Lena Knötzl returns to Porsche Sprint Challenge Suisse, secures class podium at home race

In her first race of the season in the Porsche Sprint Challenge Suisse, Lena Knötzl achieved an amazing second place in class at her home track at Red Bull Ring, demonstrating great pace during the first race of the weekend, as well as in qualifying.

Photo credits: Lena Knötzl

In her first race of the season, the Porsche Sprint Challenge Suisse at the Red Bull Ring, Lena Knötzl achieved an amazing second place, demonstrating great pace during the races, as well as in qualifying.

Although the Porsche Sprint Challenge Suisse season had started in April, during the round at Portimão, Lena Knötzl started her 2025 campaign in Austria during the second round of the championship, driving for MS Racing in the Class 21 of the Open GT group, which is open to the Porsche 992 GT3 Cup cars with ABS and traction control. The young Austrian has already collected good experience in the Porsche 992 GT3 Cup, as she has driven it since her 2022 Porsche Sprint Challenge Suisse campaign.

The season for Knötzl started with the Thursday private practice, in which she gained valuable mileage in the car. After that, it was time for the Friday free practice, where the Austrian driver was out front, finishing three out four sessions in the top 6. With that Knötzl asserted her position at the top of the Class 21, and showed that she can battle for the top spots in the class.

Qualifying for the Open GT group has been divided into two groups due to the number of cars competing. Lena Knötzl found herself in Group 1 and at the start of the 25-minute session, she went out on track almost instantly to start her qualifying effort. Her second lap put her in P3, only 0.053s behind Mekvabishivili in P2. After that, a lot of drivers improved and Lena, even with an improved lap, dropped to P6 in the group. She went even faster a lap later and moved up to P5, with a 1:32.681, only half a second behind the first driver in the session. 

Later, the qualifying session calmed down, but with 7 minutes to go Knötzl did an amazing 1:32.057, which put her in P4, just 0.284s behind leading Mutschlechner. This was the end of her qualifying, as she went into the pits with 6 minutes to go. After other drivers had improved, she was classified fifth after the end of Group 1 qualifying, and taking the results of both groups, Knötzl was classified ninth overall, and fifth in the Class 21, showing great pace and being able to put up a fight with the best drivers.

The first race began around 2 p.m. local time, and from the very beginning it was a messy one. Lena Knötzl, who started ninth overall and fifth in class has had an amazing start, and after the first lap she has moved up to P6 overall and P2 in her class. However, she could not continue her progress up the field as a safety car appeared on the track on Lap 2. This was due to a collision between Roderick Christie and Sebastian Schmitt.

Racing resumed on lap 5, and it was a good restart from Lena Knötzl. The MS Racing driver kept her position, while defending from Wolfgang Triller in the Class 40 car. The safety car, however, came back to the circuit on lap 7, after Levin Gelf’s Porsche 992 GT3 Cup car came to a halt in Turn 1.

The neutralization was not long, as on lap 9 the cars were again going at full speed. The race settled down, with Knötzl holding P6 overall and P2 in class. She remained in the 'no man’s land' as Mutschlechner pulled away ahead of Austrian, and Drmic battling with Triller was losing time to the MS Racing driver. At the chequered flag Knötzl was classified in sixth, with a class podium and a very good experience out of the race, especially regarding defensive drive and restarts.

Although Knötzl had been entered to both races during the weekend, the MS Racing driver had not started in race 2. Despite that, she has had a very strong weekend, scoring a podium in her first race of the season, as well as gaining valuable experience during the safety car restart.

The round at Spielberg was the last time Porsche Sprint Challenge Suisse 2025 season has raced outside of Italy, as the next round of the series will take place at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola.