“Everything” Came Together for First IMSA Temerario GT3 Win

Photo: Brandon Badraoui/IMSA

Andrea Caldarelli said Pfaff Motorsports and Lamborghini Squadra Corse had “everything” to deliver a historic first endurance win for the Lamborghini Temerario GT3.

The longtime Lamborghini factory driver and fellow works pilot Sandy Mitchell teamed for GTD Pro class honors in Sunday’s Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix at Road America, overcoming the might of the pair of Porsche 911 GT3 R Evos in the early stages of the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup race.

Having started eighth in class, the No. 9 Lamborghini made continuous inroads although Caldarelli specifically credited the Canadian team’s calls, led by veteran strategist Mike Johnson, for putting them in prime position in the second half of the six-hour contest.

“The Porsches looked very fast, even yesterday in qualifying,” said Caldarelli. “At the beginning we were just holding position, then we got a couple of good calls on the pit [stand].

“Then there was one yellow, the last one, that we changed from Sandy to myself. We pitted and the yellow came just a couple of laps after.

“That gave us another position.

“Then there was one yellow more that I’m actually pretty proud with the team and the communication we had because we were off-sync with the strategy, they told me in the beginning to save energy during the yellow.

“Then in the middle of the lap they said, ‘Push, push, push because there’s people in the pit lane.’

“I found a prototype in front of me that was going very slow. I really pushed him hard to speed up, flashing, almost hitting, but that actually gave us the P1 we kept until the end.

“We crossed the line and all the cars came out of the pit behind me.

“I think it was a bit of luck but at the same time it was a massive strategy job by the guys.”

Caldarelli admitted the Steve Bortolotti-led crew took a bit of a gamble on car setup on Sunday after qualifying near the bottom of the GTD Pro grid.

“Even though we didn’t come here for testing, like most of the other teams a couple of weeks before, we were a bit behind in qualifying but we worked really hard overnight,” he said.

“We tried a setup that worked in the race but we didn’t know if it was going to work.

“I think we had everything. We had strategy, we had pace, we had a car that actually didn’t break down.

“It’s a massive thing that we don’t have to forget in the first year of a car, we haven’t had any reliability issues.

“This one feels special for an endurance race, which the first victory for a Temerario in an endurance race. It’s very special.”

Mitchell added: “We didn’t have the pace in qualifying but I think at the end of the race there, once tires were a bit more used, we had really good pace in the end and we were able to hold off the cars behind.

“The calls from the team were incredible all race. We got every yellow, every call right and we were always putting ourselves back into the top three, back into the top five.

“That really bad the difference today.”

While Mirko Bortolotti gave the Temerario GT3 its first win in global competition in last weekend’s DTM round at Oschersleben, Caldarelli indicated that he considers this win being slightly more special given that it was an endurance race.

“It feels really special because I saw where we were last year, literally one year ago, and to come here and win, it’s insane to think about in 12 months what the guys in Italy have done,” he said.

“We don’t have to underestimate how hard it is for a small group of people, because at the end of the day, we are not as big as other manufacturers.

“To start the project from zero, knowing that anything can go wrong and good, you never know with a new car, to react all the time when there is a problem.

“This result really shows how dynamic we are and how we really care about this project.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John