Lamborghini Squadra Corse also completed the third race with its brand new SC63 in a season which for the moment is seeing the Taurus company make a clear path of checkered flags between the FIA World Endurance Championship and the IMSA SportsCar Championship.
An aspect that is anything but obvious if we think about the complexity of the LMDh prototypes, such as the one with a Ligier chassis and managed by Iron Lynx on the track, and the toughness of the endurance races that Mirko Bortolotti, Daniil Kvyat and Edoardo Mortara are running in the World Championship, while in North America there are Matteo Cairoli, Andrea Caldarelli and Romain Grosjean.
For now there have been no major problems between Qatar, Sebring and Imola, while from a performance point of view the focus is on trying to learn as much as possible to calmly take small steps forward.
Rouven Mohr spoke about this and more, present at the 6h of Imola last weekend, who met with Motorsport.com and other journalists to take stock of the situation after the first engagements with the #63 branded hybrid prototype.
“As I have already said on other occasions, in this first season we have a lot of things to learn about the car, set-up, reliability and more to explore because a prototype has several differences compared to what we have been used to doing with GTs. improvements will arrive throughout the season, but obviously it won't be easy”, begins Lamborghini's Chief Technical Officer and Head of Motorsport.
Rouven Mohr, Technical Director of Lamborghini Squadra Corse
Photo by: Lamborghini Squadra Corse
How are you finding yourself in the dual role of CTO and Head of Motorsport?
“Having been part of the Research & Development department, I was already connected to motorsport. When Giorgio Sanna had to leave his role I took over, but by then we were already in full development of the LMDh, so I knew what all the things needed to be done. In the first place today is customer management which requires a lot of time and attention, so I am reorganizing. At the same time, I want to look for the right person who can be the Head of Motorsport for the team and all members of Lamborghini, with. the mentality suited to the situation and the role. It will take attention and time.”
From a development perspective, what are the pros and cons of having just one car?
“On pure development it is clearly a disadvantage, but we decided this way because we wanted to make sure we put our best efforts both in IMSA and in the WEC, with which there is an important link and which can give us the right visibility. The capabilities at the time of The registration was for one car and from the brand's point of view it was the right choice. As regards strategy, work in the pits and set-up we can act more quickly, then it is clear that having more cars allows us to speed up learning. “.
There is talk of a WEC that will force manufacturers to enter two official cars, what is your point of view?
“Our ambition has always been to have two cars on the grid, but we must also think about it taking one step at a time and not go beyond our possibilities because it would be counterproductive. As I said before, 2024 will serve to learn a lot, including how to manage the Balance of Performance and potential, once we understand everything, we will have a base from which we can start and increase the number of cars, but we must not run the risk of exaggerating and losing our bearings.”
#63 Lamborghini Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63: Mirko Bortolotti, Edoardo Mortara, Daniil Kvyat
Photo by: Paolo Belletti
Would there be potential for a second SC63?
“At the moment we are evaluating and trying to understand if there are the forces to do it, even economically. It is too early to talk about it and we don't want the rumors to influence and undermine the stability of the team which is working so hard on the current car. Certain choices will have consequences and therefore we will also talk about it with Iron Lynx to understand well which decision to make. For now we focus on the program we have and the progress, the rest will also depend on the scenarios that arise. Racing in championships like the WEC requires space and investments, for now we don't know what adding a second SC63 to the grid could mean.”
Have you put an end to the commitment?
“No, we are open and want to continue racing because it is a long-term strategy. At the moment the LMDh is an addition to our motorsport activities, such as the one-make series and the GT3, for which we are also developing the new car, and we carry it forward because we believe in it. We don't want to do like other brands that arrive for one or two years and then disappear. Of course, things can change continuously, if this is the case then we will make the appropriate assessments because we are a company that moves money “.
What aspects of the SC63 are you focusing on the most?
“Definitely reliability, we recently did a test in Portimao in the wet and this helped a lot to understand it better. At the moment we are focusing on the management of aerodynamic balance and the chassis and mechanical set-ups, which then influence traction, a in turn based on energy and torque imposed by the regulations. These are all much more challenging aspects to understand and manage than the GT3s, the LMDhs are heavier than the LMP1s and have more downforce. This is why we carefully observed how our rivals behaved last year, so that we can come up with ideas to start learning well.”
#63 Lamborghini Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63: Mirko Bortolotti, Edoardo Mortara, Daniil Kvyat
Photo by: Emanuele Clivati | AG Photo
What are you missing to compete with your rivals?
“They are all small details that put together make the difference, the level in this category is very high and it takes time to be at the best with all the parameters. We also saw it in the first two races, there have been steps forward and we need to continue to understand it more about every little thing.”
The regulations allow only one endurance test ahead of Le Mans, do you think that's enough?
“We did ours in Portimao, unfortunately it was raining and it's obvious that we'd like to do others, but that's how it is. We'll find out if it was enough at Le Mans, where anything can happen until the end, even with regards to reliability. And racing a race is different than doing a test, for now we are quite optimistic about reliability, but we have no certainties.”
Are you okay with the work schedule?
“We started filming in August and there were three weeks of stopping due to the accident at Paul Ricard, but in Qatar we managed to finish the race without problems, as well as at Sebring and Imola. The performances were certainly not up to par. height, but from my point of view we are doing everything well, even the simulations and the work at home, thanks to which we can get to the track prepared. For now I'm happy, I know it takes time and with the limitation of testing it's not easy.”
#63 Lamborghini Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63: Mirko Bortolotti, Edoardo Mortara, Daniil Kvyat
Photo by: Emanuele Clivati | AG Photo
How is the collaboration with Ligier?
“We are very happy, the choice was made based on their skills and what they have demonstrated in their history. Lamborghini is a small company and we needed a collaborator to work closely with, reflecting our work philosophy. We certainly These are aspects that can be improved, but it's part of the general evolution and if you're not happy with what you do, you can't achieve good results. I see this relationship very positively and I believe that if the car goes well it's also thanks to them.”
What are the car's strong points?
“In addition to reliability, if we look at the lap times of the various drivers and how they manage it, the parameters are very close to each other. This means that the car is easy to drive regardless of the styles of those who drive it. From an aerodynamic point of view I think the performance is excellent, but we haven't yet managed to show its full potential because we need to find the right compromise between mechanical grip, aerodynamics and traction. Sometimes we also had to reduce power to avoid going beyond what is allowed, but it's all a question of refine the details”.
In IMSA you have a different BoP, is the information collected also useful in developing for the WEC?
“It is not possible to make great comparisons in terms of set-up because the configurations between IMSA and WEC are slightly different, but I can say that the basic aspects are the same and every piece of data collected is useful. When we went to Qatar we had only two tests linked purely to performance, the others were based on functionality and for approval, so every aspect can have an influence, as can the BoP”.
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