Pepper: Lamborghini’s Efforts “Finally Paid Off” With Spa Win

Jordan Pepper paid tribute to the “family” environment at Lamborghini after the Italian brand achieved a long-awaited first overall victory in the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.

Pepper, Mirko Bortolotti and Luca Engstler came out on top in the 78th running of the Ardennes endurance classic on Sunday, defeating Rutronik Racing in a late-race battle to deliver a breakthrough result for the Italian manufacturer.

Prior to this year, Lamborghini had finished no better than fifth in the 24H Spa, despite the event being a major target ever since the Huracan GT3 made its debut in 2015.

Ten years later, having secured the maiden win after several near misses in previous years, Pepper expressed relief that the brand finally managed ‘get the monkey off its back’ at Spa.

“Even since before I joined Lamborghini, I obviously raced against them and it was always that Lamborghini curse here at Spa,” Pepper said.

“Which not for a lack of anything, I think there’s a long list of reasons why bad things happen and I just think that’s 24-hour races in general.

“I think every missed opportunity puts that little bit of extra pressure on people to come out swinging extra hard the next year.

“All the attacks at Spa from Lamborghini’s side have always been [small] effort[s] against bigger brands with a lot more entries.

“This year, I think we found ourselves in a position where, competitively, there’s been two strong cars fighting up front.

“The misfortunes of the 163, I feel very sorry for them because they probably deserve this as equally as we did and that’s just the nature of the the beast sometimes.

“But finally to get that monkey off the back is an incredibly proud moment for everyone.

“I think everyone can be extremely proud, obviously coming to possibly one of the the last 24H Spas with the Huracan, it’s a perfect way to add to its list of achievements.

“There’s so many 24-hour races that it’s gone on to win, but Spa has always eluded it.

“[It’s] just really, really good to finally see how all the effort that’s gone in over the years from every single person back home has finally paid off.”

Pepper went on to attribute the victory to every member of the “small family” that is Lamborghini Squadra Corse, which he credited for ‘always pushing as one unit.’

“I think it’s not just a testament to one person or another, but just a whole incredible group of people who’ve made it happen,” he said.

“It’s a small family, Lamborghini, but exactly that. It’s a family and everyone pushes together.

“Everyone gives it the 120 percent, whether it’s the drivers, the engineers back home, the support crew, the customer teams, the factory supported teams, everyone is one unit and always pushing.

“Many class wins here, but not the overall. Proud to get the first podium on the top step, I think that’s something I’ll always remember.

“It’s special for me as well to know that it’s Lamborghini’s first as well as mine.”