Bortolotti: First Lamborghini Win “About Time” for Iron Lynx

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

The Italian squad beat Risi Competizione and Heart of Racing Team in Saturday’s ten-hour IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship finale, which marked the first time it won a major endurance race since it linked up with Lamborghini in 2023.

Previously, it had won the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa with Ferrari in 2021, but had experienced a number of misses at big enduros since, including the likes of 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’ve been showing good potential, but we never managed to pull it off. Never managed to get the result we got today.

“I think it’s a proud moment definitely to be back on the top side of the podium in IMSA. It’s a great championship for us. We always enjoy being here. I think it was about time to have a result like this.

“I’m extremely proud of the job that’s been done this week by the entire team, by Lamborghini. Obviously my teammates, a fantastic drive by them.

“Just a fantastic way to finish off the 2024 season. Just super delighted and excited and happy about this result.”

The Lamborghini factory driver went on to describe the result as a “big relief,” also hailing the personal significance of ticking off another American endurance classic after previous wins at Daytona and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

“It’s not a secret that the last two seasons together with Iron Lynx, this is the first win we managed to get in all championships,” he said.

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

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

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

“Also on a personal note, I’m really happy to be able to take another really important victory over here in America after winning at Daytona and Sebring. It means a lot.”

Pepper: Prototype Traffic Opened the Door for 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 stalwarts Risi Competizione to win.

Pepper revealed after the race that he was able to pass the Daniel Serra-driven No. 62 Ferrari 296 GT3 when the Brazilian was caught up behind the No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8, which had rejoined the track on cold tires.

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

“I think it’s a lot of up and downs for everyone. I think everyone gains at moments and loses at moments, but obviously we capitalized.

“We did a good strategy to get us in the fight with them. He just got past me, and then I was able to capitalize and get him back obviously through the traffic.

“It worked in our favor. Then from there the clean air was really important.

“The final restart – obviously I knew when it came down to it, the best we could do was try to open the gap.

“Obviously I had two cars between us. Managed to open that gap quite strong, and I knew they had the pace over us the first ten to 15 laps.

“Once that settled down, it seemed like we had the control over them. It was just about getting lucky in the traffic situations.

“I think he got messed up a little bit. I obviously got a little bit unlucky at points, but I think the gap was pretty much stable around the three, four second mark, which is in motorsport a big enough margin to be comfortable.”