Race Weekend Central

Romain Grosjean Joins Lamborghini, To Make IMSA Debut at Rolex 24

Lamborghini Squadra Corse announced Tuesday (Dec. 6) that NTT IndyCar Series and former Formula 1 racer Romain Grosjean has signed on as a factory driver for the organization. For 2023, Grosjean will contest an endurance schedule with Lamborghini’s new factory team, Iron Lynx.

Grosjean will make his IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship debut in January’s Rolex 24 at Daytona in a new Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 along fellow factory drivers Mirko Bortolotti and Andrea Caldarelli.  This entry will run in the GTD Pro class as part of a multi-car entry for Iron Lynx in Daytona, including an entry for the Iron Dames.

In addition, Grosjean will spend 2023 working with Bortolotti and Caldarelli to develop Lamborghini’s currently unnamed LMDh challenger, which is scheduled to debut in 2024. The LMDh car will be based around the next-generation Ligier LMP2 chassis, the first LMDh car to be based on the French manufacturer’s chassis.

“First of all, it’s an honor to be joining Lamborghini, it’s such an iconic brand for everyone who loves cars, including myself and my kids,” Grosjean said in a press release. “On top of that, I am very excited about two things: the first is starting in Daytona with the GT3 which has been very successful in Daytona and a really good team like Iron Lynx and team-mates around me, so that is going to be a nice discovery for myself.”

Grosjean’s new endeavors with Lamborghini will be in addition to his existing duties with Andretti Autosport in the NTT IndyCar Series. Grosjean will once again race the No. 28 DHL-sponsored entry full-time in 2023.

Grosjean does have some sports car racing experience, but it is quite limited. In 2010, Grosjean raced in the now-defunct FIA GT1 World Championship in a Ford GT1 for Matech Motorsports. He ran part-time, but claimed victories at Abu Dhabi and Brno.

Iron Lynx is very happy to have Grosjean join the fold.

“Romain is a great addition to the team,” said Andrea Piccini, team principal of Iron Lynx. “Since we last shared the track in 2010, Romain has gone on to achieve brilliant things in both Formula 1 and IndyCar, showing himself to be a driver of great caliber, who always rises to the occasion.

“As a true, natural born racer, he is an uncompromising driver who is not afraid to make bold moves on track and is one of the greatest talents of the recent F1 era. We expect Romain to be battling hard for every place and point throughout the season.”

Daytona will not be the only sports car race that Grosjean will compete in during the 2023. Grosjean will run multiple additional endurance events during the year. The release notes that a full schedule will be announced later on with no limit as to what series Grosjean could compete in.

Iron Lynx’s reach in recent years has included the FIA World Endurance Championship, the European Le Mans Series and Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS (both the Sprint Cup and Endurance Cup).  Since Lamborghini does not have a GTE car, they will not return to the WEC for the final year for the GTE-Am class in 2023. That said, both the ELMS and Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe races, in addition to additional IMSA events could be in play.

Conflict-wise, none of the four IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup races conflict with the NTT IndyCar Series schedule. In ELMS, the races at Paul Ricard and Aragon conflict with the INDYCAR weekends at Toronto and World Wide Technology Raceway. The two biggest races in Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Endurance Cup (Paul Ricard and Spa-Francorchamps) are direct conflicts with the INDYCAR weekends at Detroit and Mid-Ohio.

About the author

Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.

Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.

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