Bortolotti Raring To Go

The return of Lamborghini to top-level international motorsport with the new Huracán GT3 has been welcomed across the sport. Mirko Bortolotti has more cause than most, having been selected to join the marque’s roster of factory drivers in what is undoubtedly the biggest opportunity of his career so far. That might seem a strange admission for a man who has tested for the Ferrari, Williams and Toro Rosso Formula One teams, but the Vienna-based Italian is unequivocal and some weeks after the announcement, still exhibits the broad grin of a man with a winning lottery ticket.

“To be a factory driver for Lamborghini means so much to me; it’s definitely the biggest project I’ve been involved with in my career, so I’m really proud to be part of this programme” said the 25 year-old. “Overall definitely it’s a great opportunity, especially because we have quite a nice project ahead with the new Huracán, the first in-house produced GT3, so I’m really happy to be selected. Lamborghini is a novelty brand, it’s very popular in Italy, so being a part of it as an Italian is something very special. It means I’ve done something right in my career!”

Bortolotti is eagerly anticipating the Huracan's first race at Monza. (Mirko Bortolotti)

His story is a familiar one; without the funds to continue racing single-seaters after winning the FIA Formula Two title in 2011, Bortolotti set about reinventing himself as a sportscar racer. He dominated the 2013 Eurocup Megane Trophy in his first season with a roof and last year impressed Lamborghini with his seamless transition to GT racing, dovetailing campaigns in the Italian GT championship and one-make Super Trofeo series.

The results weren’t always there due to a proliferation of technical problems and the inevitable corollary of sharing with gentleman drivers, but as preparation for the rigours of the Blancpain Endurance Series – including the Spa 24 Hours – the experience served him well. And as he showed by emphatically winning the season-ending World Final at Sepang from 13^th on the grid, his racecraft is more than up to scratch.

“It’s going to be a new experience for me, I’ve never done a 24 hours before so it will be a tough one that’s for sure, but all those experiences helped me to grow up as a driver and as a human being to improve in general and definitely it helped to become a factory driver of such an important brand,” Bortolotti reminisces.  

“It wasn’t always about the results because last year in Super Trofeo I was mainly racing with gentlemen drivers in my car, which was a new experience for me. I took it as an opportunity to learn; in formula cars you always used to hide as much information as possible, but in GT racing you have to cooperate with your team-mates to help each other to become quicker, because all of them have to be competitive and strong for you to be successful. It was overall a positive year for me and I got used to it quite quickly, which bodes well for this season.”

The Huracan GT3 is still in its early phases of development. (Lamborghini Media)

Of course, much will depend on whether the Huracán will come out of the blocks all guns blazing in much the same way Bentley managed last year with the Continental GT3, which won on only its second start at Silverstone.  Development is still in the very early stages, but Bortolotti already feels right at home and is confident that Lamborghini partner team Grasser Racing, who proved their credentials by running Jeroen Bleekemolen and Hari Proczyk to third in the Blancpain Sprint Series in 2014, will have the car ready in time for the Monza season-opener. 

“I’ve driven it once so far at the end of last year; we’ve done two outings in total and I’ve done one of those, so the car is still at the beginning, but we have a good baseline, a solid platform to work from – the car is at a good level even though we haven’t done much mileage yet,” he said. “The guys are doing a great job, from their side last year they had a really positive year in the Blancpain Sprint Series, so they absolutely deserve to be the factory team for Lamborghini. I think together we have a good package, the factory is pushing really hard, the guys from Grasser are working well and also the drivers are well-qualified, we have a good mix of youth and experience in the team, so the atmosphere is absolutely mega.

“We are definitely still in the development process at the moment, so we cannot say at this moment that the car will be competitive at this specific moment, but we are working hard and every day helps us to improve all the small things we need to fix in order to make it 100% reliable. We’re at a good point at the moment in our schedule, so I’m very confident and looking forward to the season obviously. I think we have done our homework in the best possible way, so we will see where we are in the first race in Monza; hopefully we will be on top!”

This article originally appeared on Racing.GT

Comment: Jenny Tinmouth Blazing A Trail For Women In Motorsport

Fairy stories don’t come along all that often in sport. The law of averages state that ninety-nine times out of every hundred, it’s the big boys who come out on top. The underdog is so-called for a reason, after all. But every so often, in flagrant defiance of conventional logic, a ‘Steven Bradbury moment’ comes along out of the blue. These moments are the stuff of dreams that we, the general public, can identify with and aspire to. And sometimes, like the proverbial buses, two can come at once.  Indeed, amid the clamour surrounding humble League One outfit Bradford City’s shock FA Cup win over Jose Mourinho’s big-spending Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, it would have been easy to overlook the news that stalwart privateer Jenny Tinmouth had been signed by the factory Honda Racing Team to campaign a full season in the British Superbike (BSB) championship.

Honda Racing UK's new signing Jenny Tinmouth (Double Red)

It goes without saying that the 36-year old’s appointment is an enormous step forward for women in motorsport and by her own admission, the news came as something of a shock, although perhaps it shouldn’t have been have given her reputation as a trailblazer in motorcycle racing. In 2010, Tinmouth broke her own record as the fastest female ever to lap the fearsome Isle of Man TT at an average speed of 119.945 mph and became the first woman to score a BSB point at Snetterton in 2013. She is not one to be content with merely making up the numbers.

As anyone who has seen the epic final lap battle between Tommy Hill and John Hopkins at Brands Hatch to decide the 2011 title will tell you, BSB is a hidden gem of British sport where risk truly does equal reward. Tinmouth knows all about that; the first and so far only female competitor in the series, having run her own bike since 2011, Tinmouth embodies the endearing underdog spirit and richly deserves her opportunity in the 2013 championship-winning outfit, which returns after a year away with Jason O’Halloran and Dan Linfoot also on its roster. Having always had to ride within herself, knowing that any accident could prove enormously costly, Tinmouth has been rewarded for her efforts with a seat at the top table and the weight of a fully-fledged manufacturer behind her.

Ahead of the biggest opportunity of her career, which she described as "the ultimate dream come true," Tinmouth faces a steep learning curve. With the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade still unproven in a race environment and Tinmouth not slated to test until March, it is far too early to make any predictions as to where she will end up. 

But in a sport where men and women can and do compete together on track, the underdog now has the chance to show what she’s truly capable of. Godspeed Jenny.