Cairoli “Happy” Despite Early End for Lamborghini SC63 in Indy

Matteo Cairoli said he was “happy” with the Lamborghini SC63’s “great pace” in Sunday’s Battle on the Bricks, despite Iron Lynx being forced to retire the GTP entry in the fourth hour with suspension damage after contact.

Cairoli and co-driver Romain Grosjean led for nine laps in the six-hour endurance race in the car they shared with Andrea Caldarelli, marking the first time Lamborghini’s new LMDh car had led racing laps in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition.

“I am very happy for what we have shown today,” Cairoli told Sportscar365. “It was a positive race until the point where we had to retire.

“We are on the right way. It’s still a very long way to go, but in the end, we have the least experience in the field. The car is extremely new. We are all new in this project, so I think we are doing great, but we need to hope for better luck.”

The SC63 excelled in wet weather conditions, with Grosjean climbing to the overall lead from the rear of the GTP field in a rain-soaked first half of the race, and Cairoli overcoming a drive-through penalty with an alternative pit strategy to bring the No. 63 Lamborghini to the head of the field again before handing the car off to Caldarelli at the end of the third hour.

“I think in wet conditions, we are pretty much sorted, as we showed on track,” said Cairoli.

Caldarelli made up an additional three positions after exiting the pits in ninth before contact with Ben Barker’s No. 55 Proton Competition Mustang GT3 damaged the Lamborghini’s rear left suspension, prompting a trip behind the wall and an eventual retirement.

“It’s a pity and I am really upset about it because we had a lot of potential,” Caldarelli said post-race.

“Maybe not in the dry conditions but we were very quick in the wet. This weekend we deserved a much better result.”

“I’m super disappointed because today I think we’ve shown for the first time a great pace,” added Cairoli. “We took the lead twice in the race. It was a shame to end up like this.”

After debuting at this year’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, the Iron Lynx-run Lamborghini was in just its third WeatherTech Championship race outing as part of its Michelin Endurance Cup campaign.

“It’s a new project,” said Cairoli.

“To be honest, I think we need to push a bit harder in the dry conditions because at the moment our limiting factors are the curbs. Basically, we cannot cut as much as the others are doing and therefore we lose time.

“Every time we go on track, we learn something. It’s a pity because we could have gotten some more data over the last two hours, but unfortunately, we had to retire the car.

“We are developing as much as possible and I’m pretty sure we will get there one day.”