The track was wet for the majority of the three days of testing at Portimao for the single long-distance test scheduled by Lamborghini and its Iron Lynx factory squad ahead of the double-points round of the World Endurance Championship on 15-16 June, team principal Andrea Piccini has revealed.
But the ability of the new-for-2024 Lambo SC63 to go the distance without significant issues on its first appearances in the WEC and the IMSA SportsCar Championship in North America has allayed any fears over reliability, he insisted.
“There was a lot of rain and it was not ideal,” Piccini said of the test at the Portuguese Algarve circuit on 26-28 March.
“But we don’t think it will be a problem: we’ve finished a 10-hour WEC race at Qatar and a 12-hour IMSA race at Sebring, so the reliability seems good,” he said.
“I don’t think reliability is the problem; more important for us is to work on the performance of the car — that is our focus right now.”
The SC63’s race finishes on debut at Qatar and then at Sebring in 13th and seventh positions respectively were followed up by another clean run on the way to 12th position in last weekend’s Imola WEC race.
#63 Lamborghini Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63: Mirko Bortolotti, Edoardo Mortara, Daniil Kvyat
Photo by: Emanuele Clivati | AG Photo
Piccini explained that the WEC schedule does not allow time for another endurance run before Le Mans, when Iron Lynx’s solo WEC entry will be joined by the SC63 competing in three of the IMSA enduros this year.
“After Portimao we had to get ready for Imola and then we are into Spa [round three of the 2024 WEC on 11 May] and after that it will all be about preparing the cars for Le Mans,” he said.
Piccini did not put a figure on the mileage the Lambo achieved at Portimao’s Algarve circuit, but he stressed that the test was still of value.
“Quite often you have to race in the rain at Le Mans,” he said. “We did get some dry laps, probably about a third of the running.”
Five of Lamborghini’s roster of LMDh drivers were present at Portimao, with Romain Grosjean absent courtesy of his IndyCar commitments with Juncos Hollinger Racing.
Piccini confirmed that Iron Lynx and Lamborghini have abandoned the plan outlined on the launch of the SC63 last year to field its IMSA car alongside its regular WEC entry in Austin at the beginning of September.
He pointed out that there would unlikely be room for an additional entry at a circuit with one of the smaller pit garage allocations on the WEC schedule, adding that it would also be difficult for the team to run a second car.
“Doing Le Mans with two cars is already difficult in our first year, so it is not in plan now,” he said.