PPM Targeting “Good Representation” for Lamborghini

Precision Performance Motorsports team owner Richard Gdovic says his team is fully committed to its switch to sports car racing, including purchasing a new Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo for its debut campaign in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

The longtime NASCAR entrant made the transition to sports cars last year when it ran multiple entries in Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America.

In addition, PPM entered a Lamborghini Huracan GT3 in the California 8 Hours and the Portland round of Pirelli World Challenge, but Gdovic said the goal was to always enter GT Daytona class competition full-time.

He said the decision to purchase a new chassis is indicative of the team’s desire to make its mark in the WeatherTech Championship.

“That previous car has had a lot of owners so we felt it was best to start with a new chassis that we could prepare from the ground up,” he told Sportscar365.

“Not that that was a bad car. That was a relationship that we had had with a previous team and that relationship had ended.

“It was a little bit last minute there and a little bit of a rush to get [to the Roar], but Lamborghini has been a fantastic partner for us so far and doing everything they can to help us get ready.

“They did a test [in Italy], but then we had to put all of the data systems in it, plus go through the whole car just to make sure it’s where we would like it. It’s been a bit of a challenge but the maiden voyage was pretty good.”

Steve Dunn, Milos Pavlovic, Linus Lundqvist, and Don Yount are signed up for the Rolex 24 and the team has multiple drivers lined up to fill the car for the bulk of the season.

Gdovic credited PPM team manager Sunny Voelker for identifying drivers for the program which has allowed the team to grow through its transition from stock car racing to the sports car paddock.

“Sunny works tirelessly,” he said. “I don’t know how she does it. The emails start coming at 6:30 in the morning and they don’t end until 10.

“It’s just a matter of getting the right people together and communicating and putting together a solid group of drivers.

“We always have my son Brandon as a backup. The goal is to do the full season and we’ve got a lot of good potential drivers. The goal is to build it out from there.

“I believe with some of the momentum we had last year and people know we have a fair, competitive program. We’re easy to work with. I feel pretty confident we’ll be able to put together good a group.”

Gdovic said the team is taking a realistic approach to setting expectations given the strength of competition in the WeatherTech Championship, specifically in the GTD class.

“Year 1, the goal is to finish every race and be competitive in the top 10 of the GTD class,” he said. “I think that’s a reasonable goal.

“Depending on how much effort that we can put forth developing the car, we have a lot of testing lined up, and we’re willing to bring in lots of drivers that are known experts, experienced drivers, to help us develop the car.

“That’s our goal. We did do some of that last year. We had Guy Cosmo come in, Richard Antinucci, Shinya Michimi came in to the Super Trofeo program.

“Getting them all working together with Brandon, plus Lamborghini engineers, we’re going to put forth everything we can to make a good showing and being a good representative of Lamborghini.”

Super Trofeo Commitment

Gdovic says the team remains committed to Super Trofeo, the series which it used as its jumping off point in the transition into sports car racing.

While the plans are not entirely finalized, Gdovic expects to have a significant presence on the grid by the time the series opener rolls around on April 6-7 at Barber Motorsports Park.

“Steve Dunn has purchased a car and he’s signed up for the full year,” he said.

“Shea Holbrook, who did a fantastic job, we’ve got a couple people to match her up with. She has every reason to come back. She said to polish it up and get it ready.

“We’ve got a couple others, so it’s possible we could have three to four Super Trofeos.”