Lamborghini has never been involved in motorsport for most of its history, primarily due to the wishes of company founder Feruccio Lamborghini but also for practical reasons, such as limited funds.
The situation finally changed at the turn of the decade when Lamborghini founded its own motorsport division, Squadra Corse, and began competing in the GT competition. Now it is on the verge of competing at the highest level of endurance racing with entries scheduled in both the IMSA Sports Championship and the FIA World Endurance Championship, competing against a race car. Le Mans Daytona hybrid (LMDh).
Lamborghini’s LMDh Campaign, first announced in May, will begin in 2024, a season after the inaugural season for new LMDh racing cars, and Lamborghini on Thursday named Andrea Caldarelli and Mirko Bortolotti as the first drivers for the campaign. They have also been selected as test drivers and will help develop Lamborghini’s LMDh race car, a trailer is shown above.
Both are factory drivers for Lamborghini, having previously competed in various GT competitions behind the wheel of the Huracan GT3, with Lamborghini or customer teams.
Andrea Caldarelli (left) and Mirko Bortolotti
“We are especially proud to announce Mirko and Andrea as the first racers for the LMDh programme,” Giorgio Sanna, Lamborghini’s motorsport director, said in a statement. “Both have contributed significantly to Lamborghini achieving historic results in GT racing and their participation in the LMDh project is also a reward for their unwavering commitment to the Squadra Corse family.”
The LMDh and its companion Le Mans Hypercar (LMH) portfolio were created to unite the top class in global motorsport. They allow manufacturers to compete in the top classes of the World Cycling Championships and World Endurance Championships, using the same bike, with Performance Balance rules to ensure a level playing field.
A Hypercar class replaces the LMP1 class as the top tier of the World Endurance Championship in 2021. A GTP class will replace the current DPi class as the top tier of the SportsCar Championship in 2023. mentioned above, both classes will be open to LMDh and LMH racing cars.
Although Lamborghini’s LMDh will only start racing in 2024, Acura, Alpine, Audi (probably), BMW car, Cadillac and Porsche All LMDh racing cars will perform in the inaugural 2023 season. ByKolles, Ferrari, Glickenhaus, Peugeot and Toyota are committed to LMH.
