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Lamborghini complete WEC and IMSA line-ups with Mortara and Cairoli

The duo were announced as the Italian manufacturer took the wraps of the line-ups for the two cars to be run by the Iron Lynx factory team in the full WEC and four of the five endurance rounds of the IMSA series in North America. 

Mortara and Cairoli come into the line-up after joining the test programme with the SC63 developed in conjunction with Ligier Automotive at Jerez in September. 

Formula E race winner Mortara will be racing a prototype for the first time, although he has extensive endurance experience in GT3 machinery from his stints as an Audi and then Mercedes factory driver. 

The Swiss will contest the WEC in the Hypercar class together with long-time Lamborghini driver Mirko Bortolotti and ex-Formula 1 racer Daniil Kvyat, who was announced as part of the programme in April.

Cairoli, who revealed his departure from Porsche’s GT roster earlier this week, will contest the Sebring, Watkins Glen, and Indianapolis enduros in the IMSA GTP category in what will also be a maiden prototype campaign for him. 

The Italian will share with Andrea Caldarelli, another stalwart of the Italian manufacturer’s GT3 programmes, and IndyCar driver Romain Grosjean, who was announced by Lamborghini in December 2022.

The IMSA car is scheduled to join the full-season WEC entry at the double-points Le Mans 24 Hours round in June. 

Edoardo Mortara, Lamborghini Iron Lynx (Photo by: Lamborghini Squadra Corse)

Giorgio Sana, head of Lamborghini’s Squadra Corse motorsport department, said: “We are thrilled to welcome Edoardo and Matteo into our family. 

“Both drivers have a lot of experience and not only bring with them impressive speed and professionalism to the LMDh project in the WEC and IMSA, but also the opportunity to use them strategically in some of the biggest GT3 races and championships.”

Long-time Mercedes GT3 driver Raffaele Marciello had been due to join Lamborghini before being poached by BMW, a move that was confirmed last month 

Mortara, who will be free to contest all the WEC rounds alongside his commitments with Mahindra in Formula E, described the link-up with Lamborghini as “a proud moment”.

“I am super-happy to be joining Lamborghini Squadra Corse, which is allowing me this incredible opportunity to compete in the Le Mans 24 Hours and the WEC, both of which I have wanted to take part in for a long time.”

Cairoli called racing a prototype in the top division of sportscar racing “a dream I have been chasing for a long time”. 

“To do it with an Italian brand as an Italian driver has given me even more motivation,” he added.

Lamborghini SC63 LMDh (Photo by: Lamborghini Squadra Corse)

Mortara and Cairoli continued their test programme in the SC63 this week at Austin, which followed on from Lamborghini’s mandatory participation in a two-day IMSA test at Daytona at the start of December. 

Lamborghini and Iron Lynx, which ended up fastest with Caldarelli, will not be taking part in the season-opening Daytona 24 Hours round at the end of next month. 

It has consistently stressed that it would be too early in the programme to undertake the race. 

The run at Austin “concludes the development phase of the SC63”, according to Lamborghini chief technical officer Rouven Mohr. 

The Lamborghini LMDh will make its race debut in the opening round of the 2024 WEC at the Losail circuit in Qatar at the start of March.

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