Connect with us

IMSA/WEC

Lamborghini Completes LMDh Roster with Mortara, Cairoli

Edoardo Mortara, Matteo Cairoli complete lineup for Lamborghini SC63’s maiden campaign…

Photo: Lamborghini

Lamborghini has revealed its full driver roster for its first season of competition with its brand-new SC63 LMDh challenger, confirming the arrivals of Edoardo Mortara and Matteo Cairoli.

The duo complete the pool of six drivers for the Italian manufacturer’s twin campaigns in the FIA World Endurance Championship and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, joining Romain Grosjean, Andrea Caldarelli, Mirko Bortolotti and Daniil Kvyat.

Mortara will race in the WEC alongside Bortolotti and Kvyat, giving the SC63 its competitive debut in the Qatar 1812km in March, while Cairoli will share a cockpit with Grosjean and Caldarelli for the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup races, starting with the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

Both Mortara and Cairoli had their first taste of the Iron Lynx-run SC63 in a test at Jerez in September.

“We are thrilled to welcome Edoardo and Matteo into our Lamborghini Squadra Corse family,” said Lamborghini head of motorsport Giorgio Sanna.

“Both drivers have a lot of experience and not only bring with them impressive speed and professionalism to the LMDh project in FIA WEC and IMSA, but also the opportunity to use them strategically in some of the biggest GT3 races and championships.”

Swiss driver Mortara, 36, brings a wealth of experience to Lamborghini, having been a race winner and title contender in both the DTM and Formula E over the past decade.

He is best known to sports car racing fans via his exploits on the streets of Macau, where he is a four-time winner in GT3 machinery.

“I am super happy to be joining Lamborghini Squadra Corse, which is allowing me this incredible opportunity to compete in the Le Mans 24 Hours and the World Endurance Championship, both of which I have wanted to take part in for a long time,” said Mortara.

“It is a very proud moment for me, and I hope we can achieve some good results next season.”

Cairoli becomes the youngest member of the Lamborghini LMDh stable at 27, having ended a lengthy relationship with Porsche to join the Bologna marque.

Although the Italian has largely raced in the WEC and Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS in recent years, he has four Rolex 24 at Daytona starts to his credit.

“I want to thank Lamborghini Squadra Corse, Giorgio, and the Iron Lynx family for this amazing opportunity and for believing in me,” said Cairoli.

“I am ready to give the best of myself next year; clearly, it’s a dream I have been chasing for a long time and to do it with an Italian brand as an Italian driver has given me even more motivation.

“The aim is to learn as much as possible about the car for next year, but I am already pumped for the start of the season.”

Lamborghini’s announcement follows a two-day test at the Circuit of The Americas, which comes hot on the heels of its appearance in last week’s IMSA-sanctioned test at Daytona International Speedway.

“The Austin test concludes the development phase of the SC63 ahead of the racing debut in Qatar,” said chief technical officer Rouven Mohr.

“Overall, we are satisfied with the maturity of the project so far, which was demonstrated at the Daytona test where we set the fastest time on the first day. Of course, there is still a lot of work behind the scenes to be done before Qatar.”

Jamie Klein is Sportscar365's Asian editor. Japan-based Klein, who previously worked for Motorsport Network on the Motorsport.cоm and Autosport titles, covers the FIA World Endurance Championship and SUPER GT, among other series.

Click to comment
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

More in IMSA/WEC