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Lamborghini Celebrates Historic First IMSA GTD Pro Victory At Season-Ending Petit Le Mans
Lamborghini celebrated a significant achievement with their first-ever victory in the WeatherTech IMSA SportsCar Championship GT Daytona Pro category. Factory drivers Mirko Bortolotti, Jordan Pepper, and Franck Perera led the #19 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 to win the season-ending Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. They dominated large parts of the 10-hour race, securing maximum Michelin Endurance Cup points at both four-hour and eight-hour intervals.
The victory marked Lamborghini's inaugural win in IMSA’s GTD Pro category and their first in GT3 alongside Iron Lynx. This triumph follows last year's success by Forte Racing. The team, consisting of Devlin DeFrancesco, Loris Spinelli, and Misha Goikhberg, narrowly missed consecutive wins due to a late full-course caution. Meanwhile, Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti's trio finished fifth in GTD.
In the GT Prototype class, the Lamborghini Iron Lynx SC63 team faced challenges but managed an eighth-place finish. Matteo Cairoli, Andrea Caldarelli, and Romain Grosjean overcame an incident to secure points and set the fastest lap of the race. Despite setbacks, they demonstrated resilience throughout the event.
During free practice sessions for GTD Pro, competition was intense with top cars separated by just over a second. The #19 car of Bortolotti, Pepper, and Perera emerged fastest in FP1 by 0.059 seconds. In qualifying, they secured sixth on the grid. In GTD, Bovy qualified seventh despite early issues.
The #45 WTRAndretti car achieved its best qualifying result of the year in fifth place. Formal ended up just under eight-tenths off pole position. The team focused on setup optimisation during practice sessions for GTP as well.
Race Day Challenges and Strategies
At the start of the race with Perera driving the #19 Huracán, Lamborghini gained one position before two early cautions occurred. Fuel consumption and tyre management were crucial during green flag periods as Pepper navigated through traffic to take the lead. He maintained a seven-second advantage before switching with Bortolotti.
The #78 Forte Racing crew ran at the front for most of the race in GTD but fell under pressure from Conquest Racing Ferrari during a final restart with 30 minutes left. Spinelli attempted to regain the lead but finished second by seven-tenths.
GTP Class Performance
Caldarelli started in ninth position after gaining spots due to others' issues ahead. Grosjean maintained tenth despite contact with another car but later lost three laps after being hit from behind while Cairoli was driving. Repairs were needed after damage occurred.
As night fell, Grosjean returned to set the fastest lap time of 1m11.981 despite technical issues hampering their chances towards race end; they finished eighth overall.
Driver Reflections
Bortolotti expressed pride in finally achieving victory after challenging seasons: "It’s been a long time coming... I am really proud of my team-mates; we finally got results we deserved." Cairoli acknowledged difficulties faced yet highlighted positive stints made: "Not easiest weekend... there's still work ahead."
Caldarelli noted improvements found after sunset despite earlier struggles: "We suddenly found more pace... it's pity because evening car was very good." Grosjean praised learning experience working with Lamborghini this year: "Fantastic experience... proud having fastest lap."
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