It was the objective declared from the beginning and it was achieved: Lamborghini reached the Top10 in its very first 24h of Le Mans, in a race that was anything but simple and full of ideas that will be useful for the future.
Mirko Bortolotti, Daniil Kvyat and Edoardo Mortara brought their SC63 #63 to the finish line in tenth place, fighting for a long time in the second group of the Hypercar Class against Peugeot, BMW and Alpine, as well as their teammates in the #19, Matteo Cairoli, Andrea Caldarelli and Romain Grosjean, armed with LMDh #19.
As we were saying, this fourth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship was very tough due to long-term unstable weather that shuffled the cards a lot of times. Yet the men of Taurus, represented by the Iron Lynx team, did nothing wrong, adopting the right strategies and always getting every choice right in what should have been a mission towards the checkered flag.
Among other things, after last Sunday’s tests the #63 had precautionally changed the chassis following a data correlation that didn’t add up, restarting work from a race perspective in Free Practice and placing 14th in Qualifying, while the #19 finished 21st .
For the race the aim was to complete the entire duration of the event while staying out of trouble, especially when you find yourself in the middle of the big group at the start and with crazy weather that changed the conditions of the 13.626km track several times.
Both Lamborghinis succeeded in their aim, while others suffered more, such as BMW and Alpine, with the Peugeots ultimately finishing in the middle of the SC63s, which were able to put together 309 laps (2 less than the Ferrari winner), demonstrating a convincing solidity which must now be used as a springboard to increase performance.
#63 Lamborghini Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63: Mirko Bortolotti, Daniil Kvyat, Edoardo Mortara
Photo by: Alexander Trienitz
“First of all, I am extremely proud of all the people involved in this project: Lamborghini, Iron Lynx, Ligier, my teammates, all the mechanics and engineers,” Bortolotti is keen to highlight.
“We have worked hard in these last months, we managed to finish the race with both cars on their debut and achieve a Top10. We must be happy with what we have done, we know we can still improve, but now let’s enjoy this fantastic result and focus on the next ones steps to take.”
Kvyat also agreed: “It’s truly an amazing result for us, a great reward for all the hard work the team has put in since the start of the season.”
“The next steps we need to take will be crucial, but if we managed to achieve this result with the car we have, brand new and without updates, it shows how strong we are and that we can aim for victory in the future.”
Mortara follows him: “For us today was a very important result. First of all, finishing the race is special, especially when we face a competition like the FIA WEC, but finishing in the Top10 was our second goal. It’s been a long week for everyone and rewarding ourselves like this is really motivating.”
#19 Lamborghini Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63: Romain Grosjean, Andrea Caldarelli, Matteo Cairoli.
Photo by: Emanuele Clivati | AG Photo
In the #19 crew coming from IMSA, Caldarelli explains that the satisfaction is also dictated by the fact that not everything went as smoothly as we thought: “I think that our objective of finishing the race with both cars was achieved, it was Fantastic”.
“We did everything we could to reach the finish line and, we can say, many things happened during the race that threatened to stop us, but I am happy for all the people in Sant’Agata Bolognese and in Iron Lynx because they worked hard to prepare the cars”.
“It was, however, a bittersweet ending because we thought we had a good chance of scoring points given the good race pace, but we must not forget that this was our first 24 Hours. I am proud of the work done.”
Cairoli adds: “It’s difficult to put this result into words, our goal from the beginning of the week was to get to the finish line with both cars. We had a great pace and I can’t wait for next year.”
“The result is what it is, but to see the checkered flag after 11 months of hard work is fantastic and we should be proud of it. What we did today was magical.”
Grosjean comments: “We are happy to have reached the finish line. Honestly, driving for Lamborghini at Le Mans was a dream and I can’t help but thank the whole team for the opportunity they gave me, because we gave everything in this race.”
“I’m proud of the effort and the final result, we also had the potential to reach the Top 10, but it was a wonderful experience that will serve us well for the future.”
#19 Lamborghini Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63: Romain Grosjean, Andrea Caldarelli, Matteo Cairoli
Photo by: Emanuele Clivati | AG Photo
Iron Lynx’s Race Operations Director, Emmanuel Esnault, was also happy: “It’s a great success. Finishing the race without major problems was our first objective, and we achieved it without a single return to the garage due to problems and obtaining our first points finish in the FIA WEC”.
“I am proud of how our team managed the race and faced adversity, achieving brilliant results. Knowing the incredible amount of effort and dedication that has gone into this project at every level, I can’t wait to see what we will be able to deliver in the future, starting with next weekend’s IMSA event at Watkins Glen and the upcoming Brazilian round of the FIA WEC.”
Rouven Mohr, Lamborghini Chief Technical Officer, concludes: “I am thrilled with our debut at Le Mans: it was Lamborghini’s first time ever here at the 24 Hours and both cars finished the race and, one of them, even reached the Top10. Furthermore, in LMGT3, we achieved a Top5 with the Iron Dames, which gives greater visibility to our brand. Congratulations to all!”
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