"Bittersweet end": Lamborghini celebrates best-ever GTP finish but missed out on Petit Le Mans podium
- Ghazlan Atqiya Firmansyah
- 9 hours ago
- 3 min read
After officially pulling the plug on their GTP programme for the 2026 IMSA SportsCar Championship season, Lamborghini put an end to the 2025 campaign with their best-ever finish in IMSA, albeit missing out on the podium in Petit Le Mans.
The Italian manufacturer fitted the SC63 with an upgraded rear suspension to suit Road Atlanta's bumpy nature. The car took sixth during Thursday's practice session and came close to the top 10 for the next two practice sessions.
Qualifying and the race
Romain Grosjean took the No.63 car to seventh during qualifying, just a couple of hundredths away from the second row of the grid. The Frenchman would go on to be the starting driver for the 10-hour endurance race.
The 39-year-old kept it clean at the start of the race, albeit losing his seventh place to the No.24 BMW and the No.10 Cadillac. Then, Lamborghini endured a setback with two Full Course Yellows (FCY) and fell to last place in GTP during the first energy-only pit stop.
Grosjean fought back and recovered to 10th during the second restart. The car remained in the top 10 thanks to Edoardo Mortara's solid double stint and held on to it firmly during Daniil Kvyat's stint.
During the closing stages, Grosjean and Mortara alternated their duties as fuel and energy management became crucial. However, the No.63 car made contact with an LMP2 entry, damaging its front-left headlight and forcing the team to change the car's nose assembly.
Grosjean returned with two hours left on the clock and found himself battling for a podium as the final cycle of GTP pit stops approached. Unfortunately, he was forced to make a final fuel stop with just five minutes remaining, denying the team a podium finish and leaving them to take fourth at the chequered flag.
Lamborghini is proud to finish strong in Petit Le Mans
Grosjean was pleased to come home in fourth as it was the programme's best IMSA finish. He admitted he needed a little more luck, but ultimately, he was happy with the car and the strong team performance.
"An amazing result for the whole team.
"We had a few small glitches with the car, which cost us some time in the pits, unfortunately. But overall, I think we can be very happy with fourth, the best result for the car. We were hoping for a yellow at the end, but it didn’t happen; the probability was that it would happen, but the luck wasn’t quite on our side today.
"We did everything we could, [but] there were a few issues that dropped us time at the stops, we lost four seconds on one of them, but all-in-all the team was amazing, and the car was good. I drove the hell out of it, but we were just a bit unlucky in the end."
Kvyat said: "This was the best result for the car, and we can be very proud of what we achieved this week.
"It was a tight race, very competitive, and we made some good progress with the car, even though it didn’t solve everything. At least we went in the right direction."
Mortara summarised it perfectly by calling it a "bittersweet end" to the season, as they had everything except that one tiny bit of luck they needed to get to the podium in the SC63's last outing before its IMSA GTP hiatus.
"It’s a bit of a bittersweet end to the season for us.
"I think we had some good pace this weekend, and also in Indianapolis, we were able to show the potential of the car. In the end, it was a bit frustrating because I think we could have finished on the podium.
"But the luck didn’t really come for us, because we probably needed a late caution. But overall, we can be satisfied with the result, the team did a great job, and the car felt good."
Lamborghini's GTP programme will be put on a temporary hiatus next year, as the manufacturer waits for the right partner to resume the programme in 2027. The provisional results show that they were ninth in the Endurance Cup GTP Teams' Championship with 28 points, and finished fifth in the Endurance Cup GTP Manufacturers' Championship.
