Bortolotti: Lambo “Pushing Step by Step” in SC63 Development

Lamborghini Iron Lynx is “aiming to close the gap as soon as possible” to its Hypercar rivals according to factory driver Mirko Bortolotti, who stated the brand is “pushing step by step” as the SC63 continues its debut season in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

The Ligier-chassised LMDh car is set for its European debut at this weekend’s 6 Hours of Imola, with Bortolotti joined at the wheel of the No. 63 machine by Edoardo Mortara and Daniil Kvyat.

The SC63 made it global debut in the Qatar 1812km in March, where it was classified 13th, which was followed up by a U.S. debut where Andrea Caldarelli, Matteo Cairoli and Romain Grosjean recorded a seventh place finish in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Cadillac.

After a pair of clean race finishes, Bortolotti told Sportscar365 that he feels “things are going in the right direction” for the SC63, but stressed that Lamborghini needs to keep the focus on continued progression.

“We’re working every day,” Bortolotti said.

“We were testing in between Qatar and now. We went to Portimao for three days. So to be honest I’m looking forward to the weekend obviously because it’s a special race.

“It’s a home race for the brand, it’s a home race for me. So it’s great to race on home soil on such an amazing track like Imola.

“I’m also really curious to see an endurance race of this type around here with so many cars on track and the speed differences between the Hypercars and the GT3s.

“I think it will be quite an intense race, quite a challenging one for everyone.

“And of course, as I said, we’ve been working every day. We are pushing step by step. I feel the things are going in the right direction.

“But for sure, it will take time and still we are working. We are aiming to close the gap as soon as possible.”

Bortolotti echoed comments fellow factory driver Caldarelli made after the Sebring event indicating that the reliability displayed by the SC63 so far has been “encouraging,” but also warned that Lamborghini should not let its guard down after two races.

“The first step was for sure to have a reliable car and we have to continue to have a reliable car,” he said.

“So it’s not like you have a good race and then you can take that for granted. Of course, we have to work consistently, make sure that everything works out, all the systems and everything works the way we want.

“That was, of course, the first step. And now, knowing that the car has already done two endurance long distance races on challenging tracks, I think this is really encouraging the way the project started.

“Because obviously Doha was challenging for the heat and for the conditions and we know Sebring is also really challenging for the car.

“Of course, the aim is to, as I said before, to close the gap, to be competitive.

“So obviously, if we can see that as a second step or next step, for sure, we can focus a bit more on the performance side and that’s what we will try to do starting from this week.”