rhino‘s Leipert Motorsport has had a very successful GT3 European Championships weekend in Navarra, Spain. After both races, the two drivers Hari Proczyk and David Mengesdorf were cheering on the podium. Together with the racing weekend at Zolder, this has been the 4th time on the podium in a row. In their orange/black Lamborghini Gallardo LP600+, they collected points for third and second position and are now holding 4th place of the overall ranking.
During qualifying already, the Austrian/German duo showed their skills reaching pole position for the first race and third position for the second race. Mengesdorf used his pole position in the first race mercilessly and managed to escape the field. The pit stop including driver change went well; however, the Lamborghini Gallardo had to stay with the team 15 seconds longer – a “handicap penalty” as per rules and regulations as a result of the very good performance during the last racing weekend in Zolder. Consequently, Proczyk fell back to third place behind a Mercedes SLS, but soon after, he regained second place in a duel. Then, however, the Mercedes driver countered so that the Austrian turned round in a braking manoeuvre which was carried out quite optimistically. Luckily, the damage was not too bad, and Proczyk re-entered the race in fifth place. After a thrilling chase and impressive overtaking manoeuvres, he made up for lost grounds and passed the finish line in third place.
In the second race, only some hours later, the Lamborghini Gallardo was back on the grid perfectly prepared. At the start of the race, spectators witnessed an impressive duel between Proczyk and Mika Vähämäki in a Mercedes SLS and Dino Lunardi in an Audi R8. After the pit stop during which the team had to take yet another “penalty” for a previous podium position, Mengesdorf re-entered the race in fourth place, but he didn’t lose time and improved position by position finishing in second place.
Team Manager Ingo Leipert explained in a happy mood: “This has been a fantastic weekend for us. Naturally, we are not happy about the collision in the first race which was unnecessary and might have cost us important points, but Hari and David did a fabulous job. FIA GT3 races cannot be surpassed in terms of action. I am also happy that we were able to show that last weekend’s performance was not just a one-off.”
In the overall ranking, Hari Proczyk and David Mengesdorf are already in fourth place of the European Championships holding 69 points after 4 podium positions in 4 races. A convincing performance of team and drivers, who lack points from the first two races as they could not participate. However, on 8th July, 2012, the race will be on again for the top trio when they will fight for more in Portimao, Algarve, Portugal.
Source : rhino’s Leipert Motorsport