IMSA | Lamborghini Convincing, But Not Rewarded at Indianapolis

The “Battle on the Bricks,” round four of the IMSA SportsCar Championship Endurance Cup, ended before the checkered flag for Team Lamborghini Iron Lynx.

At Indianapolis, USA, the SC63 fought in the early stages of the race for a podium finish, before an unfortunate contact forced it to end its race prematurely.

Team Lamborghini Iron Lynx was one of the main protagonists of the GTP category on Sunday with the #63 crew of Matteo Cairoli, Andrea Caldarelli and Romain Grosjean. In the first part of the race, in the rain, Grosjean was able to temporarily take first place and, subsequently, Cairoli remained in contention for the top. However, about ninety minutes from the checkered flag, an accident between Caldarelli and a GTD car damaged the left suspension.

The overall performance nevertheless left Team Lamborghini Iron Lynx with encouraging signs ahead of the Petit Le Mans, which will be held on October 12 at Road Atlanta and will be the final round of the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Free practice and qualifying

Having never raced at Indianapolis before, free practice gave Team Lamborghini Iron Lynx the chance to familiarize themselves with the American circuit. In total, the SC63 completed 110 laps and, in the second session, recorded the third best time of 1’15”840 with Grosjean. Despite some difficulties encountered with the increase in tire temperature, the drivers reported positive feedback regarding the balance of the car, especially in race trim.

With greater knowledge of the track thanks to previous experience in the IndyCar Series, Grosjean was given the task of qualifying the No. 63. Improving lap after lap, the Frenchman achieved a time of 1:15.495, good for tenth on the starting grid, just under a tenth of a second behind the No. 5 Porsche.

#63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63: Matteo Cairoli, Andrea Caldarelli, Romain Grosjean

Photo by: Art Fleischmann

Competition

The start was also entrusted to Grosjean, who was able to hold on to his starting position. The safety car intervened after twenty minutes for an LMP2 prototype that had gone off the track and, with the arrival of rain, all the competitors made a pit stop to switch to wet tyres.

With another GTD car stopped on the track and worsening weather conditions, the race remained under yellow flags almost at the end of the second hour, with the SC63 having climbed to fifth place in the meantime. After the restart, Grosjean was able to gain the lead of the race, thanks to a series of overtaking moves on completely wet asphalt.

With Matteo Cairoli taking over, the #63 was forced to serve a drive-through penalty due to a higher number of mechanics involved than permitted in a previous pit stop. Despite the penalty, the SC63 was able to take advantage of a further interruption in the race to move up to fourth place.

Cairoli subsequently moved into third place and swapped drivers with Caldarelli while holding first. During the fifth hour, contact with the #55 GTD Ford caused irreparable damage to the left suspension and forced Team Lamborghini Iron Lynx to retire.

#63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63: Matteo Cairoli, Andrea Caldarelli, Romain Grosjean

Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images

Matteo Cairoli: “It was a positive race until we had to retire. I think we showed great potential in the wet, but we still have to work to maintain the same competitiveness in the dry. Overall I am quite happy with the overall performance, but obviously I am very disappointed with the final outcome. We deserved a good result today.”

Andrea Caldarelli: “It wasn’t an easy stint for me because already at the pit stop we had a small problem that made us return to the track in tenth place. Then I managed to overtake two cars a few laps before the contact with the GTD car. I’m sure it wasn’t my fault, I was on the inside and I think the driver didn’t see me. Unfortunately he hit my left rear wheel, the suspension broke and we had to retire. It’s a shame and I’m really disappointed because we had so much potential, maybe not in the dry but certainly in the wet. This weekend we deserved a better result.”

Romain Grosjean: “I think there were a lot of positives this weekend. In the second practice session we were third fastest, qualifying was difficult, but in the race we improved step by step and the car is getting better and better. In the wet we were flying, the car was incredible and I even managed to take the lead. Obviously there are some things we need to improve, but overall it was a really positive weekend. It’s a shame we had to retire, but we will analyse what we have gained and come back even stronger for Petit Le Mans.”

Emmanuel Esnault, Race Operations Director for Iron Lynx: “There are strong positives to highlight today. For the first time, we were able to compete for a potential podium and even the race lead with our strong trio of drivers. However, we faced some challenges in terms of execution and operation that we need to analyze and work on for the upcoming events. Addressing these issues is a key part of our learning experience and, in addition to taking the positives, we need to work hard to make overall progress and improve our package. We feel we are moving in the right direction. Petit Le Mans is just around the corner and we are looking forward to a smooth race.”