Štefan Rosina

Štefan Rosina
Rosina in 2022
Nationality	Slovak
Born	(1987-07-15) 15 July 1987 (age 37) Púchov, Czechoslovakia
FIA GT Series career
Current team	True Racing by Reiter Engineering
Racing licence	FIA Silver
Car number	15
Former teams	VERVA Racing Team, Walter Lechner Racing

Štefan "Štofi" Rosina (born 15 July 1987 in Púchov) is a Slovak racing driver racing in GT cars. He has competed successfully in the FIA GT1 World Championship and Porsche Supercup. He is the incumbent Vice Champion in the Fanatec GT2 European Series, driving for True Racing by Reiter Engineering, the KTM works sportscar effort.

Early career and domestic success

Rosina's start in motorsport came in junior karting formulae where he was vice-champion in the Czech national championships at 13 years old. After a season in Ford Fiesta cup, at 15 years old Rosina started in the Skoda Octavia Cup one-make series (then known as the Česká Pojišťovna Škoda Octavia Cup). He was champion in 2003 and 2004. The first of his two titles was to come in the series finale in somewhat controversial circumstances. Series leader and reigning champion František Došek crashed at the start, failing to recover in the race and losing the championship.^[1]

International sportscar debut and first points

After contesting 3 races of the 2005 FIA GT Championship for Slovakian outfit ARC Bratislava, Rosina returned in 2006 for 8 races of the series. Despite DNFs in three races, the Slovak won his first points at elite level in each of his last three finishes, at Paul Ricard, Dijon and Mugello.

2007-2011 Porsche Supercup

In 2007 Rosina entered the Porsche Supercup one-make series with the late Walter Lechner's Lechner Racing team. Supercup is a recognised training ground for future GT and DTM stars. Le Mans winner Stéphane Ortelli, triple DTM Champion Rene Rast (against whom Rosina would compete) and German touring car legend Uwe Alzen, and notable Dutch Sportscar pilot Patrick Huisman are all graduates of the series. Winning points in his rookie season, the next year the Slovak would score two podiums,^[2] the second at a torrential Silverstone,^[3] during which he memorably led the race from eventual winner Sean Edwards. In 2009, his third season in Supercup, Rosina would be rewarded for consistency, with no retirements and an international career best P3 in the championship, narrowly ahead of four time Supercup champion Huisman.

2010 was to be less successful, a second-place finish in the season opener in Bahrain^[4] the highlight of a season that saw Rosina finish eighth in the standings.^[5] A move to new team Verva Racing for 2011 yielded little more success and the young Slovak moved on.^[6]

2011-2013 Lamborghini Reiter works drive

In 2011, without a full season race seat, Rosina appeared in four rounds of the FIA GT3 European Championship, scoring an unfancied pole position at his home circuit the Slovakiaring in a guest drive for the Lamborghini customer team Leipert Engineering team, ahead of Lamborghini works entry Reiter Engineering's own entrants.^[7] Despite a DNF early in the race due to a puncture, his performance was enough to earn a factory drive for Reiter the following season, as halfway through 2012 Reiter brought the Slovak to replace ex-Formula 1 and Le Mans GT class winner Tomas Enge in the FIA GT1 World Championship alongside former Formula 3000 champion and Le Mans class winner Peter Kox. The highlights of this shortened season for Rosina were a win and a podium at each of two Nurburgring races, and a fourth place and strong second at Donington.

2013 saw the Slovak compete in just six races at elite level, initially for Reiter (again partnered with Kox) and Grasser Racing, as the Lamborghini works support transferred to the latter outfit, and finish ninth overall. The high point was a win at Zolder in which Rosina defended the lead for several laps from future multiple time sportscar champion and Porsche works driver Laurens Vanthoor.^[8]

Retirement and subsequent return with KTM

In late 2013 Rosina announced his retirement from racing to focus his business career. His stated intent was to compete only regionally in Slovakia and the Czech Republic.^[9] In 2020, however, he would make a surprise return in races of the experimental GTX category of the International GT Open, the 24H Series, and the DTM Trophy, netting a win and two podiums.^[10] This time Rosina was competing for noted motorbike and sports car marque KTM. The car was a high power coupé version of the company's X-Bow track car adapted by Rosina's former stable Reiter Engineering, the KTM GTX Concept.^{[11][12][13][14]}

2021-2022 European GT2 success

2020's success in GTX was followed by a full KTM works drive in 2021 and 2022 in the Stephane Ratel-run Fanatec GT2 European Series, again partnering with Reiter Engineering under the team name True Racing. 2021 was a success, Rosina and his teammate Sehdi Sarmini taking podiums at Misano and Monza, followed by a win at Spa Francorchamps in the season closer. The latter result was particularly significant, being the first overall win for the marque in international GT racing.^[15]

In 2022 the Slovak would return as a genuine contender in GT2, this time partnered with Bronze level prospect Filip Sladecka. After a forgettable start at Imola which yielded a sixth place and a retirement, the next round at the Red Bull Ring saw the pair finish first in race 1, followed by a respectable P4 in class the following day.^[16] At the following meeting at Spa, however, he and countryman Sladecka dominated, with a lights to flag victory in the first race, followed by another win from a P3 grid slot in Race 2.^[17] This weekend would see the pair take the series lead for the first time with two rounds to go. P3 and a win in two scrappy Valencia races saw Rosina maintain their lead with only the season finale at Paul Ricard to go.^[18]

The final round of the season at Paul Ricard started positively for team mate Sladecka and Rosina, in qualifying the pair sealing P1 and P3 on the grid for Race 1 and Race 2 respectively. In the first race, however, a chaotic start saw Sladecka drop initially to third, then to ninth after leaving the track, finally recovering to fourth by the time of the mandated driver changes, a position Rosina eventually converted to P3 by the end of the race. Their title rivals Longin and Saelens took victory for 25 points, leaving the series to be decided in the final race later that day.

Race 2 would be a disappointment. A strong start from P3 moving ahead of the rival High Class Racing Audi would put the Slovak into P2, but as the Audi’s pace won out, this would slip to third. After the driver change, Rosina’s teammate Sladecka and the Audi R8 of Aurelius Rusteika made contact into the Le Beausset corner, ending Sladecka’s race and the KTM True Racing duo's hopes for the GT2 European Series title. With this, Rosina and his team-mate would have to settle for the consolation of being European Vice Champions.^[19]

Business

Educated in business management at Bratislava and Oxford Brookes, Rosina is active in business. He is a senior board member of Slovakian automotive car parts manufacturer Matador Automotive.^[20]

Media work

As Slovakia's most successful sportscar driver, Rosina often acts as colour commentator for Czech and Slovakian live broadcasts of motor racing, particularly Formula 1.^[21][22]  He also starred alongside notable motorsport figures Olaf Manthey, Misha Charoudin and Walter Röhrl in 2022's music video about the Nürburgring, the TF Song (Pineapple King) by British/Austrian rock band the Heizer Monkeys.^[23][24]

Personal life

Rosina lives in Bratislava, Slovakia, and is married with two children.

Racing record

Complete Porsche Supercup results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 2 points awarded 2008 onwards in all races) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Pos.	Pts
2007	Lechner Racing School	Porsche 997 GT3	BHR 12	BHR Ret	ESP 16	MON 12	FRA Ret	GBR 9	GER	HUN 8	TUR 5	ITA Ret	BEL Ret			13th	42
2008	Lechner Racing Bahrain	Porsche 997 GT3	BHR 23†	BHR 12	ESP 7	TUR 17	MON 10	FRA 3	GBR 3	GER 15	HUN Ret	ESP 4	BEL 9	ITA 4		10th	89
2009	Walter Lechner Racing	Porsche 997 GT3	BHR 5	BHR 10	ESP 4	MON 4	TUR 6	GBR 11	GER 2	HUN 4	ESP 6	BEL 5	ITA 4	UAE 5	UAE 8	3rd	164
2010	Lechner Racing	Porsche 997 GT3	BHR 2	BHR 4	ESP 8	MON 4	ESP 6	GBR 7	GER 4	HUN Ret	BEL 17	ITA Ret				8th	90
2011	VERVA Racing Team	Porsche 997 GT3	TUR 10	ESP 6	MON Ret	NNS 8	GBR 7	NÜR 5	HUN 7	BEL 10	ITA 9	UAE 8	UAE 13			9th	83
2012	Förch Racing	Porsche 997 GT3	BHR Ret	BHR 10	MON	ESP	GBR	GER	HUN	HUN	BEL	ITA				20th	6
2013	Lechner Racing	Porsche 997 GT3	ESP 13	MON	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	UAE	UAE					NC	0‡

^† Did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance. ^‡ Guest driver – Not eligible for points.

Complete GT1 World Championship results

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Pos	Points
2010	Phoenix Racing/Carsport	Corvette C6.R	ABU QR	ABU CR	SIL QR	SIL CR	BRN QR 17	BRN CR 8	PRI QR	PRI CR	SPA QR	SPA CR	NÜR QR	NÜR CR	ALG QR	ALG CR	NAV QR	NAV CR	INT QR	INT CR	SAN QR	SAN CR	40th	4
2012	Reiter Engineering	Lamborghini Gallardo LP600+ GT3	NOG QR	NOG CR	ZOL QR	ZOL CR	NAV QR	NAV CR	SVK QR 13	SVK CR 11	ALG QR 13	ALG CR Ret	SVK QR 11	SVK CR Ret	MOS QR	MOS CR	NUR QR 1	NUR CR 3	DON QR 4	DON CR 2			13th	44

Complete FIA GT Series results

Year	Team	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Pos	Points
2013	Lamborghini Blancpain Reiter	Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4	Pro	NOG QR	NOG CR	ZOL QR 2	ZOL CR 1	ZAN QR	ZAN CR	SVK QR 3	SVK CR Ret	NAV QR 15	NAV CR 17			9th	51
	GRT Grasser Racing Team													BAK QR 21	BAK CR 6

Complete Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup results

Year	Team	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Pos.	Points
2014	Reiter Engineering	Lamborghini Gallardo FL2	Pro	NOG QR	NOG CR	BRH QR 9	BRH CR Ret	ZAN QR 16	ZAN CR 7	SVK QR Ret	SVK CR DNS	ALG QR	ALG CR	ZOL QR	ZOL CR	BAK QR	BAK CR	24th	6
2016	GRT Grasser Racing Team	Lamborghini Huracán GT3	Pro	MIS QR Ret	MIS CR Ret	BRH QR 16	BRH CR 17	NÜR QR 17	NÜR CR 24	HUN QR 13	HUN CR Ret	CAT QR	CAT CR					NC	0

Complete GT2 European Series results

Year	Team	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Pos.	Points
2021	True Racing by Reiter Engineering	KTM X-Bow GT2 Concept	Pro-Am	MON QR 4	MON CR 5	HOC QR Ret	HOC CR DNS	MIS QR Ret	MIS CR 3	SPA QR 6	SPA CR 1	LEC QR	LEC CR			6th	80
2022	KTM True Racing	KTM X-Bow GT2 Concept	Pro-Am	IMO QR 12	IMO CR Ret	RBR QR 1	RBR CR 7	MIS QR 2	MIS CR 3	SPA QR 1	SPA CR 1	VAL QR 4	VAL CR 1	LEC QR 3	LEC QR 10†	2nd	189

References

1. "Octavia Cup vyhrál šestnáctiletý Rosina". iDNES.cz (in Czech). 2003-09-22. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
2. Magazine, Speedsport. "Porsche Supercup - 2008: Point standings". www.speedsport-magazine.com. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
3. Magazine, Speedsport. "Race result: Porsche Supercup, Race 7 of season 2008 in Silverstone". www.speedsport-magazine.com. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
4. "Race report for Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup round 1 at the Grand Prix of Bahrain". Porschebahn Weblog. 2010-03-13. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
5. Magazine, Speedsport. "Porsche Supercup - Season 2010: Results". www.speedsport-magazine.com. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
6. "Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup 2011 standings | Driver Database". www.driverdb.com. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
7. "FIA GT3 European Championship - Race Reports". gt3europe.com. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
8. "Kox and Rosina take epic Zolder win for Lamborghini Blancpain reiter". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
9. s.r.o, SPORT SK, s r o & Ringier Slovakia Media (25 October 2013). "Štefan Rosina sa rozhodol, končí s profesionálnou kariérou!". Šport.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 2022-10-03.
10. "The new KTM X-BOW GTX to make its sprint debut in the GT Open, at Red Bull Ring". www.gtopen.net. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
11. "KTM X-Bow GTX racer revealed with 532bhp five-cylinder engine". evo. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
12. "The new KTM X-BOW GTX to make its sprint debut in the GT Open, at Red Bull Ring". www.terseries.com. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
13. "True Racing by Reiter Engineering adds fourth KTM X-BOW to GT2 field for home Red Bull Ring round". Fanatec GT2 European Series. 2022-05-18. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
14. RACERS (2020-07-13). "12H Monza: Kraihamer leads before technical hiccups". Racers. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
15. "Sarmini and Rosina take first GT2 victory, Ulrich seals Am title for Sportec and KTM". Fanatec GT2 European Series. 2021-07-25. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
16. "True Racing KTM & LP Racing Audi Take Red Bull Ring Wins | dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
17. sportscarracingnews (2022-07-25). "TRUE RACING KTM DOUBLE UP AT SPA". Sportscar Racing News. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
18. Racecar. "Audi-KTM GT2 European Series title fight rolls on to the last". www.racecar.com. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
19. "Saelens & Longin seal Pro-Am title in dramatic season finale in France". Fanatec GT2 European Series. 2022-10-15. Retrieved 2022-12-04.
20. "Matador je už svetový: Rodinný holding získal podiely vo fabrikách na 5 kontinentoch". Forbes (in Slovak). 2022-06-07. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
21. "Komentátorský tím Formuly 1 je už známy". Omediach.com (in Slovak). Retrieved 2022-10-03.
22. "Formula 1 na Markíze a Dajto". digitalne.ellano.sk. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
23. "WRC legend Walter Rohrl makes music video cameo". www.autosport.com. 16 April 2022. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
24. The TF Song (Pineapple King) (Music, Musical), Amain Films, 2022-03-16, retrieved 2022-10-03

External links

• Official website
• Štefan Rosina career summary at DriverDB.com