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NEWS

Latest Huracán GT3 EVO2 to make racing debut at iconic Daytona 24 Hours

27 Gennaio 2023

Lamborghini Squadra Corse will give the latest evolution of the highly successful Huracán GT3 its competitive debut this weekend in the annual 24 Hours at Daytona, with a five-car effort featuring no fewer than six factory drivers ready to do battle.

The Daytona 24 Hours is the traditional season-opener in the endurance racing calendar and is the first round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. It is also a race which Lamborghini has won on three occasions, winning it back-to-back between 2018 and 2020.

Across the five Lamborghini crews competing this weekend, four will race in the GT Daytona class while the lone #63 Huracán will contest the GT Daytona Pro category for the 24 Hours. 

Recently announced Lamborghini Factory Drivers Romain Grosjean and Jordan Pepper will line up in the #63 Iron Lynx Huracán GT3 EVO2 alongside existing official drivers Mirko Bortolotti and Andrea Caldarelli. This will be the first Daytona 24 Hours for both Pepper and Grosjean, although both have experience of some of the biggest endurance races in the past.

Caldarelli and Bortolotti, in particular, know what it takes to win the iconic endurance event, having done so with Lamborghini across the hat-trick years. Bortolotti is a two-time winner in 2018 and 2019 while Caldarelli won it in 2020.

A GT racing expert, Pepper contest the Spa 24 Hours alongside Caldarelli and Marco Mapelli in 2022 and previously won the Bathurst 12 Hours in a Bentley. For Grosjean, the ex-Formula 1 driver raced in both the Spa 24 Hours and Le Mans 24 Hours back in 2010 when he competed in the FIA GT1 World Championship.

Making its return to Lamborghini machinery this season, Iron Lynx will also field two cars in GTD, with the experienced Raffaele Giammaria and Claudio Schiavoni partnered by Factory Driver Franck Perera and rapid Am driver Rolf Ineichen in the #19 car.

The #83 Iron Dames line-up retains the same driver line-up which took Gold Cup class victory at last year’s Spa 24 Hours and a race victory in the European Le Mans Series. Rahel Frey – who last contest the Daytona 24 Hours at the wheel of a Lamborghini in 2020 – is joined by Michelle Gatting, Doriane Pin and Sarah Bovy.

Long-time Super Trofeo North America competitors US RaceTronics fields a solitary #78 Huracán GT3 EVO2 for versatile racer Loris Spinelli, who is partnered by last year’s International GT Open co-champion Benja Hites, Factory Driver Mapelli and Canadian Misha Goikhberg.

Completing the five-car entry for Lamborghini Squadra Corse for the 24 Hours at Daytona is the #42 NTE Sport crew of Jaden Conwright, Alessio Deledda, Don Yount and Kerong Li.

Ahead of the race itself, action has already begun with the traditional curtain-raising Roar before the 24 last weekend. Sunday’s qualifying session set the grid for the 24 Hours, while four additional practice sessions will take place this week across Thursday and Friday.

In GTD Pro, the #63 will start sixth on the grid for the race, while the #19 is the best placed of the GTD car, lining up 10th. The #83 car will start 15th on the grid, just one place ahead of the #78, with the #42 machine starting from the back in 24th.

The 24 Hours at Daytona is scheduled to start at 13:40 ET local time (19:40 CET), with live streaming available on IMSA.TV outside of the United States.

Full Lamborghini Squadra Corse line-up for the 24 Hours at Daytona:

Iron Lynx #63 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 (GTD Pro)
Mirko Bortolotti*
Andrea Caldarelli*
Jordan Pepper*
Romain Grosjean*

Iron Lynx #19 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 (GTD)
Claudio Schiavoni
Raffaele Giammaria
Franck Perera*
Rolf Ineichen

Iron Dames #83 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 (GTD)
Rahel Frey
Michelle Gatting
Sarah Bovy
Doriane Pin

US RaceTronics #78 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 (GTD)
Loris Spinelli
Marco Mapelli*
Benjamin Hites
Misha Goikhberg

NTE Sport #42 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 (GTD)
Jaden Conwright
Alessio Deledda
Don Yount
Kerong Li

*Denotes Lamborghini Factory Driver

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