The very first race weekend of the 2017 GT Open in Estoril, Portugal, couldn’t have ended in a better result for Farnbacher Racing. After finishing on a good fourth place in the first run on Saturday the team secured its first overall victory on Sunday.
During qualifying for the first race at the Circuito de Estoril Mario Farnbacher was able to drive the brand new Lexus RC F GT3 into the top ten and therefore start from the eighth place on the grid. In the first half of the 70 minutes long race Mario fought to bring the car up to P7 where he handed the Lexus over to his brother Dominik. Now in the car Dominik charged forward and managed to overtake some competition so that in the end the team finished on P4. The sister car from Emil Frey Racing was more successful in the Saturday race. The swiss team took the podium and also claimed the first Lexus victory at the GT Open.
At the start of the second qualifying on Sunday it was rainy and wet at first. With the track drying towards the end of the qualifying Dominik Farnbacher was able to secure the second place on the starting grid. He drove a good start and always stayed very close to the McLaren up front during the first half of the race. During the pit stops of the 60 minute race the team made a fabulous maneuver and took the lead. Mario Farnbacher, now at the wheel of the Lexus RCF GT3, dominated the race very clearly and crossed the start-finish-line as the first car, with a 20 second lead.
Mario and Dominik Farnbacher are currently leading the championship by 23 points, the runner-ups follow with 20 points. However, by winning the Sunday race Farnbacher will receive a handicap for the next round: 15 seconds extra at the pit stop. This means the team will have to spend 15 more seconds standing at the pit and afterwards try to catch up that time on the track.
Dominik Farnbacher:
“We are more than happy with this opening of the season. We were already really satisfied when finishing fourth on Saturday but winning the race on Sunday made that weekend perfect. It’s fantastic to claim a Lexus double victory with Emil Frey Racing at the very first race we’re taking part in. It couldn’t have gone better and we’re already very much looking forward to the next two rounds.”
The second race of the GT Open will take place at the Circuit of Spa-Francorchamps on the 27th-28th of May.