Lamborghini captured its first-ever Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) sanctioned title as Andrea Caldarelli, Axcil Jefferies and Hiroshi Hamaguchi became European Le Mans Series (ELMS) LMGT3 champions after a final-lap victory in the 4 Hours of Portimão.
The trio at the wheel of their #63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 started the final race of the season in Portugal fifth on the grid and had to fight back from an early setback following contact with another car inside the opening hour.
As the race wore on, the #63 moved back into contention with the efforts of Hamaguchi and Jefferies leaving the car lying second on a day heavily disrupted by multiple full course yellow, safety car and virtual safety car periods.
By the time Caldarelli took over, the car was still second but needed to win the race overall in order to wrap up the title. The Iron Dames Porsche (run by Iron Lynx) of Michelle Gatting led for the majority of the 4 Hours but gave up the lead at the last corner of the final lap to give the #63 the win and the class title.
Andrea Caldarelli, Lamborghini Factory Driver, said: “It’s been an amazing season, definitely not an easy one from the beginning. This has been the first season for the Huracán, which was quite difficult at the start of the year where we didn’t have so much pace, but we’ve fought very hard and got a lot of good points. We didn’t finish the last two races, so it was very difficult to come here for the last race, but in the end we had very good pace and a great strategy. I would like you thank the whole team, Lamborghini and my team-mates Hiroshi and Axcil, who did a great job too.”
It rounds off a memorable season for Lamborghini and Iron Lynx, which started the season in Barcelona with a strong third place finish for Hamaguchi, Jefferies and Caldarelli. With valuable points in the bag, the crew then finished a competitive second in the second round of the year at Le Castellet in France, before adding another third place, on home soil at Imola.
Hamaguchi showcased his impressive raw speed in qualifying for round four at Spa-Francorchamps, taking pole position and leading the early stages. Unfortunately, contact with an LMP2 car damaged the suspension during the race, which led to further contact at Eau Rouge with the Iron Dames Porsche, putting both cars out of the race and registering the first retirement for the #63. A trouble race in the 4 Hours of Mugello meant the trio could only manage ninth place, but retirement and misfortune for its rivals left them in the hunt for the title in Portimão.
The weekend in Portugal began strongly for the #63, setting the fourth-quickest time in the opening free practice session on Thursday morning. Hamaguchi then took part in the Bronze-only session, pacing second fastest before qualifying fifth on the grid for the race.
The Japanese driver took the start but found himself facing the wrong way after an ambitious overtaking attempt on the #59 Aston Martin at turn 12 left both spinning into the gravel trap. Fortunately, the #63 was able to return to the track, albeit dropping to 10th place and receiving a drivethrough penalty for its part in the contact, but Hamaguchi performed admirably to hand over the car to Jefferies.
Caldarelli then took over from Jefferies with the car in second place and began closing on the leading car entering the final stages. A late safety car preceded a restart with just 30 minutes remaining; Caldarelli pressurised the back of Gatting but could not find a way past, until the final lap when he snuck down the inside of the Porsche at the final corner. The significance of this was elevated due to the overall race leader lapping the pair, meaning the #63 crossed the line as the winner of the race and LMGT3 champions from the Kessel Racing Ferrari by just two points.
