Edoardo Mortara: “The competition level in WEC is extreme”
Before this weekend's 6 Hours of Imola, the Italian driver talks about his long-awaited FIA WEC debut with Lamborghini Iron Lynx.
Before joining Lamborghini as a factory driver, Edoardo Mortara waited a long time for a chance to compete with Endurance’s elite in FIA WEC. “I received a lot of proposals but, for many reasons, it didn’t come to pass’, admits the 37-year-old Italian driver. ‘It’s a championship I’ve always followed and liked, and Lamborghini gave me the opportunity to take part in. I’ve always aspired to it and that was what my career was missing.’
One can easily picture what went through Edoardo’s mind when he took over from Daniil Kvyat to log his first laps during FIA WEC’s season-opening Qatar Airways Qatar 1812 km. ‘After my first race lap, I remember feeling a deep sense of fulfillment.’
For his first competitive outing, the Sant’Agata Bolognese Hypercar finished 13th, five laps behind the winning #6 Porsche 963, but the #63 delivered a clean race. ‘We focus on reliability for the first tests and races’, underlines Edoardo. ‘From now on, we’ll try to extract as much performance as we can from our package.’
The Geneva-born is adamant there’s more to come from the brand-new Ligier-chassied Lamborghini SC63 in terms of mechanical setup and software fine-tuning. ‘This is a very complex hybrid-powered racing car. It involves a myriad of problems for the engineers to sort through to find the right settings’, adds Edoardo. ‘We learned from the lessons of the first round in Qatar.’
Competing for Lamborghini, it’s special and amazing
The lessons have already started for Edoardo who, after a remarkable career in DTM and Formula E, embraces the values at the heart of Endurance racing: sharing and working as a team. ‘It’s the first time I’m competing in the same car as my teammates, Daniil and Mirko (Bortolotti), Edoardo says. ‘We get along well and we share many of our experiences on the car’s mechanical setup, it’s hugely positive. To have three drivers pushing in the same direction means faster progress.’
That direction will eventually lead Edoardo and Lamborghini Iron Lynx to a place called home, in Italy, for round 2 of the FIA WEC, the 6 Hours of Imola (19-21 April). ‘It’s our home race’, Edoardo says. ‘The fans will support us. I grew up in Switzerland with an Italian culture, because my parents are Italian. As an Italian, competing for a legendary and iconic Italian brand such as Lamborghini, it’s special and amazing’
The Imola round will represent an opportunity for Lamborghini Iron Lynx to try to make their way up in the ultra-competitive Hypercar hierarchy. ‘What matters most for us is learning as much as possible, improving and becoming increasingly competitive. We are all here to win’, reminds Edoardo. ‘But we need to be realistic, it will take time. We are facing experienced high-performing rivals. The competition level is extreme.’
Edoardo Mortara says he’s ‘proud’ to belong to a booming racing series that will allow him, at 37, to compete for the very first time at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (15-16 June), round 4 of the FIA WEC. ‘It’s a legendary race in the motorsport world I’ve always wanted to take part in. I can’t wait!’
