
An appeal could see the car that Engelhart shares with Mirko Bortolotti take to the track on Sunday, but the German racer must be rueing his actions that not only cost them their Saturday victory but also their presence in Sunday’s final race of the Sprint Cup season.
