Pepper: Endurance Cup Setbacks Have “Lit a Fire” Under Iron Lynx

Jordan Pepper feels that Iron Lynx’s recent setbacks have “lit a fire underneath” the Lamborghini team as it seeks to revive its Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS season.

Pepper, Mirko Bortolotti and Andrea Caldarelli are out of title contention after not scoring points at the Paul Ricard 1000km and CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa but the South African driver feels that momentum can be turned around at the Nürburgring this weekend.

The No. 63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 finished third at the Monza season-opener but encountered severe brake wear in the six-hour contest at Paul Ricard.

It then had a “snowball effect” of issues at Spa that started with an incident in qualifying that consigned it to 31st on the grid, followed by a faulty caliper that cost time during the race. After seeing its chances of a good result fade, Iron Lynx elected to retire its Pro car.

The Spa retirement also came one week after the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen where Iron Lynx led the GTD Pro class until an LMP3 driver struck Caldarelli from behind.

Pepper told Sportscar365 that those recent troubles have galvanized the team in its pursuit of a victory with two GTWC Europe Endurance Cup rounds still to run.

“I think when you have these setbacks — somehow at the beginning of the year when we had a BoP that wasn’t in our favor and we weren’t quite there with the car yet — we executed the weekends extremely well,” he said.

“To get two P4s in the two first IMSA races was almost better than a win. Since we’ve refined our package, we’ve really taken huge steps forward and had a fair chance to win.

“When we haven’t had results, it’s been quite frustrating. But it’s lit a fire underneath us. We’re pushing harder than ever back at the factory and at the weekends.

“We know we have the package to win, so that’s the goal before the end of the season.

“Racing is always about having momentum go your way and turning it around if it isn’t. The No. 98 [BMW], for example, is having a strong year for momentum. But last year it didn’t, and the No. 88 [Mercedes-AMG] had the momentum going their way.

“At this high level, it’s the little bits that matter. We need to turn this momentum around.

“Pushing through this year and into next year is the goal. It’s about maximizing the year, and the only way we can do that now is to get individual results.”

Despite the overall title being out of sight, Iron Lynx is “not here to mess around” at the Nürburgring considering it knows the track could suit the Huracan GT3 EVO2.

Lamborghini won all three classes when the Endurance Cup last visited the German circuit in 2021, with Pepper’s co-drivers Bortolotti and Caldarelli taking overall honors alongside Marco Mapelli.

“We want to win, and the team deserves to win,” said Pepper.

“We have a package that we need to show can win when we execute. It’s almost more pressure now for us to win, since we haven’t had a result since Monza.

“I think we’re confident for these last two races. It’s a shame that we can’t fight for the championship anymore, but there are still two races to be won, and that’s our goal.

“We got a big push within the team to keep building and improving the structure. It’s a new relationship with Iron Lynx and Lamborghini. Each weekend we do together, the strength of everyone improves.

“The results haven’t shown in the previous few races, but even outside the GTWC Europe paddock, in IMSA, we have been strong.

“As soon as the stars align, we can do something great.”