Off the back of his appearances in the #63 Lamborghini for Iron Lynx at Rolex Daytona and Sebring 24-hour races, Jordan Pepper will join ABT SportsLine for Nürburgring 24 in May
South Africans Jordan Pepper and Kelvin van der Linde to join forces as part of the ABT Sportsline Driver lineup for Nürburgring 24 Hours on 20-21 May 2023, along with Marco Mapelli (ITA) and Nick Thiim (DEN). The four will compete in the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2.
Pepper made history earlier this year when he became the first South African to be signed as a factory driver for Lamborghini Squadra Corse and he has considerable experience with the manufacturer. He and his Iron Lynx team have achieved some strong results in North America’s IMSA Championship races thus far – a 4th at Daytona 24-hr and 4th Sebring most recently, with two races to go.
“Nürburgring 24 Hours is such a unique event and one of the highlights of the year. The race is one of the most well-known endurance races which is partially down to the nature of the track itself: It’s easily the most high speed, longest most challenging track to race at. Coupled with the extreme weather conditions throughout the race, it’s an intense but exciting experience,” says Pepper.
Pepper and van der Linde are certainly not strangers. They have raced locally together, made the move overseas to race, have been roommates and remain the closest of friends but have never had the honour of sharing a car in a race.
“Kelvin is a two-time winner of Nürburgring 24 hour, and it would be an absolute honour for us to win my first and for Kelvin to win his third race.”
Pepper has a considerable amount of action in the cockpit before 20 May to hone his skills for the race. He has multiple tests, the 4-hr precursor event to Nürburgring NLS2, the first race of GT World Challenge Europe (GTWC) Season at Monza, Italy from 21 to 23 April and finally the GTWC Sprint Cup at Kent, England from 13 to 14 May.