Lamborghini Squadra Corse has announced its factory drivers for the 2019 season.
The confirmed drivers are Mirko Bortolotti (2017 Blancpain GT Series champion and winner of the 2018 24 Hours of Daytona), Andrea Caldarelli (2017 Blancpain GT Series champion), Marco Mapelli (record-holder at Nürburgring-Nordschleife with the Aventador SVJ), and Giovanni Venturini (2017 GT Open champion), who will compete in the most prestigious international championships at the wheel of the new Huracán GT3 EVO.
Phil Keen – Credit: Gergo Toth / Alamy Live News
Joining them are two notable new entries, British driver Phil Keen and French driver Frank Perera. Born in Reading in 1983, Keen was runner-up in the British GT Championship in 2017 and 2018.
In the season just concluded, he earned two victories at the wheel of the Huracán GT3 #33 of the Barwell Motorsport team. Born in Montpellier in 1984, Perera has competed in many international open-wheel and GT championships.
Earlier this year, Perera won the Daytona 24 Hours at the wheel of the #11 Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracán GT3.
Raffaele Giammaria is confirmed in the role of test driver and coordinator of the Young Driver Program and the GT3 Junior Program.
Regarding the professional growth of young talents, by the end of this year, Lamborghini Squadra Corse will organise a shootout, with the participation of the most promising drivers of the GT3 program who stood out over the course of the season. The best driver will receive support from Lamborghini Squadra Corse during 2019.
Credit: SRO / Dirk Bogaerts Photography
Lamborghini Squadra Corse also announces that Christian Engelhart will no longer be a Sant’Agata Bolognese factory driver. Many believe that this was down to his actions at the Blancpain GT Sprint race at the Nürburgring last month, which ultimately saw the #63 Grasser Racing Huracan disqualified from the competition.
Giorgio Sanna, Head of Motorsport Lamborghini said “We are pleased to announce our Factory Drivers, who in 2019 will apply all their experience to support the GT3 customer teams competing in the most prestigious GT championships in the world. I extend my welcome to Squadra Corse to Phil and Franck: in the last few seasons they have demonstrated that they have the speed and attitude that Lamborghini expects from an official
driver.”
