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Caldarelli in Iron Lynx Lineup for The Glen; Grosjean an Option

Caldarelli, Pepper in Iron Lynx GTD Pro lineup for Watkins Glen; Grosjean also an option…

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

Andrea Caldarelli will return to Iron Lynx’s GTD Pro lineup for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen while Romain Grosjean is also an option according to Lamborghini’s head of motorsport Giorgio Sanna.

Caldarelli is due to partner with Iron Lynx’s full-time Endurance Cup driver Jordan Pepper for the third long-distance race of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship on June 25.

Caldarelli and Pepper are co-drivers in Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup, sharing an Iron Lynx car with Mirko Bortolotti.

Grosjean, meanwhile, could join the pair in the No. 63 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 for Watkins Glen but Sanna said that it depends on his NTT IndyCar Series commitments.

The WeatherTech Championship race in upstate New York sits in between IndyCar rounds at Road America and Mid-Ohio.

“About Romain, we have to see if he is busy with IndyCar testing, not only with racing,” Sanna told Sportscar365.

“We will take a decision in the next couple of weeks. In this moment, we have confirmed Caldarelli and Jordan Pepper. Mirko [Bortolotti] is committed with DTM [at Zandvoort].

“Let’s see with Romain. We knew since the beginning that the IndyCar series is very demanding.

“Because from April until September, they are racing and testing basically every week. If there will be the chance to have Romain, we will be more than happy. If not, we will race with Jordan and Andrea.”

Grosjean formed part of the Iron Lynx GTD Pro lineup for the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

The ex-Formula 1 driver, who joined Lamborghini this year, did Daytona alongside Caldarelli, Pepper and Bortolotti, while Pepper and Franck Perera were his co-drivers for Sebring.

As the shortest Endurance Cup race by duration, Watkins Glen can be done with a two-driver crew and Sanna suggested it would be “no problem” for Iron Lynx to approach it that way.

Another part of the balancing act is Grosjean’s role as a development driver for the Lamborghini LMDh program, which is due to make its race debut in the first quarter of next year.

Sanna confirmed that Grosjean hasn’t yet tested the Ligier-based prototype in the simulator, although the manufacturer’s other LMDh project drivers have turned virtual laps.

Track testing of the car is expected to get underway this summer.

“The priority for Romain is to help us on the development of the LMDh,” said Sanna. “We need Romain much more in the next few months than today in GT3.

“Daytona and Sebring was a very good opportunity and I have to thank Romain to be with us and enter into the family, and start to cooperate with us. This was the main scope.

“I think he did very well, by the way. But the priority is LMDh.”

Daniel Lloyd is a UK-based reporter for Sportscar365, covering the FIA World Endurance Championship, Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, among other series.

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