South African Jordan Pepper and his #19 Iron Lynx team are all set to take on one of the most iconic races in motorsports, when Rolex 24-hour at Daytona takes place between 27 and 28 January 2024. While most other motorsports competitions are waiting for their season to start, the IMSA Sportscar Championship brings in the new year with a bang and Pepper is eager to set the tone for the rest of the season with a strong result this weekend in Florida, USA.

Last year, Pepper spent most of his year between the States and Europe performing duties as a test driver and racing in the IMSA Endurance Cup and GT World Challenge Europe Series’ with mixed results. It was also the first year that team Iron Lynx, for whom Pepper raced most of the 2023 season, worked with Lamborghini which translated into a learning curve for the team as a whole. Pepper is itching for a win.

“As a collective, we’ve learnt some lessons last year in terms of how the new car performs and I think we’ve implemented some great steps forward as a whole. And yeah, just excited to get on track, fight for wins and podiums and just compete up front where we belong,” commented Pepper on his first season with Lamborghini Squadra Corse.

“Daytona is one of my favourite races – it’s cool to kickstart the season here but it is mentally demanding to start the championship and the year out with the 24-hour race.”

“I love the format of the IMSA championship and how strong the field is with the number of professional drivers that are here at Daytona.  It’s also a pro that if you have a great weekend and manage to come out on top, you get a shiny brand-new Rolex to go with it.  It really makes the race special.”

Mirko Bortolotti, Andrea Caldarelli. Franck Perera will join Pepper in the Iron Lynx #19 competing in the Daytona Pro, while fellow Lamborghini Factory Driver with the team already locking down a P4 in Qualifying at ROAR before the Daytona24. Ex-F1 star Romain Grosjean will lead the charge for the Iron Lynx #60 car.

As the green flag drops, Pepper and Iron Lynx are primed for Daytona, ready to chase victory and get the season off to an exhilarating start.

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. 

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.”

“While it was the first round of the European season, we’ve been racing together as a strong unit in the US. What helped us as we’ve been able to build trust through our pre-season testing and the US Races at Daytona and Sebring,” said Pepper. 

“We couldn’t have asked for a better start to the championship, especially at a home race for Lamborghini – it’s my first podium with Lamborghini Squadra Corse as a Factory Driver. We’re going to use this momentum going forward.”

During the weekend, the Fanatec Esports GT Pro Series was hosted on Saturday as part of the championship. Pepper represented his Iron Lynx team and while he didn’t have the best qualifying, he managed to charge from 15th in qualifying to third in the main event and came first in the Pro class.

“I’m happy to have come away with the Pro class win and get a third – there’s considerable value in the sim racing event as it counts for points for the team, ” Pepper commented.

The next race is the GTWC Europe Sprint Race at Kent, England on 13 and 14 May 2023.

Young South African joins Romain Grosjean on the Lamborghini Squadra Corse team

Jordan Pepper has been unveiled as the latest addition to the Lamborghini Squadra Corse factory driver line-up ahead of the 2023 racing season.

The experienced 26-year-old South African will join existing members Mirko Bortolotti, Andrea Caldarelli, Marco Mapelli, Sandy Mitchell and Franck Perera as well as fellow newcomers Leonardo Pulcini and Romain Grosjean as an official driver.

Pepper, who also makes history by becoming the first Lamborghini factory driver hailing from South Africa, will make his debut as a factory driver alongside Grosjean, Caldarelli and Bortolotti as part of the Iron Lynx squad for the 24 Hours at Daytona later this month.

In addition to his Daytona drive, Pepper is also due to contest a full campaign of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe series, with exact details expected in due course.

“I’m very excited to be joining the Lamborghini Squadra Corse family for the 2023 season and beyond,” said Pepper. “Stepping away from another factory programme at the end of 2020 gave me an opportunity to explore and see what I would like to do with my future, and I was very privileged to be able to drive a Lamborghini for K-PAX Racing in America for the previous two titles.

“That experience, the title in the debut season and second last year, along with the Spa 24 Hours alongside Andrea and Mirko gave me an insight into how the factory works. It’s a manufacturer that I have grown to like and build a strong relationship with and when Giorgio told me there was a chance to join, it was quite an easy decision to make.”

“There wasn’t much discussion needed between us and we came to a good agreement straight. He’s shown great trust in me from offset to make this partnership work and what better way to kickstart our collaboration than in the Daytona 24 Hours, debuting the new GT3 EVO2.”

Pepper arrived at Lamborghini at the start of the 2021 season, joining Caldarelli as part of the K-PAX Racing outfit which dominated the GT World Challenge America series. He was crowned drivers’ champion alongside Caldarelli and contested the first two rounds of the 2022 season in the same car before moving across to the sister car, teaming up with Misha Goikhberg.

Pepper has experience in a factory role before, having been a leading figure in Bentley’s official roster. He most notably took victory in the Bathurst 12 Hours in 2020 and in the 1000km of Paul Ricard the year before.

Lamborghini’s Head of Motorsport, Giorgio Sanna said: “We are very happy to welcome Jordan to our roster of Factory Drivers. Since joining us in 2021, he has shown himself to be a very fast and reliable driver which was displayed with the drivers’ title in GTWC America in his first year driving a Lamborghini.

“His professional attitude and determination will also be a good fit with the rest of the factory drivers this year and I am looking forward to seeing what he can achieve with us, starting with the Daytona 24 Hours at the end of this month.”