First Lamborghini wins “About Time” for Iron Lynx – Sportscar365

Mirko Bortolotti said it was “about time” for Iron Lynx to secure its first major endurance victory with Lamborghini after the team took a GTD Pro class win at the Motul Petit Le Mans.

The Italian squad defeated Risi Competizione and Heart of Racing Team in the 10-hour finale of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship on Saturday, winning a major endurance race for the first time since partnering with Lamborghini in 2023.

It previously won the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa with Ferrari in 2021, but has since suffered a series of retirements in major enduros, including the Rolex 24 at Daytona and last year’s Petit Le Mans, where it finished sixth.

“It’s been two tough seasons, tough years for us,” Bortolotti said.

“I think we showed good potential but we never managed to realize it. I never managed to achieve the result we achieved today.

“I think it’s a proud moment to definitely be at the top of the podium again in IMSA. It’s a great championship for us. We always enjoy being here. I think it was time to achieve such a result.

“I am very proud of the work that the entire Lamborghini team has done this week. Of course my teammates, fantastic performance from them.

“Just a fantastic end to the 2024 season. Just super pleased and excited and happy about this result.”

The Lamborghini factory driver continued to describe the result as a “huge relief” and also praised the personal significance of completing another American endurance classic after previous victories at Daytona and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

“It’s no secret that this was the first win we’ve won in any championship together with Iron Lynx over the last two seasons,” he said.

“So it’s definitely a big day for the team. The potential was there multiple times. Not just in IMSA, but [also] other championships.

“Something went wrong, maybe we made wrong decisions or something just didn’t work our way, which meant we never really managed to get the result we deserved.

“I think from that point of view it’s a big relief for the team [get] Such a big win.

“Personally, I’m also really happy to be able to achieve another really important victory here in America after the victory at Daytona. It means a lot.”

Pepper: Prototype Traffic opened the door for the race-winning pass on Serra

While the No. 19 Lamborghini was a constant presence at the front of the GTD Pro field, Iron Lynx had to overcome a challenge from Ferrari stars Risi Competizione to win.

Pepper announced after the race that he was able to overtake the No. 62 Ferrari 296 GT3 driven by Daniel Serra when the Brazilian was caught behind the No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8, which had re-entered the track with cold tires.

“This championship is obviously multi-class racing at its best, and I think that’s what’s cool about it, all those different elements,” Pepper said.

“I think there are a lot of ups and downs for everyone. I think everyone wins sometimes and loses sometimes, but obviously we capitalized on it.

“We had a good strategy to get into the fight with them. He just passed me and then I was able to capitalize on that and obviously get him back through the traffic.

“It worked in our favor. From then on, clean air was really important.

“The last restart – when it came down to it, obviously I knew the best thing we could do was close the gap.

“Of course I had two cars between us. I managed to increase that gap quite a bit and I knew they had the pace ahead of us in the first ten to 15 laps.

“Once that calmed down, it seemed like we had control over her. It was just a matter of being lucky in the traffic situations.

“I think he got a little confused. Of course I was a bit unlucky with the points, but I think the gap was pretty stable around the three or four second mark, which in motorsport is big enough to be comfortable.”