The challenge that Lamborghini Iron Lynx is about to begin in the FIA World Endurance Championship is something totally new and not at all simple.
In 2024 the Sant'Agata Bolognese company will debut its SC63 LMDh first in the World Championship and then in the IMSA SportsCar Championship, and preparations have been continuing with heads down for several months now.
Defending the colors of Toro and Lince in the Hypercar Class will be Mirko Bortolotti, Daniil Kvyat and Edoardo Mortara, but we will only discover the unknowns that hover around the entire project in the first race which will take place in Qatar in March.
Photo by: Lamborghini Squadra Corse
Lamborghini SC63 LMDh
“For us it is a new and high-level chapter. It is impossible to say today where we are in terms of performance, but I can define myself as happy with the development we have achieved up to now, especially in the last two months”, highlights Bortolotti in the round table organized by top endurance series in which Motorsport.com participated.
“In terms of reliability we have made an excellent step forward, obviously there are still many things to do, but I can't wait to start this challenge and be in Qatar for the first race.”
For the moment, Lamborghini is the only manufacturer to have chosen the Ligier Automotive chassis among the four proposed by the regulation (thus discarding Oreca, Multimatic and Dallara).
A decision taken with great enthusiasm by the entire Squadra Corse department, with the awareness that a path could be undertaken arm in arm, counting on the full support of the French brand, without distractions from commitments with other rival companies.
“I think that our top management had good reasons for making this choice, which we are very happy with”, explains the Trentino driver.
“We both face a new challenge, we had the opportunity to work closely with Ligier and build the car according to the direction we wanted to take.”
“Over the course of the season and the years to come we will see what we can do, but for now I can safely say that we are satisfied with the work done to date. We are all eager to start this new chapter.”
Photo by: Lamborghini Squadra Corse
Mirko Bortolotti, Edoardo Mortara, Daniil Kvyat, Lamborghini Iron Lynx
Bortolotti is a boy who is always ambitious and fierce when he drops his visor, but also endowed with great intelligence and awareness that certain paths require time and patience. This is why 2024 at the wheel of the SC63 #63 will have to be experienced one step at a time.
“It's all new for us, we are at a very high level of endurance racing that none of us have ever seen before in the company. We learn day by day, with every lap you manage to complete, every test and every time you get in the car you can take steps forward.”
“We work every day trying to improve because we still have a lot of things to do from a seasonal perspective. There is really a lot of enthusiasm, but also the awareness that this is an important challenge against the best in the world between teams, drivers and manufacturers” .
“We know very well that everyone has much more experience than us, we have to concentrate on our work; on the one hand we have to think about having fun thinking about us, on the other we have to try to learn quickly because the goal is to get to the top. We know that it will take a a little, so first of all we have to focus on ourselves.”
Photo by: Lamborghini Squadra Corse
Lamborghini SC63 LMDh
Finally, the 34-year-old explains how the foundations of this adventure were laid, which began last year in the LMP2 Class with the Oreca of Prema Racing, starting the preparation of the operations that take place in collaboration between Lamborghini Squadra Corse, Iron Lynx and Prema Engineering.
“With Iron Lynx and Prema it's like talking about one big company, most of the working group we were involved with in LMP2 last year is here today.”
“2023 served as a year of preparation for all of us, understanding the rules and how the races work and showing up at the start of 2024 knowing how to move.”
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