Lamborghini Squadra Corse produced two top-10 finishes in the deep, competitive GT Daytona (GTD) class Sunday in the Rolex 24 At Daytona, as all Lamborghini teams persevered during an eventful 24-hour race that featured changing weather and a variety of challenges.
The Paul Miller Racing team, featuring American drivers Bryan Sellers, Madison Snow, Bryce Miller and Dion von Moltke and Italian driver Andrea Caldarelli, led Lamborghini with a seventh-place finish in the No. 48 Lamborghini Huracán GT3.
EBIMOTORS, an Italian team with significant international acclaim and numerous victories, finished ninth in the No. 46 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 with Italian drivers Emanuele Busnelli and Fabio Babini, French driver Emmanuel Collard and British driver Francois Perrodo.
The 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season opener started in dry but chilly conditions Saturday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway. Rain moved in during the evening and continued through Sunday morning, when skies cleared and racing continued on a damp track.
Teams were forced to endure very tricky track conditions and strategic decisions throughout the North American endurance classic due to the changing, cold weather and multiple caution periods on the 12-turn, 3.56-mile (5.73 km) circuit.
The No. 18 DAC Motorsports entry finished 13th with American drivers Brandon Gdovic and Anthony Massari and Canadian drivers Emmanuel Anassis and Zach Claman. The result came after the team worked tirelessly to change the car’s chassis after an incident in the final practice, completing the work and reporting to the grid about 20 minutes before the start of the race.
Blancpain GT Series standout GRT Grasser Racing Team achieved a top finish of 15th with its No. 11 Lamborghini Huracán in its Rolex 24 At Daytona debut. But that result was deceiving.
Christian Engelhart, Rolf Ineichen, Ezequiel Perez Companc and Mirko Bortolotti combined to drive the No. 11 GRT car as high as second place in the ultra-competitive GTD class during the night hours after starting fifth on the grid. But a technical issue forced an extended pit stop.
GRT Grasser Racing Team’s second car, the No. 61 entry, finished 17th with Engelhart, Ineichen, Roberto Pampanini, Michele Beretta and Milos Pavlovic behind the wheel.
The No. 27 Dream Racing entry was credited with 19th place, slowed by damage from an incident during the overnight hours, forcing retirement from competition.
Konrad Motorsport suffered a technical issue with its No. 21 machine and withdrew from the race. The Austrian team was credited with 20th place.
Change Racing’s No. 16 Lamborghini Huracán ended up 25th in class after damage from early contact, ending their race after only 79 laps.
The next WeatherTech Championship race is the 12 Hours of Sebring on March 16-18 at Sebring, Florida.
The V10-powered Lamborghini Huracán was born from a desire to offer factory-built and supported cars to customers worldwide. It is the first GT3 car to be fully engineered, developed and assembled internally by Automobili Lamborghini.
Lamborghini Squadra Corse enjoyed a successful first season in the WeatherTech Championship in 2016, earning a dominant victory in the GTD class race in August at VIRginia International Raceway with Paul Miller Racing.