Lamborghini Iron Lynx’s racing director Emmanuel Esnault was appreciative for his team’s P7 result at their IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP debut, at the 12 Hours of Sebring.
The #63 Lamborghini Iron Lynx SC63 entrant driven by Matteo Cairoli, Andrea Caldarelli, and Romain Grosjean finished in seventh ahead of two fellow GTP class competitors.
After the near-10-hour Qatar race for the FIA World Endurance Championship two weeks prior, it was the second race outing for the SC63 albeit at the renowned endurance classic at the bumpy Sebring International Raceway.
“We can be proud of what we accomplished at Sebring,” said Esnault.
“We completed one of the toughest races in the world and overcame every obstacle that came to us.
“Our drivers and team members worked incredibly hard, constantly adapting and focusing on the big picture.”
“There is still a lot of work to be done, but we feel we made great progress at Sebring that we will carry forward in the rest of our 2024 journey.
“Making our first IMSA race has been a great challenge, as this project is still very new, but here and in Qatar we proved that as a team, we can make a difference.
“Our focus now shifts to our home [WEC] race at Imola, but we are leaving the USA extremely motivated and we cannot wait to be back on track.”
Cairoli set a 1:53.574 lap time in qualifying, which put them last in the GTP field.
Their sights, however, were set on reaching the chequered flag in the second-longest IMSA event in the calendar.
Grosjean and Caldarelli drove after Cairoli’s opening double-stint before rotating drivers, and so they ran at back of the GTP class and in-front of LMP2.
Amidst the various dramas – leading to 12 caution periods throughout the race – Lamborghini only encountered an issue with the driver’s door not closing with Grosjean driving at the time.
Most crucially, they did not suffer any major reliability issues during the 12 hours, despite the stress in which the powertrain and electronics faced with Sebring’s demanding track surface.
They were not able to demonstrate competitive pace, although they did fend off P7 ahead of two other Hypercars during the final green-flag sprint to the finish.
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