WEC | Lamborghini SC63, solid foundations: “Now work to grow”

The Lamborghini SC63 finally faced its first race making its debut in the FIA ​​World Endurance Championship at the 1812 km of Qatar.

The Lusail circuit hosted the first seasonal event of the series and for the Ligier-chassis LMDh of the Sant'Agata Bolognese company it was the first real competitive comparison against its rivals in the Hypercar Class, some of which were only encountered in the tests carried out in winter .

It must immediately be said that there were no particular result objectives, other than that of finishing all the 10 hours scheduled, possibly avoiding technical problems and accumulating the greatest number of km possible to gain information and data on a prototype of great management complexity, such as even the leaders of the Casa del Toro had underlined in recent days.

The only problems came during the Prologue tests and Free Practice, where it was first necessary to replace the differential with a subsequent check on the gearbox, followed by a small problem with the steering wheel which was fixed on Monday evening, while on Thursday a gearbox failure caused stopped car #63 prematurely.

For Qualifying it fell to Daniil Kvyat to attack the clock, obtaining the 18th time and missing access to the Hyperpole, while in the race the Russian together with Mirko Bortolotti and Edoardo Mortara concentrated on putting together the greatest number of come back trying to avoid any kind of controversial situation.

The only flaw was the finding of a suspension problem which forced the car to reduce speed and return to the pits, losing a few laps. In the end, the best average of the three was obtained by Bortolotti, the one who also drove the SC63 the most in the tests, stopping approximately 1.3 seconds behind that of Matt Campbell with the Porsche.

But what mattered was precisely seeing the checkered flag and it doesn't matter if it was a 14th place 5 laps behind the winners because everything seen in the Middle East by the men of Lamborghini Squadra Corse and Iron Lynx will be useful to make progress in future releases.

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

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

“We must look at the positive aspects and we can consider this appointment as an excellent start to our adventure”, underlines Bortolotti.

“We managed to finish the race, which was also our goal today, and we learned and collected a lot of useful data in every session this weekend. I think it's a good starting point for us, it's certainly still there a lot of work to do.”

Mortara adds: “It was a long week in Qatar, we put in many hours of work, but we are extremely happy that we were able to finish the event. It wasn't easy because it was our debut in the championship and there are many aspects we need to improve on.”

“But in terms of reliability we have shown that we have a car that can finish a race without major problems and that, at various times, was competitive.”

“Now we just have to understand how to improve our technical package and we certainly have a long work to do, but this is a fantastic project and personally I felt really good with the team.”

Kvyat was also satisfied: “Today it was important to finish the race by reaching the checkered flag because we needed to collect as much data and information as possible for the drivers, engineers and mechanics.”

“We did exactly what we had planned before the start, it's a good start, we start with solid foundations, but we have to work hard to get to the top.”

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

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

Team Director, Emmanuel Esnault, analyzes the weekend as follows: “We leave Lusail with positive feelings for the outcome of the race. Starting such a project required a huge effort from those involved and I want to thank all our collaborators, drivers, team members, mechanics and engineers for their brilliant commitment and long hours of work over the last few weeks and months.”

“This is the start of a learning season, but having such a solid foundation is very motivating when you consider the huge amount of work ahead of us. In a couple of weeks we will participate in the 12h of Sebring, one of the most difficult races in the world”.

“We need to make the most of what we learn during race weekends to develop the car and further improve our on-track operations to give our drivers the best possible opportunities.”

Rouven Mohr, Technical Manager of Lamborghini, comments: “In general, I am very happy with the debut of our Lamborghini SC63. For us it was very exciting because it is a great challenge and, in the end, let me say that the final result is the demonstration that the team worked in harmony, that the performances are there and that, certainly, we must improve further to be even more competitive”.