NEWS

Few names go as hand-in-hand at the top of the GT racing world over the past decade and longer quite as much as Lamborghini and Mirko Bortolotti. The Italian has contributed to some of the most important successes for the Sant’Agata Bolognese brand since his arrival in 2014.

Hailing from Trento in the north of Italy, Bortolotti soon turned heads in go-karting before making the step up to formula cars, eventually winning the Italian Formula 3 championship and FIA Formula Two title in quick succession.

For a while, it looked like Formula One was on the cards, with a number of tests for the likes of Ferrari, Red Bull Racing and Williams. But GTs presented Bortolotti with a firmer career option, and Lamborghini was the natural destination.

Since making the switch away from single seaters, Bortolotti has gone on to become one of the fastest and prominent drivers in GT racing. He has won the Daytona 24 Hours and Sebring 12 Hours twice in class, the Petit Le Mans, GT World Challenge overall and Endurance Cup, the DTM title and played a pivotal role in Lamborghini’s SC63 project, scoring a point at the iconic Le Mans 24 Hours.
An enviable CV in many drivers’ eyes, Bortolotti is not content with living in the past. His quest for even more success is unstoppable.

How did you get into motorsport when you were young? When did you catch the racing bug?

“Quite young, actually. I went into karting at the age of five and it was something that started off as a hobby at first, but which obviously became more than just that and eventually ended up in a professional job.  I didn't have big financial backing behind or big family money, so everything I managed to achieve was only possible with results. Some guys like ice hockey, the other kids like football, and for me it was motorsports, and cars in general.

“Kids were not allowed to race at that age in Italy, so I started racing at the age of six in a club championship in Austria. That was the only opportunity for kids my age to actually be racing. And obviously I kept racing, always with older kids, right from the beginning. And then starting at the age of eight, I was allowed to do national championships.”

From karting, the natural progression from was going into formula car single seaters at that time was F1. Was that the same for you?

“In those days, I was totally in love with karting, and my dream was to just keep doing karting for the rest of my life. I just loved it. I wanted to be fully professional in karting and obviously aiming on winning the big trophies there. So that was actually my initial target. I was never thinking about putting a foot into a formula car or a car in general, because also it was so far away.

“I must say that especially the last few years, at the beginning, at the beginning of my karting, it was really the purest form of racing I would say. And then the higher you climb also in karting, the more international it gets, the harder it becomes. But I had some good people that obviously, including, obviously my father, but not only him, who at some stage said, listen, we have to move on, we have to try the, the single seater way.

What were the first years in single seaters like?

“I got the opportunity to drive from a BMW in a test when I was, I think, 15 years old. That was my first ever test. And to be honest, the first time I jumped in that car, I was completely lost. The first few laps, I just had no clue what to do. This kind of stuff was really like cultural shock. But I must say, already at the end of the first day, I started to feel really comfortable in it. And on day two, I already started to push and be really good with the car. And from there on my whole perspective of the single seater scene changed.”

In 2013, you made the transition towards GTs, firstly with someone very familiar to Lamborghini, Jerry Canavisio at Oregon Team. How important was that move at that time?

“It saved my motorsport career. I mean, you never know what would have been happening differently. Maybe I would have become a manager of a big company. Maybe it would have been a different career. There's not only motorsport. Maybe I would have done something else. I'm quite a competitive guy. At some point, I started to not believe in the dream anymore because things were slipping away from me at a crucial period for me.  

“At the end of the day I had to go two steps lower in order to try and make a step higher. And this is what basically happened. I think things were starting to come together in that period. I needed that opportunity and obviously it came up and I grabbed it with both hands, even without testing. And that gave me the opportunity to open some doors towards GT racing.”

How did the story with Lamborghini begin?

“With the Formula One experience I had, I think I did 11 or 12 days of testing F1 plus Formula Two and the experience I gained, I felt I was waiting for the right opportunity which unfortunately never really came up. And that's how I eventually ended up at Lamborghini at the right time. Because in 2014 Lamborghini was doing GT3 with the Gallardo Reiter, Gallardo FL2, and they were preparing a new chapter for themselves by moving into the Huracán project project together with Audi.
“In terms of timing, it was perfect. Everything came together because they were looking for driver and I was free. It’s incredible what has been built in that period of time, because that, that period back then, Lamborghini was not what it is now. I signed my first contract inside a shipping container. And the factory since then has probably grown double now also in terms of space, so it's a completely different environment. And thinking back on where we were from that point of view, what we managed to put and to create is unbelievable because 10 years is quite a relatively short space of time.

What are the highlights of your career with Lamborghini?

I must say, what really makes me proud is that I have been heavily involved in most of the major successes Lamborghini has had. We won the Spa 24 Hours last year which was obviously a major highlight, we won Daytona 24 Hours twice, Sebring 12 Hours, Petit Le Mans, Blancpain Endurance overall in 2017 and also runner-up in GT Masters which is the highest Lamborghini has so far managed. DTM is the biggest achievement for me.

What do you do away from the track?

“I like sim racing, especially iRacing a lot, but I am not investing the amount of time that a professional sim racer does, which is insane. I do a lot of sports. I like to travel, to see new places, obviously take some vacation here and there when I can.”