Pepper/Deledda remain firmly in the title hunt with pole to flag triumph in race one

Sant’Agata Bolognese/Spielberg, 16 September 2024 – Lamborghini Squadra Corse recorded its 30^th victory in the International GT Open series as Oregon Team’s Jordan Pepper and Alessio Deledda came out on top in the opening race of the weekend at the Red Bull Ring. The pair in the #10 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 started from pole position and withstood a strong fightback from the #15 Porsche in the closing stages of Saturday’s 70-minute plus one lap encounter to take their second triumph of the year.

With Pepper not contesting the full season, the victory along with ninth place in race two means that Deledda sits second in the standings, just three points behind the leading Audi duo of Christopher Haase and Simon Reicher, with two rounds remaining at Barcelona and Monza.

Having not shown its hand during free practice, the #10 of Pepper and Deledda was on song come qualifying for the opening race of the weekend on Saturday. Lamborghini Factory Driver Pepper produced a sensational lap to take pole position by almost three-tenths of a second, while Artem Petrov made it two Huracáns in the top 10 with the eight-quickest time.

Off the rolling start, Pepper made a great getaway and built a commanding two-second advantage of the rest of the field before the safety car was deployed on the second lap. Undeterred, Pepper raced away again at the restart, quickly establishing a comfortable margin at the front and steadily increasing it as the first stint wore on.

Further back, Petrov and Ineichen traded positions, as the former went too deep under braking for turn four. As the pit window opened, Ineichen came in early to hand over to Pulcini, a decision which ultimately paid off with Pulcini able to put in strong lap-times in clear air. Pepper elected to stay out until the last moment before handing over to Deledda.

With rain in the air, the tension was building inside the #10 as Deledda was starting to get caught by the Porsche of Gustav Bergström, but the Italian driver responded admirably and maintained the gap at a stable four seconds entering the closing stages. A final push from the Porsche meant Deledda could not afford to relax as Pulcini’s efforts brought the #63 up to third place.

Deledda held on brilliantly in the final minutes to collect his and Pepper’s second victory of the season by just over two seconds with Pulcini narrowly missing out on an Oregon Team one-two by a mere four-tenths of a second at the line.

As well as the 30^th victory the International GT Open series, the result also marked a moment of history for Lamborghini Squadra Corse as it recorded its 180th success in GT3 racing since the inception of the racing division of Automobili Lamborghini in 2013.

Jordan Pepper, Oregon Team and Lamborghini Factory Driver, said: “It was an alright race; I was actually a bit annoyed when the safety car came out because we already built up quite a good gap. It was quite in the mixed conditions; they are always enjoyable when there is just one dry line. We were also able to switch on the tyres much better than the others and so I built up a good gap and make sure that I gave Alessio the car in the best position. I’m really proud of him; he’s developing every race, step-by-step and his pace was strong.”

Deledda and Pepper had it all to do on Sunday for the second race of the weekend, starting a lowly 21st on the grid and having to serve a mandatory success penalty of 10-seconds at the pit-stops. Nevertheless, the pair managed to make significant inroads into the field with Pepper taking over the second stint. The South African showed strong speed and worked his way up into the top 10, finishing ninth at the flag.

The #63 of Pulcini and Ineichen defended Lamborghini honours near the front of the grid, with Pulcini taking the start and running fourth early on before handing over to his Swiss team-mate. Unlike the race-winning #10, the #63 did not have to serve a success penalty and emerged from the pit window in second place with Ineichen aboard. Unfortunately, a later error at turn four and a subsequent five-second penalty for exceeding track limits robbed Ineichen and Pulcini

In the #19, Moretti and Petrov added more points to their tally with a fine sixth place, having started ninth on the grid.