After a thrilling comeback with team ABT Sportsline finishing sixth place at Nürburgring 24-hour, Jordan Pepper takes on his next challenge with Iron Lynx: 75th Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa. Teaming up with Mirko Bortolotti and Andrea Calderelli in their Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2, the #63 Iron Lynx garage will go all out at the gruelling contest from 29 June to 2 July 2023.
Pepper and fellow South African Kelvin van der Linde teamed up at Nürburgring – the first time the racing buddies and good friends have raced on a team in all their years of competing.
“It’s one of those races that require so much risk to perform at the front. We’d gone into it with a strong chance of winning after our P3 on the grid. So much needs to go your way, unfortunately, in our case, tyre issues early on saw us drop down to 33rd. We pushed hard to finish in the top ten, eventually finishing in 9th,” says Pepper of this foray at the famed ‘Green Hell’.
“Nürburgring as a whole was an amazing event from start to finish and I loved every minute of racing there. It was incredible to see all the people and spectators at full capacity after so long.”
With 24 Hours of Spa, widely acknowledged as the most challenging and most competitive GT race in the world, a few weeks away, Pepper looks forward to getting behind the wheel of the #63 he’s become accustomed to this year throughout the IMSA and GT World Challenge Europe Championships.
Over 70 GT3 cars on the entry list will tackle the gruelling twice-around-the-clock contest. “Spa is so unique – the entire field is just GT3 cars, the same type of machinery but separated by the different classes. It’s no wonder it’s one of the most spectated races on the calendar each year.”
You could call it the 24-hour sprint because it’s so high-paced, fast. One mistake, and you’re out of it. It’s physically demanding as a race as it’s exceptionally challenging through the fast and flowing nature of the track itself. With so many fans attending the event, there’s such a great vibe around – from the first event of the week on Wednesday – the rider parade.
Pepper is confident that the #63 team is the right one to get Lamborghini’s first podium at the race: “Over the last two years, Andrea and I built a strong relationship and friendship as teammates before I even joined Lamborghini Squadra Corse as a factory Driver. Mirko too is an extremely talented driver and with him, we share the same passion and the common goal of wanting to win. It makes our job easier when we’re all giving it everything we can.”
“Lamborghini has ever finished on the podium at Spa. We certainly have the package, driver lineup and the car to take us to the podium and reach the top step.”