Bortolotti: Huracan EVO2 Ready for 24H Spa Debut

The Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 is “ready” for its first outing in the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa according to Mirko Bortolotti, who hopes Lamborghini will be able to be competitive at a historically difficult event for the Italian marque.

Lamborghini’s new-for-2023 GT3 challenger will make its debut at the Belgian endurance classic, spearheaded by Pro class entries from Iron Lynx and K-PAX Racing.

Bortolotti will share the No. 63 Iron Lynx car with Andrea Caldarelli and Jordan Pepper, while the K-PAX entry is driven by Sandy Mitchell, Marco Mapelli and Franck Perera.

The Italian remains hopeful that the EVO2 will be competitive and reliable at Spa, which will be only the second 24-hour race outing for the car.

“We’ve done the Rolex 24 at Daytona where we managed to finish the race, having some minor things,” Bortolotti told Sportscar365.

“It was the first endurance race of the car, but still we managed to finish the race. On the reliability side, looking at the car, I think the car is ready for it.

“Of course we had some issues in Paul Ricard, which I hope we fixed in the meantime. So I don’t expect to have that kind of issues in Spa.

“I hope it will be better for us and I expect it to be a better race for us.”

Both Pro class entries encountered abnormal brake wear issues at Spa, which Iron Lynx team principal Andrea Piccini indicated has been addressed.

“The problem in Paul Ricard was that we were not able to do three hours on the brakes,” Piccini told Sportscar365.

“For Spa, we’re going to have different materials. We have worked hard since Paul Ricard to solve this issue. We have been struggling with the brakes since the beginning of the season.

“We have been changing, adapting and using new materials. I think we have got to a point where we are pretty OK, so we are optimistic for Spa.

“Paul Ricard was really a shame. But we are working together with Lamborghini.”

Bortolotti said he hopes to improve on Lamborghini’s record at Spa, noting that “statistically, it’s never been a good race for us.”

“I think on a single lap we’ve always been strong, I remember being three times P2 in Superpole, always fighting up there in terms of pure performance, but there’s always been something else happening,” he said.

“Issues with tires were our main problems in the past, and that always prevented us from being in a position to be consistently quick over 24 hours.

“In terms of package, I think we work well, we are well prepared.

“You can never be 100 percent prepared for a race like Spa, but I think we have the team and the lineup to be able to cope with all sorts of situations that will happen throughout the race and try to be at the right time and the right spot.”

Sanna “Confident” About Lamborghini’s Spa Odds

Lamborghini’s head of motorsport Giorgio Sanna took a similarly upbeat stance about the brand’s chances at Spa.

He said the brand has been working with series organizers to gather data to create a representative Balance of Performance window for the EVO2.

“I feel confident,” he said. “I think the car overall is performing well. On the BoP side, we are working very closely every weekend with SRO, IMSA and the ACO.

“At the beginning, it was not easy for the promoters to understand the right Balance of Performance. So we struggled in some cases, like at Daytona and Sebring or the first races of Michelin Le Mans Cup.

“In some other championships where the promoters can have more data, like in SRO-supported events and DTM, it’s clear that the more you race, the more data you make and the more information the promoter has to do well.

“At the end of the day, our job is to cooperate as much as we can with the promoters, sharing data and feedback from the teams, to give the opportunity to the promoters, to help the promoters to help us.

“We have to cooperate together and this is what we are doing.

“For sure the new car was not giving us the opportunity to start from something well-known because the car is quite different. But in this moment, I think we are absolutely on the right way.

“Coming to the question of Spa, I think we will arrive with a fair BoP and we have to think ourselves to do a proper job and to work on every small detail.”

Daniel Lloyd contributed to this report