Iron Lynx Aiming to Be ‘In the Mix’ in Lamborghini SC63’s Debut

Photo: Lamborghini

Lamborghini Iron Lynx team principal Andrea Piccini says they’re aiming to be ‘in the mix’ with the other Hypercar entries in the competition debut of the Lamborghini SC63.

The Italian squad is giving the Ligier-chassied LMDh car its first race outing in this weekend’s FIA World Endurance Championship season-opening Qatar 1812km, as part of a stacked 19-car field in the top category.

While having completed nearly 10,000 kms (6,200 miles) since the car’s rollout last August, it has largely come in the winter months with intensive testing programs in both Europe and the U.S.

Iron Lynx is coming off recent tests at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and Sebring International Raceway, prior to arriving at Lusail International Circuit.

“It’s been good,” Piccini told Sportscar365. “The last month we’ve managed to do some nice steps forward. We’re happy with how things are going. Even the Prologue was positive.

“For the moment it’s all going according to plan.”

When asked about their expectations entering the ten-hour WEC curtain-raiser, Piccini feels the No. 63 entry of Mirko Bortolotti, Daniil Kvyat and Edoardo Mortara could be in the mix.

Kvyat’s 1:42.556 lap time from the Prologue put the SC63 just over two seconds slower than the pace-setting No. 5 Penske Porsche 963 of Fred Makowiecki.

“In honest, our expectation is to try and be in the race with the others,” Piccini said. “I think what we saw in the Prologue, we are pretty much in the group.

“The pace is good. The car has been reliable in the Prologue and we had no major issues.

“Of course we aim to finish the race and to be in the race, to have some fun with the others.”

Saturday’s race will mark the first factory top-flight prototype program in Lamborghini’s history.

“We are honored on one side but we feel a lot of responsibility on the other side because bringing such an important brand into WEC is for sure something special,” Piccini said. “This is what we wanted right from the beginning.

“When we decided to move from Ferrari to Lamborghini, it was also because we had the chance to have a complete program with Lamborghini, in running both the LMDh and the GT3 at Le Mans and in the other classes.”

Sebring “Another World” Compared to Ultra-Smooth Lusail Circuit

Piccini admitted there’s less track-specific data to carry over to the SC63’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship debut in two weeks’ time at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring given the polar opposites of the incredibly smooth Lusail circuit to the bumpy Sebring track.

“Honestly, after doing the test in Sebring, I don’t think we can learn much from here to take it into Sebring,” he said.

“It’s another world. Honestly, the Sebring test was difficult. We knew it was going to be difficult because we experienced it with the LMP2 and GT3 and we know it’s a very challenging track.

“If you want to really test the car, you go there. If you’re reliable and if the car works there, I think you can go almost anywhere in the world.

“At the end, the test was positive. But the beginning was… I don’t want to say we had to re-invent the car, to drive in Sebring, but there was quite a lot to do to adapt the car to such a circuit.

“We for sure will learn here from race management, engine management and so on but Sebring will be another story.”

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