Lamborghini SC63 ready for Le Mans? “Trust is not a problem”

(Motorsport-Total.com) – Lamborghini hopes that the SC63 LMDh is ready for the 24 Hours of Le Mans in terms of reliability. “We completed the 10-hour WEC race in Qatar and the 12-hour IMSA race in Sebring, so the reliability looks good,” hopes Andrea Piccini, team boss of the Iron Lynx operations team.

“I don’t think reliability is the problem. For us it’s more important to work on the performance of the car – that’s what we’re focusing on at the moment,” reveals the Italian. In the second race of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) in Imola, Mirko Bortolotti, Daniil Kwjat and Edoardo Mortara finished in twelfth place.

“It was a good race,” Kwjat said happily. “The team did a good job staying on the stage throughout the race. Of course there are still a lot of things we need to work on, but we are on the right track, that’s for sure.”

No problem running home

In fact, the SC63 was only braked in free practice when a faulty sensor caused the brakes to overheat, followed by a steering problem. The Italian ran without any problems in the race. “It’s the second race (of the WEC) that we’ve finished without any problems, which is amazing considering it’s a brand new car,” recalls Mortara.

“We can also get more performance from the car, and we see it week after week,” says the Lamborghini works driver. “We were definitely more competitive than Qatar and hopefully we will be better in the next race.”

“Now we have to communicate as well as possible to further improve the car, and we also have to think rationally about how we improve the car, but I think we are on the right track,” adds his colleague Kwjat.

But the truth is also: In the opening of the WEC in Qatar, the three Lamborghinis had to compete in the last three hours of the race with a problem with the front suspension, which caused the gap to the competition to grow significantly. Earlier there was a problem with the gearbox in free practice.

Lamborghini is currently still very slow

At Imola, Lamborghini with starting number 63 crossed the finish line two laps back. “We can be very happy to bring the car home and prove its reliability. Of course we know what we still need to work on, but it was a solid race for the whole team,” says Bortolotti. “Everyone did a great job and we can build on that in the future.”

But the Italians don’t have much time left. Ahead of the weekend in Italy, Lamborghini completed three days of long-distance testing in Portimao, despite much of the rain. “It rained a lot and it wasn’t good,” admits Piccini. But: “You often have to drive in the rain at Le Mans.”

“We did dry laps, maybe about a third of the race.” However, the process was not complete and there is no more space to test due to time constraints. “After Portimao we had to prepare for Imola, then we are at Spa (third round of the WEC on May 11) and after that it will be a matter of preparing the cars for Le Mans.”

The original plan to use an IMSA car as the second car in the WEC race in Austin (Texas) at the beginning of September is also off the table. Apart from the fact that it would probably not be possible due to space constraints, Lamborghini is focusing on the first show at Le Mans, where both cars will be used.