New Lamborghini Temerario GT3 makes IMSA bow at Daytona test

The No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Temerario GT3 enjoyed a productive first outing at Daytona International Speedway.

With Lamborghini Squadra Corse factory drivers Andrea Caldarelli and Marco Mapelli behind the wheel, the Italian tricolor-liveried Lamborghini turned 134 laps around Daytona’s road course on Saturday – with seven more hours of testing yet to come on Sunday, and fellow Lamborghini factory driver Franck Perera still yet to take his turn behind the wheel.

After driving the car for the first time at Daytona on Saturday morning, Caldarelli gave his initial impressions, saying, “It feels good! It’s nice to finally bring this car to the U.S. It’s always special to do the first few laps of a new car in North America.”

Before Saturday, the Temerario had turned laps around four Italian circuits – Misano, Imola, Mugello, and Vallelunga – as well as Circuit Paul Ricard in France and Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona in Spain.

And until Saturday, the car had only tested on Pirelli tires, versus the Michelin tires used in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

“We didn’t create any red flags, as probably somebody was expecting, so I’m happy with that!” Caldarelli added. “Joking apart, it was good. We didn’t have any problems. We ran all the runs we wanted to do. That was pretty positive.

“We mounted all the IMSA harnesses, sensors, and so on just last week. We still have a lot of things to do and setup stuff to work on. Especially looking forward to race simulations, energy, and everything. This morning was just to make sure all the systems work and everything. We actually started to do as well some setup which was pretty positive for the afternoon.

“We will probably work a bit more on balance, setup-wise. We never really drove this car with these (Michelin) tires in Europe.”

The Pfaff Lamborghini spent a lot of time in the four-hour, 30-minute Saturday afternoon session stationary – not because of a major mechanical issue, but because Pfaff wanted to make a wholesale setup change and could afford to take time to do it.

It’s still a mid-engined GT3 car like the outgoing Huracán GT3, but through his experience testing the car in Europe and the US, he already feels a significant difference behind the the wheel of the twin-turbo V8 Temerario, versus the V10-powered Huracán.

“The car requires a different driving style,” Caldarelli continued. “Both engine and chassis is obviously a different platform, but other than that, it feels pretty normal.”

“The last time we came here was January, but it’s still fresh in my mind, the reference and stuff with the Huracán. It took a few laps to get used to it, but after that, it was pretty straightforward."

Once the IMSA Sanctioned Test at Daytona wraps up, Pfaff Motorsports and the Temerario GT3 will take the leisurely drive down Interstate 4 and state highway 27 to undergo an endurance test at Sebring International Raceway, the venue where the car will make its worldwide debut at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours. There, Caldarelli, Mapelli, and Perera will be accompanied by a fourth driver to be revealed later.

“A couple of years ago we debuted the same way with the SC63,” Caldarelli noted. "We came here for the Sanctioned Test, and then we went straight to race in Sebring. This time, to have the chance to actually test in Sebring for a few days, it’s definitely gonna give us some good data and reference for us, and for the guys back in Italy, to see that everything works well."

“It’s definitely the hardest track for the car that we can see. We don’t really have tracks like this in Europe. So it’s going to be interesting to see how the car is going to react next week.”