Iron Lynx trio of Bortolotti, Pepper and Perera take maximum points as Forte Racing finishes second in GTD
Sant’Agata Bolognese/Road Atlanta, 13 October 2024 – Lamborghini claimed an historic first-ever WeatherTech IMSA SportsCar Championship GT Daytona Pro victory as factory drivers Mirko Bortolotti, Jordan Pepper and Franck Perera won the season-ending Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.
The crew of the #19 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 led for large portions of the 10-hour race, picking up maximum Michelin Endurance Cup points at the four-hour and eight-hour markers before moving back into the lead of the race at the final round of pit-stops.
It is the first victory in IMSA’s GTD Pro category, the first in GT3 for Lamborghini and Iron Lynx and marks the second year in a row that Lamborghini has prevailed in the Petit Le Mans following Forte Racing’s triumph last year. The former, with Devlin DeFrancesco, Loris Spinelli and Misha Goikhberg at the wheel, just missed out on back-to-back wins following a late full course caution.
The #45 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti trio of Graham Doyle, Kyle Marcelli and Danny Formal finished an encouraging fifth in GTD, while the #83 Iron Dames of Sarah Bovy, Rahel Frey and Michelle Gatting salvaged 13th after a difficult race.
Meanwhile, the GT Prototype Lamborghini Iron Lynx SC63 trio of Matteo Cairoli, Andrea Caldarelli and Romain Grosjean endured an up-and-down race after an incident, but ultimately collected more points with eighth place, along with the fastest lap of the race.
Free Practice and Qualifying – GTD and GTD Pro
With the top 12 cars covered by just over a second, the competition could not have been fiercer in GTD Pro, with the #19 of Bortolotti, Pepper and Perera ending FP1 as the fastest car, 0.059s quicker than second place. The remaining two sessions focused on getting the car prepared for qualifying, after which it ended up sixth on the grid for the grid. In GTD, after some early issues for the #83 of Bovy qualified seventh, three places ahead of the #78 defending race winners Forte Racing with Goikhberg at the wheel. The #45 WTRAndretti machine enjoyed its best qualifying performance of the year in fifth, with Formal ending up just under eight-tenths off pole.
Race – GTD and GTD Pro
With Perera at the wheel of the #19 Huracán at the start, Lamborghini fought strongly in the opening stages, gaining one position to fifth before the first of two early full course cautions. With fuel consumption and tyre management key in the following lengthy green flag periods, the #19 bided its time before Pepper worked his way through the traffic to hit the front. The South African held a lead of over seven seconds before switching with Bortolotti for his first stint. All three drivers reported a good balance and the Huracán edged away to a 27-second margin by the four-hour marker, picking up the maximum Michelin Endurance Cup points at that stage of the race. After initially going off strategy to gain a fuel advantage over its rivals, the #19 then joined the #62 Ferrari on sequence, and emerged from the final round of stops in the lead. Pepper then held on at the final restart to take an historic maiden GTD Pro victory and the first for Lamborghini and Iron Lynx.
In GTD, the #78 Forte Racing crew of Goikhberg, Spinelli and DeFrancesco ran up at the front for the majority of the race, with the former showing superb consistent speed during his time at the wheel. DeFrancesco took over and stayed inside the top five positions as strategy become ever more critical. By the time Spinelli got behind the wheel, victory was a very real possibility but fell under pressure from the Conquest Racing Ferrari at the final restart with 30 minutes to go. Having dropped to second, Spinelli tried desperately to get back into the lead but to no avail and was denied back-to-back Petit Le Mans victory by just seven-tenths. The #45 WTRAndretti overcame a drivethrough penalty after contact and spending much of the race off the lead lap to eventually finish a season’s-best fifth. Doyle, Marcelli and Formal kept their nerve and finally got their lap back before the final restart, to end their campaign on a high. For the #83 Iron Dames, it was another frustrating race having lost multiple minutes to replace the splitter after contact with another car. The all-female crew nevertheless made the finish in 13th.
Free Practice and Qualifying – GTP
The final weekend of the season kicked off on Thursday with the first of three practice sessions, including some much-needed night driving. The team focused on setup optimisation during the opening session with Caldarelli setting the eighth-quickest time, just over a second off the ultimate pace. The #63 also completed 57 laps, the second highest of the GTP field. The car struggled in the second session slightly, finishing 10th but worked well in the comparatively cooler conditions of the evening’s FP3 session, despite a minor spin for Grosjean which caused a red flag. The #63 finished second quickest, with a time of 1m11.988, just three-tenths of a second away from the best time. In qualifying, the pace was intense, and Caldarelli took the car to 11th, ending up just two-tenths outside the top 10.
Race – GTP
Caldarelli took the start in the #63 and stayed out of trouble in the early stages but began to struggle with the balance of the car over the notorious bumps of the Road Atlanta circuit. It moved up two positions to ninth following problems for other cars in front before Grosjean jumped aboard for a double stint and maintained 10th position despite a slight brush with the #83 Iron Dames Huracán. The car then unfortunately lost three laps after being hit from behind with Cairoli at the wheel, which subsequently pitched it into the wall, damaging the front-end. The team replaced the rear deck after the diffuser broke as well as the front nose, although Cairoli had to bring the car down pitlane for a drivethrough penalty after it was deemed that too many mechanics were working on the car’s repairs. As night fell, the car became far easier to drive and, with Grosjean back at the wheel, set the fastest lap of the race with a time of 1m11.981. A technical issue in the final half an hour hampered the car’s chances but it made it back onto the track to take the chequered flag in eighth.
Quotes
Mirko Bortolotti (#19 Iron Lynx GTD Pro): “It’s been a long time coming to be honest. We had two really tough seasons where we showed the potential, but we never really managed to pull it off, and it’s great to finish the 2024 season with a win. It means a lot. I am really proud of the entire team, my team-mates, we finally got the results we deserved. Last year, we were in the game until the end, maybe even had more pace but it didn’t play out for us. I think it was just the perfect race today.”
Matteo Cairoli: “Not the easiest weekend for us, but we worked really hard to move forward. Unfortunately, we were also hampered by things that were out of our control, but in the end, we made positive stints and showed some potential. There's still a lot of work ahead as we look towards the offseason.”
Andrea Caldarelli: “Not the best weekend for us. After sunset, we suddenly found more pace and we were actually going quite well. Unfortunately, before that, we lost laps due to a few issues and we couldn't get them back. It's a pity because in the evening the car was very good. We still have a lot of work ahead of us. This wasn't the best track for us in terms of layout and we struggled a lot during the day, but we got some good data to work on and prepare for next year.”
Romain Grosjean: “It's been a fantastic experience to work with Lamborghini in GTP this year and we really learned a lot. A bit of a rough day for us today, with no yellows to come back on the laps and then with a mechanical [issue] at the end, but we can also be proud for having the fastest lap of the race in normal conditions. It shows that there is a lot of potential in the car and hopefully, we can keep unlocking it for next year.”