The weekend of the third round of the FIA GT3 European Championship in Jarama, Spain, was successful for Team Rosberg. Kenneth Heyer and Bernd Herndlhofer clinched the first victory for the squad based in Neustadt an der Weinstrasse. It was also the first triumph for the Audi R8 LMS in this year’s European Championship season. Michael Ammermüller and Paolo Bonifacio in the second Rosberg vehicle scored championship points at the tradition-steeped Spanish circuit as well.

The weekend for the team directed by Arno Zensen had a promising start when Ammermüller/Bonifacio set the fastest time in free practice. In qualifying things didn’t go as well as the squad had been hoping, though. Bonifacio in car number "4” secured seventh place in the first session, while his team colleague Herndlhofer took 15th place after slipping. In the second qualifying session Ammermüller in fifth place was the quickest driver of an Audi R8 LMS. "Unfortunately, he started having gearbox problems on his second fast lap and slipped into the gravel trap, otherwise he could have achieved a better result,” said team manager Peter Reinisch. Heyer occupied 19th place in the "sister car”.In the first race on Sunday morning Bernd Herndlhofer and Kenneth Heyer showed an impressive recovery. The Austrian Herndlhofer pushed forwards all the way into the top five up to the mandatory pit stop halfway through the one-hour race. Afterwards, Heyer made up some more positions. The German was running in second place on the last lap of the race when the leading Corvette became slower and Heyer was able to take over first place just a few turns before the finish. "We didn’t expect to win at all,” said Heyer. "Because our team radio didn’t work, I didn’t even know exactly in which position I was running. After all the misfortune at the beginning of the season, victory is a great reward for the entire team. Despite all the setbacks it never gave up.” Paolo Bonifacio and Michael Ammermüller in the second Audi R8 LMS entered by Team Rosberg were running in a promising sixth place up to the sixth lap but were forced into a spin by a Ferrari and dropped to 22nd. Afterwards, the Brazilian-German duo showed a fighting performance as well. After one hour they finished eighth and were rewarded with four championship points. The second race, however, was marked by misfortune for Team Rosberg. The winners of round one, Herndlhofer/Heyer, were forced to retire after just five laps due to a technical defect. Ammermüller/Bonifacio were heading for points but had to park their car after eight laps due to overheating. "Bernd and Kenneth drove a sensational race in round one. Advancing from 15th to first place is a really strong showing,” summed up Reinisch. "We’re very happy about our first win in the FIA GT3 European Championship. We came close at Oschersleben last year but unfortunately it didn’t work out then. But Michael Ammermüller and Paulo Bonifacio were driving a strong race in round one as well. Without the spin, which wasn’t their fault, they could have played a part at the front of the field too. Unfortunately, the second race was very short for us. We now have to look into the reasons.”The next round of the FIA GT3 Championship will be held at Paul Ricard/France on 3 and 4 July.