Reigning Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America PRO champions, Danny Formal and Kyle Marcelli, will drive a Wayne Taylor with Andretti-run Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 in IMSA’s GTD class next year.

Wayne Taylor Racing (WTR) with Andretti has confirmed they will run a #45 Lamborghini in the GTD category for the full WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season in 2024.

Marcelli drove in the 2023 season for the #93 Racers Edge Motorsports with WTR GTD entry, fielding an Acura NSX GT3 with teammate Ashton Harrison and Formal as the Endurance Cup driver.

This will be the maiden, independent GTD effort for the WTR and Andretti partnership, in addition to their expansion to a pair of Acura ARX-06 GTPs next year.

The Squadra Corse racing outfit will support the WTRAndretti entry.

Giorgio Sanna, Head of Motorsport at Lamborghini, said. “We are particularly proud to start the GTD program with WTRAndretti. “

“We are cooperating with success with Wayne’s team since few years in our Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America, supporting talent drivers like Danny and Kyle in their career, so we are very excited to have these drivers in our Huracán GT3 EVO 2 starting from Daytona.”

Wayne Taylor, Team Principal for Wayne Taylor Racing Andretti, added: “We’re really excited that Lamborghini has come to us and regarded us as a team that is worthy of a factory program.

“Danny Formal and Kyle Marcelli will be doing the full season.

“We’ve got a long history with Lamborghini with us running four cars a year in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo series, so there’s a great relationship already built.

“Like I always said, everything to do with success in motorsport, is to be able to have people you can communicate with and build relationships with, so very excited about that with Lamborghini.”

Formal said: “What can I say. 2024. My dream come true.

“My first full season, endurance, and sprint championship, in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar GTD Championship with WTRAndretti and Lamborghini Squadra Corse.

“My dream come true. So thankful for the opportunity to share the car with my brother, Kyle Marcelli in our fourth year together.

“We have been pushing each other so hard these past four years. We have two Lamborghini Super Trofeo PRO Championships.

“Just grateful, thankful, excited, and looking forward to starting the 2024 season with a bang at Daytona and try to get a couple wins this season and hopefully a championship.”

Marcelli concluded: “I couldn’t be more excited to make my full time return to the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship with WTRAndretti.

“It has been three years in the making, first taking an opportunity with WTR to drive the Lamborghini Super Trofeo in the PRO Class in 2021, then winning back-to-back Championships in 2022 and 2023.

“It has always been the long-term plan in house to be back at the top level of the sport.

“I know the team has been working so hard to put this together and we are just thrilled that it is happening.

“I couldn’t be more proud to be doing it with Lamborghini. It just seems like an obvious and seamless fit for the team and us.

“To continue to share the cockpit with Danny, we have developed a great relationship on and off the track.

“We complement each other very well and in different ways.

“Excited for the coming season. We will make the most of it.”

Lamborghini conducted three days of testing earlier this week at the Circuito de Almería in Spain, as Romain Grosjean drove his first laps in the SC63 LMDh.

He was joined by fellow Lamborghini factory driver Andrea Caldarelli, collectively driving nearly 2000 km of mileage at the 4.2 km circuit.

Technicians from Lamborghini and the Italian manufacturer’s team partner, Iron Lynx, were able to simulate full course yellow conditions and restart procedures, often implemented in endurance races to neutralise the race if there are safety concerns.

The team remain set to debut next year competitively at the FIA World Endurance Championship’s Qatar race, which will open the season in early March.

However, the team will not debut the car at the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship debut at the 24 Hours of Daytona in January, instead waiting until later in the year for its first competitive outing on American soil.

Furthermore, Lamborghini will only race in select IMSA Endurance Cup rounds, which form part of the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship. 

Grosjean said: “It was a very intense three days, but I am very happy to have been able to work the team and the car on the track for the first time. 

“The car proved to be very good from the first laps and I can’t wait to put even more kilometres on it during the next tests.

“It felt really good, and I am happy to be in Almería with the whole team and discovering all the people and the work that has been going on behind the scenes. 

“So, I am very excited to be here, the car felt really good from the beginning but obviously we still have a bit of a journey [ahead of us].

“But the work that has been done prior to my arrival has been very good and I am looking forward to learning more about the car.”

The testing programme for the SC63 LMDh will continue in Europe next week.

Additionally, the Iron Lynx test team will move to the United States to continue the homologation process by IMSA, with a series of tests across North American circuits.

Lamborghini factory driver Andrea Caldarelli has been confirmed at Grasser Racing Team for the remainder of the DTM season, with his debut commencing at the Red Bull Ring on 22-24 September.

The 33-year-old Lamborghini Squadra Corse driver is set for his DTM debut next week with GRT, competing in the #19 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 in both the penultimate and final races of 2023.

Located in the Spielberg region of Austria, the Red Bull Ring is regarded by GRT as their home circuit as it is situated just 10 minutes away from their headquarters.

Caldarelli said: “I am really looking forward to join GRT for their home race at the Red Bull Ring.

“The level in the DTM is really high and I know it won’t be easy to join for a race at the end of the season.

“But I’m very confident and, together with GRT, I will give everything to bring the #19 Lamborghini to the front.

“It’s great to be working with the team again for the first time since 2018. I remember we had a fantastic race at the Red Bull Ring back then.

“It was probably one of the best races I’ve ever had.

“Those are great memories and I can’t wait to tackle a new challenge in the DTM next weekend together with GRT.”

The remaining rounds on the 2023 schedule will take place at two venues: Red Bull Ring and Hockenheimring.

Lamborghini’s Huracan GT3 EVO2 package has proven to be successful in the hands of championship-leader, and three-time race winner this season, Mirko Bortolotti, who is a fellow Lamborghini works driver.

Gottfried Grasser, Team Principal of GRT, added: “We are very happy about the cooperation with GGMT Revolution for the DTM races at the Red Bull Ring.

“Our home race has ever since been a special highlight for us and, as always, we are highly motivated to go full throttle with a new partner at our side.

“The Lamborghini in the GGMT Revolution design is certainly an absolute eye-catcher and those who scan the QR code on the car will be even more excited.

“With Andrea Caldarelli, we have a superb line-up for the number 19 car. We have known each other for many years and know about his outstanding qualities.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Lamborghini Squadra Corse for their support in this project. I am sure it will be a really golden weekend for us.”

The penultimate round of the 2023 DTM season will take place at the Red Bull Ring next week on 22-24 September.

Maximilian Paul charged his way to a maiden DTM victory at a rain-soaked Nurburgring GP circuit, for the second and final race of the weekend.

The Grasser Racing Team and Lamborghini junior driver charged up the field from outside the top-10 to claim his first DTM win as a debutant with a track which transitioned from mostly dry, to wet conditions.

He was brought in to replace Mick Wishofer solely for this weekend, and showcased a race-winning climb to become the eighth different DTM race winner in the 2023 season.

SSR Performance’s Mirko Bortolotti, and yesterday’s race winner, did not begin the race, unrelated to his mistake during qualifying earlier today.

At lights out, Kelvin van der Linde spun around after the first corner, putting himself to the back of the field and did not collect anyone in the process despite in the midst of the field in 10th.

Dennis Olsen also had a challenging first few corners as he ran wide in his #90 Manthey EMA Porsche 911 GT3.R, falling to the back of the order and retired from the race having started in eighth position.

Both Team Winward Racing Mercedes-AMGs started strong as they went up from fourth and fifth into second and third during the opening laps, with Lucas Auer behind David Schumacher, who was behind front-runner Ricardo Feller who initially retained his pole position.

GRT’s Maximilian Paul moved up the field competitively in his #19 Lamborghini Huracan, but was given a black-and-white flag as a warning for forcing another car of the circuit.

After 10 minutes of running, Auer made a move into the lead after gaining better speed after the Schumacher S and into the chicane.

Soon after being overtaken, Feller was the first driver to make a pitstop in his Audi R8 LMS Evo 2 as the rain became heavier and himself, and a number of other drivers, could not continue on the slick tyres they had started on.

A full-course-yellow was deployed to retrieve the stranded Lamborghini of Alessio Deledda who spun at Turn 1 after having been caught out by Jack Aitken’s Emil Frey Ferrari exiting the pitlane.

Meanwhile, the front three runners – Auer, Paul and Team75 Motorsport’s Laurin Heinrich – all took the opportunity to pit.

With under 18 minutes remaining, green flag racing resumed the action as drivers throughout the field hustled for track position.

The #19 Lamborghini looked strong and asserted promising pace after climbing up the pack and kept within close range of the leading #22 Mercedes-AMG of Auer.

Their prominent and intense fight for the lead continued throughout the closing stages of the 1-hour race.

With 15 minutes remaining, Paul’s late pit stop for wet tyres gave him the confidence to make a move past Auer for the lead having started 13th on the grid.

The race ended under safety car conditions following Arjun Maini off-track excursion as he slid into the Turn 5 barriers.

Paul, Heinrich and Auer covered the podium spots after 35 laps of running.

In fourth place was the #48 Mercedes-AMG of Maro Engel, followed by Thomas Preining of Manthey EMA in fifth.

Sixth place was claimed by pole-sitter Feller in his #7 ABT Sportsline Audi, as Luca Engstler finished seventh.

Thierry Vermeulen landed eighth place in his #69 Emil Frey Ferrari 296 GT3.

David Schumacher and SSR Performance’s Franck Perera rounded off the top-10 finishers.

The next round of the 2023 calendar will be at the Lausitzring on 19-20 August.

Lamborghini has unveiled its SC63 LMDh prototype, which it will race globally next year in the FIA World Endurance Championship and the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship. Read more about the car with our dedicated coverage, or check it out in all its glory below.

All images courtesy of Lamborghini Squadra Corsa

Lamborghini will unveil its forthcoming LMDh prototype at the Good Festival of Speed, the Italian manufacturer has announced.

The world famous motorsport festival will take place from Thursday 13th July to the Sunday 16th July, with hundreds of cars running up the hill over the weekend. It is not clear if the as-yet unnamed prototype will run up the hill too, although Lamborghini will have other vehicles making the 1.17 mile climb up the hill.

The festival will take place at Goodwood House in Sussex, the home of Lord March. It will celebrate Porsche’s 75th anniversary, with a large sculpture dedicated to the German manufacturer in front of the house.

The Lamborghini prototype, meanwhile, will race in the FIA World Endurance Championship next year, with Iron Lynx running a single car for the full season. The Italian team will also run a single car in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship’s Endurance Cup rounds. Finally, they will run two cars at the 24 Hours of Le Mans next year.

The car will be unveiled on the Thursday, on a dedicated stand by Lamborghini Chairman and CEO Stephan Winkelmann, Chief Technical Officer Rouven Mohr and Head of Motorsport Giorgio Sanna, together with Iron Lynx.

Iron Lynx are also expected to run Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2s in the WEC’s new-for-2024 LMGT3 class, alongside the LMDh program.

Lamborghini has named former F1 driver Daniil Kvyat as its newest member of its factory driver squad, ahead of the Italian manufacturer’s maiden season in the FIA World Endurance Championship next year.

The Russian currently races for Prema in the WEC, in the #63 Oreca 07-Gibson, alongside fellow Lamborghini factory driver Mirko Bortolotti, and French teenager Doriane Pin.

Lamborghini will race a single car in WEC next year, plus another car in the North American Endurance Cup rounds of the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship.

The manufacturer also hopes to bring both cars to the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The car, aligning to the LMDh rules package, will be based on a Ligier chassis, with a bespoke V8 twin-turbo engine.

The team will be run by the Iron Lynx squad, which currently races two Porsches in the WEC’s GTE-Am category. Iron Lynx will also have operational support from Prema.

Lamborghini says Kvyat will carry out extensive testing of the LMDh prototype this year, before racing next in both the WEC and IMSA championships.

He joins Bortolotti, Andrea Calderelli, and fellow F1 alumni Romain Grosjean as Lamborghini factory drivers.

Kvyat said: “I am very happy to have joined Lamborghini Squadra Corse, it is a great honour for me.

“Lamborghini is a very well-known Italian brand with a great history in automotive world and, having grown up in Italy, this is an additional source of pride for me.

“We hope to achieve many goals together, I thank you for your trust in me and I look forward to starting work on the LMDh project later this year.”

Kvyat spent six years racing in F1 for Red Bull and its sister Toro Rosso/AlphaTauri F1 squad before acting as a reserve driver for Alpine in 2021.

Romain Grosjean has implied heavily that he is not planning to race full-time for Lamborghini Iron Lynx in the FIA World Endurance Championship next year.

“This year I’ve done Daytona, I’m going to do Sebring, probably Petit Le Mans; next year the program includes those races plus Le Mans 24,” the French IndyCar driver told media at the IndyCar test, taking place at the The Thermal Club racetrack, a facility in California.

When asked if IndyCar will be his priority next year, and he will only do the endurance races for Lamborghini, he said one word in response: “Yes.”

This would indicate that the former Formula 1 driver is not planning to race in the WEC rounds other than the 24 Hours of Le Mans next year, and instead will be racing in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup rounds.

The WEC will expand to eight races next year, with the addition of the 6 Hours of Qatar as the season opener — which, in turn, throws into jeopardy the joint IMSA/WEC race at Sebring, this year’s season opener for the world championship.

Grosjean raced at Daytona this year in a Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 in the GTD Pro class for Iron Lynx, which has partnered with the Itsalian manufacturer as its factory team. He raced alongside fellow factory drivers Andrea Caldarelli, Mirko Bortolotti, and Jordan Pepper, finishing 24th overall and 4th in GTD Pro,.

This is despite Grosjean saying to the media at the IndyCar test, “The BOP wasn’t in our favor, so we knew it was going to be tough.”

Lamborghini has not confirmed the drivers who will be racing the unnamed LMDh car next year. However, the Italian manufacturer has confirmed to MotorsportWeek.com that it will be lodging single car entries in both IMSA and WEC next year.

When contacted for comment by MotorsportWeek.com on this matter, a Lamborghini Squadra Corse spokesman declined to comment.

Lamborghini will run a single cars in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup and the FIA World Endurance Championship next year, the team has confirmed to MotorsportWeek.com.

This means the team will run single entries in FIA WEC, in a full-time programme, and in IMSA, albeit just the longer endurance rounds, held at Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen, and Road Atlanta, and not the shorter rounds which comprise the full IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship.

Lamborghini initially announced its LMDh entry last May, will a project entry date of 2024. This has now been confirmed, although this far out the Italian manufacturer cannot say when exactly it will make its race debut with the as-yet unveiled car.

While the company, which has partnered with Italian sportscar team Iron Lynx to run the factory programme, will only enter single cars in both championships, it may enter both cars into the WEC’s crown jewel race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It has also signed Mirko Bortolotti, Andrea Caldarelli, and former F1 driver and current IndyCar star Romain Grosjean as factory drivers, although it has not been decided, or at least announced publicly, where drivers will race or in which series yet.

A Lamborghini Squadra Corse spokesman told MotorsportWeek.com, ‘We are evaluating a double effort at Le Mans with both cars in 2024 but it is still to early to confirm that.’

The car is being built in co-operation with Ligier, which is providing the chassis tub. It will be paired with a Lamborghini V8 twin-turbo engine. A planned rollout and testing programme is scheduled for later this year.

Romain Grosjean will be a Lamborghini Iron Lynx factory driver in the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2024, driving the Lamborghini LMDh Hypercar, the Italian manufacturer team has announced.

The French-Swiss driver is most well known for his Formula 1 career over the last decade, where he ran in 181 Grands Prix from 2009 to 2020, for Renault, Lotus and Haas. Since then, he has raced in IndyCar, currently for Andretti Autosport, driving the No. 28 DHL-sponsored car.

Although his Hypercar debut will come next year, the 36-year-old will make his debut for Lamborghini Iron Lynx at the Rolex 24 at Daytona next month, where he’ll drive a Huracán GT3 EVO2 in the GTD Pro class alongside Mirko Bortolotti, Andrea Calderelli and a yet-to-be-announced driver. Bortolotti and Calderelli have previously been announced as LMDh drivers for 2024.

Grosjean has some experience in GT cars already, having raced in the FIA GT1 world championship in 2010, taking a race win on his debut at Abu Dhabi. He also raced in the Spa 24 Hours that same year.

Speaking about his appointment as a Lamborghini factory driver, Grosjean said: “First of all, it’s an honour to be joining Lamborghini, it’s such an iconic brand for everyone who loves cars, including myself and my kids.

“On top of that, I am very excited about two things: the first is starting in Daytona with the GT3 which has been very successful in Daytona and a really good team like Iron Lynx and team-mates around me, so that is going to be a nice discovery for myself.”

He then added a little snippet of detail on the upcoming LMDh car: “And then, later in the year developing the new LMDh which is a beautiful car – I’m lucky to have seen it – and an incredible project in endurance. It’s becoming a very exciting category with all the constructors coming. With Lamborghini being such a successful brand, I hope we can do well in the future.”