Christian Engelhart

Christian Engelhart is a racing driver from Germany who currently competes with GRT Grasser Racing team in different GT competitions.

His greatest and most recent success is a championship title in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup in 2017.

Christian Engelhart

Early career marked by ups and downs

Christian Engelhart was born in December 1986 in Ingolstadt. As a boy, Chris began to drive karting and over the years became one of the best competitors in his country. In 2011 he was national vice-champion and also Bavarian karting champion. He caught the eye of many teams in junior formula racing, so in the following year, Christian won the Formula BMW Junior Driver search.

Two-time Austrian touring car vice-champion

In 2003, Engelhart competed in the Formula BMW ADAC and finished at 22nd place after scoring 8 points. He left the series after unsuccessful try and began competing in the Austrian Touring Car Challenge where he was a vice-champion in 2004 and 2005.

He returned to Formula BMW ADAC in 2006 but appeared in only six races as a pilot of ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg. That was his last try in the formula category and soon he will switch to sports cars. In the following year, he was among four best drivers in the Porsche Junior Driver search and he was prepared for the new challenge.

The Porsche series long servant

In 2008, Christian debuted in the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany. Driving for Tolimit Motorsport, Engelhart collected 14 points and finished 19th overall. The following year was much better. Christian moved to MRS Team and after scoring 54 points he moved up to the 9th place in the Drivers’ championship. For the first time, he scored a podium finish, taking 3rd place in the final race of the year at Hockenheim.

Christian Engelhart, MRS GT Racing Team

In 2009 the German racer also debuted in the Porsche Supercup. He appeared in two races and finished 10th at Silverstone and 11th at Nurburgring, driving a car prepared by SANITEC Racing.

Maiden victory scored in 2010

Engelhart shared his duties between the two competitions in 2010. His progress continued as he for the first time won the race in Porsche Carrera Cup. It was at the season finale at Hockenheim and that win moved him up to the 7th place.

At the same time, in Porsche Supercup Christian finished 11th overall, even after missing two races of the campaign. The 3rd place at Hockenheim was the best result of the campaign and announcement that there will be more to come from the Ingolstadt-born.

Porsche Supercup became Engelhart’s main duty

Since 2011, racing in the Porsche Supercup is Christian’s main duty. He became a member of Konrad Motorsport and won the season-opening race in Istanbul, starting from pole position. He also finished 3rd at Yas Marina Circuit and scored the fastest lap at Nurburgring before taking the 8th place in the final standings. The same year Engelhart drove for MRS squad in one round of the ADAC GT Masters and won the opening race at Red Bull Ring, alongside the Austrian Norbert Siedler.

Engelhart scored his main Porsche Supercup win in 2011

Third place in the 2012 ADAC GT Masters

In the following season, Christian again finished 8th in the Porsche Supercup. His form was better as he won at Hungaroring, took 2nd place in Bahrain, was 3rd at Monza, and scored points in other races, but three retirements prevented him from breaking into the top 5 in the final standings.

The season of 2012 also will be remembered for very good performances in the ADAC GT Masters. Engelhart was driving Schutz Motorsport’s Porsche 911 GT3 R alongside Nick Tandy and Sean Edwards, and finished 3rd in the championship. He won the races at Oschersleben, Red Bull Ring, and twice at Lausitzring what still stands as his best result in the series.

German Porsche Carrera Cup runner-up in 2013

Probably a bit surprisingly, Engelhart drove a full Porsche Carrera Cup Germany season in 2013. Behind a wheel of Konrad Motorsport’s 911 GT3 Cup 997, Christian had a very good year and was a title contender until the very last race. At the end, the Ingolstadt-born finished as a vice-champion, 10 points behind Kevin Estre. Engelhart scored three wins and a total of nine podiums.

Christian Engelhart, Porsche Carrera Cup, 2013

In the Porsche Supercup, he finished 8th for the third season in a row, this time with only one podium place, while in the ADAC GT Masters he dropped to the 21st position, again with only one podium spot recorded.

Tight schedule in 2014

The season of 2014 was probably the busiest in Christian’s career so far after he entered three championships as a full-time driver. The best results he scored in Porsche Carrera Cup. He finished the campaign at the 3rd place, winning 3 out of 18 races and having a total of 6 podiums, two pole positions, and 4 fastest laps.

Engelhart drove Schutz Motorsports' Porsche in 2014 ADAC GT Masters

In Porsche Supercup Engelhart dropped to the 9th place, failing to score a single podium finish, while in the ADAC GT Masters the results were slightly better. After having four podiums on his account, he finished 8th in the final classification.

Carrera Cup vice-champion two more times

For the second time in his career, Engelhart finished as a runner-up of national Porsche Cup. The 2015 season could be quite exciting, especially after Christian won two races of the opening round, but later in the season he had only other three podium finishes. Philipp Eng became the champion with an advantage of 96 points to Engelhart.

In the Porsche Supercup, Engelhart moved to MRS GT Racing and finished the season at the 4th place what is his best result in the series, while in the ADAC GT Masters he raced only in the first and in the final round, but managed to win the race at Oschersleben.

Christian thrice finished as the Porsche Carrera Cup runner-up

Interestingly, Engelhart finished as a Porsche Carrera Cup Germany runner-up for the third time. In 2016 he was behind Sven Müller and never was really close to the new champion as he scored only one victory but had an amazing number of 13 podiums.

The results in Porsche Supercup and ADAC GT Masters were pretty the same like in the previous years. One win and other one podium place were enough for the 7th place overall in ADAC GT Masters, while in Porsche Supercup Christian also was 7th, with a podium finish at Spa in his books.

Christian Engelhart in 2017

Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup champion in 2017

Engelhart joined GRT Grasser Team in 2016, spending the ADAC GT Masters season in the #63 Lamborghini Huracan GT3, sharing a car with Rolf Ineichen. They were race winners once. In 2017, Engelhart and Ineichen stayed together in the #63 Lamborghini, finishing seventh again in the ADAC GT Masters.

Engelhart scored success with GRT Lamborghini in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup, sharing the #63 car with Mirko Bortolotti and Andrea Caldarelli. They were race winners two times, finishing the season as champions. Engelhart and Bortolotti also participated in five races of the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup, winning two times and finishing fourth in the points. In 2017, Engelhart also stayed in the German Carrera Cup, scoring one win to finish 6th in the points.

GRT Grasser Racing Team triumphed at 24 Hours of Daytona

Victory at Daytona 24 Hours in 2019

In 2018, Engelhart stayed with GRT both in the Blancpain GT Series and ADAC GT Masters but without some notable success.

In 2019, Christian started the season with a victory at Daytona 24 Hours. He was sharing the #11 GRT Lamborghini Huracan GT3 with Mirko Bortolotti, Rolf Ineichen and Rik Breukers, taking the victory in the GTD class.

Later in the season, he had most of the success in the ADAC GT Masters, scoring three wins and finishing second in the points. He also raced in the Blancpain GT Series, but without wins.

Photo: Olivier Beroud memim.com racecam.de dedeporsche.com christian-engelhart.de adac-motorsport.de