Together with Ashton Harrison and Christina Nielsen, Mario Farnbacher was on the grid for the GT World Challenge America season’s last race. Venue for the eight-hour race and showdown for the championship final was the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In the end, the Racers Edge Motorsports trio ranked third in the race and thus clinched the longed-for title.
“I’m so incredibly pleased we got to secure the title. That was our goal right from the start”, the 30-year-old explained after the 13th race of the season. “We had a tough start into the year and had to continually experience situations that threw us back. However, the team never gave up and they’ve really earned this success.”
Farnbacher and team colleague Ashton Harrison were third in the standings when they travelled to Indiana. The duo, who received support for the eight-hour race from Christina Nielsen, had already staked its claim for top results during training sessions in the Acura NSX GT3. Pre-qualifying and qualifying saw the colleagues securing second place, the ensuing race was nevertheless full of ups and downs for the trio.
Farnbacher touched a rival in a turbulent start phase, resulting in a drive-through penalty for the Ansbach-born driver. “Pace in the initial stint was really good. The collision with an opponent was most annoying and the penalty made us lag a long way behind. But thankfully, the incident had no further consequences for our car”, the Acura pilot stated afterwards.
Lap by lap, the driver trio fought back into the race and after eight hours, finished in third place. Farnbacher and Harrison scored a total of four season victories as well as four further podiums in the Pro Am class. And at the end of the season, they won the championship with a lead of five points.
“At this point, I’d like to say thank you to all those who made this success possible – thanks go to Honda HPD, Acura Motorsports and the entire team, as well as our sponsors. This wouldn’t have happened without their support. Now it’s time to celebrate appropriately!”, said a happy Farnbacher after the podium ceremony.
