Lamborghini’s Mirko Bortolotti says the Italian marque wants to be fighting “with the big dogs” in the FIA World Endurance Championship, but admits the fledgling Hypercar outfit is taking things “step by step” in Imola this weekend.
“I think that we’re learning by doing step by step every day, every outing, every lap brings us forward,” Bortolotti said.
“In Qatar, the main goal was to finish a race, have a clean one, prove the car’s reliability. That’s what we did.
“I think also looking at the IMSA championship, where the car competed after Qatar also there we managed to finish the race.
“I mean, even though I wasn’t in the car, the car managed to finish it. So, it’s really promising.
“Step by step, the goal is to be competitive to fight at the top of the field. Ideally with the big dogs.
The SC63 made its debut in Qatar, finishing the 1812 km enduro in 13th place, before the Iron Lynx-run Lamborghini Hypercar project went stateside to make its IMSA debut in the 12 Hours of Sebring, lodging another race finish in seventh place and on the lead lap.
Lamborghini’s programme continues in Emilia Romagna, with the 6 Hours of Imola weekend starting promisingly for the Bologna brand with Bortolotti posting the fourth-fastest time in FP1.
“Looking at today I think it was a promising start but it’s just FP1.
“We will need to see how the weekend will progress from now on but of course, the goal is to ideally keep going like that and If we can, obviously we are there to take a strong result.
“That’s our goal.”
The SC63 is just two races into its sportscar career, so challenging the likes of Ferrari, Toyota and the resurgent Porsche is still a way off. Lamborghini was unable to replicate its FP1 prowess in the second practice session, where the #63 car finished in 15th.
“The aim is obviously always to be fighting at the top ideally, but you also need to be realistic because we are competing against top drivers, top teams, top manufacturers,” Bortolotti said.
“We just step in with a brand new car and have zero experience in this field. So you cannot take things for granted.
“There are examples of manufacturers starting last year that were struggling and now you can see the progress.”
Talking of progress, Bortolotti is happy with Lamborghini’s work thus far in 2024.
“It’s great to see Lamborghini in Hypercar,” he said.
“It’s great to see where we managed to be with the car. considering the limited time we had developing.
“So I think we can be happy on one side with the work that has been done until now.
“But on the other hand, we need to keep pushing and make the next steps.
“So just excited to be here and looking forward to the next races. Including obviously our home race this weekend.”
