Lamborghini Names First Driver for 2024 LMDh Campaign

Lamborghini has not competed in motorsports for most of its history, mainly due to the wishes of its founder Ferruccio Lamborghini, but also for practical reasons such as limited funds.

The situation finally changed at the beginning of last decade when Lamborghini established its own motorsports division, Squadra Corse, and began competing in GT competition. It now plans to enter both the IMSA Sports Car Championship and the FIA World Endurance Championship, and is attempting to compete at the top level of endurance racing, competing in a Le Mans Daytona Hybrid (LMDh) race car.

First announced in May, Lamborghini's LMDh campaign will begin in 2024, one season after the first season of the new LMDh race car, and on Thursday Lamborghini announced Andrea Caldarelli and Mirko Bortolotti as the first Lamborghini 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. [Both are Lamborghini factory drivers and have competed in various GT competitions at the wheel of Huracán GT3s for Lamborghini or customer teams.

"We are particularly proud to announce Mirko and Andrea as the first drivers in the LMDh program," said Giorgio Sanna, Lamborghini's Head of Motorsports, in a statement. 'Both men have made significant contributions to Lamborghini's historic results in GT racing, and their addition to the LMDh project is a reward for their ongoing commitment to the Squadra Corse family.'

The LMDh and its companion Le Mans Hypercar (LMH) race car category were created to consolidate the top class of sports car racing worldwide. It allows manufacturers to compete in the top class of sports car and world endurance championships using the same cars, with performance balance rules applied to ensure a level playing field

.

In 2021, the Hypercar class will replace the LMP1 class as the top class in the World Endurance Championship; in 2023, the GTP class will replace the current DPi class as the top class in the Sports Car Championship. As mentioned above, both classes are open to LMDh and LMH racing cars.

Lamborghini's LMDh will only begin racing in 2024, while Acura, Alpine, Audi (probably), BMW, Cadillac, and Porsche will have LMDh race cars in the inaugural season in 2023. Bicoles, Ferrari, Glickenhaus, Peugeot, and Toyota are committed to LMDh.