WEC: Good pace on home soil for the SC63 at the 6 Hours of Imola
On Sunday 21 April 2024, the Lamborghini Iron Lynx SC63 contested the second round of the 2024 World Endurance Championship (WEC), the 6 Hours of Imola, on its home turf. A very promising race performance which saw the #63 crew of Mirko Bortolotti, Daniil Kvyat and Edoardo Mortara finish twelfth overall.
- The young SC63 entered competition at the start of 2024. But it can already boast a high level of reliability, following its performances in early March in the WEC in Qatar (read article HERE), and in mid-March in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IMSA), during the 12 Hours of Sebring (read article HERE).
- The 6 Hours of Imola got off to a very good start. In Free Practice 1 on Friday morning, the SC63 showed promising pace. Bortolotti set the fourth fastest time among the Hypercars with a time of 1:32.015. During session 2 in the afternoon, the SC63 suffered a number of technical incidents. The team took advantage of the third and final 90-minute session on Saturday morning to fine-tune the car before qualifying.
- Bortolotti qualified the car in sixteenth position with a time of 1:31.862, 1.666s off pole.
- Bortolotti took the start on Sunday. He managed to avoid trouble during a chaotic first lap in which several cars were involved at Tamburello during the flying start.
- The #63 climbed back up to twelfth place, then eleventh after a superb overtake at Piratella. Bortolotti completed a triple stint before handing over to Mortara, who maintained his position during his two-hour stint. He was only one second behind the Jota Porsche when he returned to the pits.
- The rain arrived at Imola and the teams returned to the pits to put on their rain tyres. Kvyat was in charge of the final stint and had to deal with a track that began to dry out towards the end of the race.
- Two yellow flags dashed the team's hopes of scoring points.
- The SC63 crossed the finish line in twelfth place. It didn't suffer a single technical problem during the 6 hours, once again demonstrating its great reliability. It scored its first point in the WEC Constructors' standings (the #83 Ferrari and the #38 Porsche are not eligible as private teams to score points in this standings, so the SC63 climbed to tenth place).
Mirko Bortolotti : “It's been a really special race, it's always great to race at Imola in the home race for both Lamborghini and me, so it was really amazing to see all the fans [and] to enjoy the atmosphere as well. I'm really happy with the performance; I had a great start from P16 in the first few laps and then after the restart I got up to P11. It was a great first stint, I really enjoyed my first double and I think we can be really happy to bring the car home again, proving the reliability. For sure, we know what we have to work on, but it has been a solid race for the whole team. Everyone did a great job, and we can build on this going forward.”
Daniil Kvyat : “It was a good race, I think the team did a great job in order to be in the mix all race long. Obviously, there are a lot of things to work on, but we are on the right path that's for sure. […] [H]onestly, we need to enjoy this result, 12th is our best result [in the WEC] and in these conditions it was very tough. […]”
Edoardo Mortara : “In the end, it is a positive result for us; it's the second race that we have finished without any issues which is quite incredible considering it is a brand-new car. We are also unlocking more performance in the car, and this is something we are seeing week after week. We were definitely more competitive than we were in Qatar and hopefully in the next ones we will be even better, but it has been quite a successful weekend for us in Imola and we are eager for more.”
Rouven Mohr, Lamborghini Chief Technical Officer: “I'm super excited about this result, this is our home race, and Imola is always something special and emotional, and the performance is going in the right direction. The pace is improving, and we are really learning a lot about the car, so I am super happy about this.”
Next stop for the Lamborghini SC63 is the 6 Hours of Spa on 9 May 2024.
Read the Lamborghini Squadra Corse press release, CLICK HERE .
For the full results, CLICK HERE .
Photo credit: Lamborghini