Team tactics win Manufacturers’ Trophy for Kraihamer & Knauss at Monza

Austria’s Dominik Kraihamer and Hans Knauss excelled in difficult weather conditions at the 4th race of the FIA GT3 championship at the Monza Autodrome, Italy when a decision to opt for slicks during the driver change gave them a well-needed advantage.

As a result, in the second half of the one hour race Knauss narrowly missed out on clocking the best lap of the 4th round event. The new pairing also brought the #14 S-berg Racing entry home as the first of the Lamborghini’s across the line to take the manufacturers’ Trophy for the car make award.

When Knauss took over from Kraihamer in the mid-race pit-stop, the 18-year-old rookie had already done well to make up valuable places from P35 on the grid. With a clean start through turn 1, almost the entire class was ahead of Kraihamer and the pace was fast in the wet. In just his second meeting, the young pilot from near Salzburg admitted it wasn’t easy as he’s still trying to come to grips with the Lamborghini Gallardo, having made the move straight from racing go-karts.

“It was a good race and I’m getting more comfortable already, but I almost lost it when I went wide into the gravel just before I came into the pits. Hans [Knauss] really did a great job today. It’s good for the S-berg team and for our sponsors to finish well. Everybody puts in a lot of effort.”

The majority of the 40-car field was running on wet tyres, but team owner/manager Hans Weitgasser decided the first session laptimes showed they could make up time if the threatening rain held out for the remainder of the race. It was a gamble that paid off, although Knauss had some doubts in his first lap when the light sprinkles persisted for some time.

“It was still quite wet around the other side of the circuit and with brand new slicks that were cold, it was a whole new feeling for me to drive the car like this in the race. However, I trusted Hans’ decision because he has many years experience in the sport. I was actually quicker than the front-runners a lap up on us from the pit-stop and attempted to overtake, only to be pushed wide on the fastest part of the track with just one lap to go. It was better to play it safe and finish. It’s an excellent result to come from nearly the back of the grid to 17th, but to be one of the fastest in the race is a great way to finish here at Monza.”

The second S-berg Racing Lambo with team-mates Kuzminykh (RUS) and Polato (IT) came in just two places behind the Austrian partnership, to take 19th. It was a positive end to what had been a challenging event for the team to begin with. Rounds 5 & 6 will be held in Germany early July.

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