The Lamborghini SC63 made its debut at the Daytona International Speedway, where it is currently engaged in the first phase of American tests which will serve to continue its development.
In view of the debut in the 2024 season, the Iron Lynx team is carrying out the work of understanding and growing the LMDh of Toro, and after the activities in Florida it will travel to Texas for further tests planned on the Circuit of the Americas in Austin.
First, however, there is a lot to do on the track which at the end of January 2024 will host the 24h of Daytona, the opening event of the IMSA year in which, however, the hybrid prototype from Sant’Agata Bolognese built on a Ligier chassis will not take part.
Photo by: Lamborghini Squadra Corse
#63 Lamborghini Iron Lynx, Lamborghini SC63 LMDh: Andrea Caldarelli
The debut is in fact scheduled for March at the 1812km of Qatar, the inaugural round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, but the Daytona tests are mandatory for those who have to do the IMSA homologation and collect data for the definition of the relative Balance of Performance, for which the Lamborghini could not miss it as the American series is the second commitment scheduled for next season.
After the release of Almeria in carbon black, the SC63 found its ‘Verde Mantis’ combined with black, in a slightly revisited livery with the central stripe of the nose now white, on which the tricolor band of the flag makes a beautiful display Italian, where the race #63 also appears for the first time, also placed on the side behind the front wheels.
Taking the wheel on the first day of testing was Andrea Caldarelli, who together with Romain Grosjean will be the protagonist in the IMSA Endurance Cup races for 2024.
Although the timed times are not official, the Abruzzo native lapped in 1’35″027 in the second session on Wednesday, making him the fastest of the GTP Class LMDhs and finishing 1″ behind the 1’34″031 set by Tom Blomqvist he signed the Pole Position of the 24h of Daytona in 2023 with the Acura of Meyer Shank Racing, which he then took to success in the race.
![#63 Lamborghini Iron Lynx, Lamborghini SC63 LMDh: Andrea Caldarelli](https://cdn-2.motorsport.com/images/mgl/2Gzbmx10/s1000/lamborghini-sc63.jpg)
Photo by: Lamborghini Squadra Corse
#63 Lamborghini Iron Lynx, Lamborghini SC63 LMDh: Andrea Caldarelli
Obviously we are talking about time trials which have a relative value, both because at the moment all the cars do not have parameters imposed by the BoP, but also because each team carries out different jobs as happens in all tests preparing for the new year.
In Lamborghini Iron Lynx there were no serious technical problems, apart from some trouble in the early hours of the morning and a puncture without consequences, and it was possible to organize operations to understand the behavior of the car with new and used tires, different loads of petrol and various arrangements.
Together with Caldarelli, Mirko Bortolotti, Daniil Kvyat and Grosjean himself are also present at Daytona, who will take turns at the wheel in the next tests in Florida and Austin.
![#63 Lamborghini Iron Lynx, Lamborghini SC63 LMDh: Andrea Caldarelli](https://cdn-3.motorsport.com/images/mgl/Yv8Nbke0/s1000/lamborghini-sc63.jpg)
Photo by: Lamborghini Squadra Corse
#63 Lamborghini Iron Lynx, Lamborghini SC63 LMDh: Andrea Caldarelli
“I think he’s growing well, the first day was very positive, the car worked without any major problems. Honestly, the pace is there. The weather was excellent, we were also a bit surprised to be so competitive straight away, but there is a lot to do to make the car reliable and be able to race consistently, using the tires correctly”, highlighted Iron Lynx team principal Andrea Piccini.
“We had a slow start in the morning because we had some things to finish; in IMSA it’s a little different, at 7pm everything closes here, while in Europe we work until late at night! We had a lot of work to do and little time , so we had to finish it in the morning. But it’s definitely very encouraging to be in the lead after the first session.”
“Problems along the way? I think things like that should be taken into account. Having accidents during the development of the car happens. There were tests scheduled immediately after Paul Ricard, but we changed the program with other activities.”
“I can’t say it’s good to have an accident, but it showed some areas we needed to improve on the car. From a negative thing, for sure, we took some positives and now we have a stronger and also more reliable car.”
“The test program ran pretty much without any major problems right from the start, apart from the first day where we had to adjust some small things on the engine. We got good mileage on all the days of testing we did, with some little problem here and there, parts to change and fix, a lot of electronic settings to be in the right power range to use the hybrid system correctly.So we are far from perfect, let’s say, regarding the hybrid part of the engine. But overall everything worked well.”
Additional information by Charles Bradley
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