WEC | Lamborghini, Top10 possible: “But let’s think about ourselves”

At the end of a long summer break, which began on July 10 with the conclusion of the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, Lamborghini Squadra Corse returns to action at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, USA, for the sixth round of the FIA ​​World Endurance Championship.

On the Texas track, once again, Mirko Bortolotti, Edoardo Mortara and Daniil Kvyat will be behind the wheel of the #63 Lamborghini.

The Team Lamborghini Iron Lynx crew is coming off a bittersweet trip to Brazil, where they impressed their rivals in the Hypercar category by consistently battling for the Top 10 before suffering a puncture in the second half of the race.

As always, the two Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2s #60 of Iron Lynx and #85 of Iron Dames in the LMGT3 category are unmissable. Both line-ups, formed by Sarah Bovy-Rahel Frey-Michelle Gatting and Matteo Cressoni-Franck Perera-Claudio Schiavoni, are looking for an important redemption, especially the three girls after having recorded the pole position and led the early stages of the race at Interlagos.

Thanks to the experience and reliability gained during the first half of the year, Team Lamborghini Iron Lynx will arrive in the States with high expectations and, unlike Sao Paulo, with the advantage of having already faced COTA several times, including recently with Kvyat during the collective tests organized by Michelin. Furthermore, during the development phase of the SC63 prototype, the Italian team had already tested the track last December.

The Lone Star Le Mans will be a crucial race for all participants in the World Endurance Championship, as two weeks later the penultimate round will take place in Japan, the 6 Hours of Fuji.

Discovering the Circuit of the Americas

The Circuit of the Americas is a recently built facility, inaugurated in 2012 and designed, among others, by Hermann Tilke. It is 5,513 meters long and consists of twenty curves, which take inspiration from European circuits such as Silverstone (UK) and Hockenheim (Germany).

The most distinctive point is the first corner, called “Big Red”, which boasts an 11% uphill gradient from the finish line. In general, the layout offers a series of sinuous and high-speed corners, a long one-kilometer straight, several hairpins and heavy braking. Despite the wide roadway, traffic will again play a key role throughout the race.

The WEC has been racing in Austin since 2013, when the first edition of the then 6 Hours of COTA was hosted. In total, six races have been held, with the exception of the two-year period 2018-2019 and the three-year period 2021-2023; 2024, in fact, marks the return of the Texan track to the calendar.

#63 Lamborghini Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63: Mirko Bortolotti, Edoardo Mortara, Daniil Kvyat

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

Q&A with Mirko Bortolotti

How important is it to return to the track on a circuit where the SC63 has already undergone tests?
“We are certainly looking forward to another round of the WEC. The team, together with Daniil, recently took part in the Michelin tests, gathering further valuable data that we can use in the race. We hope that all this will help us prepare for the weekend as best as possible, but our main goal remains to try to discover more about our car.”

Could the SC63 adapt quickly to the Austin circuit? What do you expect to achieve?
“We’ve raced on a variety of tracks this year and each one has had a very similar challenge. I don’t think Austin will be a turning point for us. We know where we need to improve the car, which can’t be done drastically from one race to the next, and we’re aiming to have a clean, trouble-free weekend, building on the SC63’s excellent reliability and maximising its potential to try to finish in the points again.”

What are the main goals and challenges of this weekend?
“We are still trying to improve the performance of the car and in itself it is not easy because we have not had many opportunities this year. We know it will be a difficult weekend in terms of pace, but we are there to gather as much information as possible for the next seasons and hopefully we can make the most of what we have learned so far.”

“Our main problem is the lap time, but we just have to focus on our goals and get to the finish line. If everything goes well and if our opponents have some problems, for us the top 10 is a possible result to achieve, even if it is too early to make predictions.”