Mitchell “As Ready as Ever” for Full-Time Lambo GTD Pro Drive

Photo: Nathan Kelly/Pfaff Motorsports

Sandy Mitchell said that his step up to a full-time GTD Pro seat in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship “feels like a bit of a nod” from Lamborghini after making his way up through the brand’s junior program.

The Scottish racer will team up with Andrea Caldarelli at Pfaff Motorsports for the full season, with Mirko Bortolotti and James Hinchcliffe completing the lineup for the No. 9 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 at the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

He is also set to be part of the lineup for the worldwide debut of the new Temerario GT3, which is slated to launch at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring with the Canadian squad.

Mitchell has been a Lamborghini factory driver since 2021, having come up through the brand’s Super Trofeo ladder system.

After a season of Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America, Mitchell pivoted back to primarily competing in Europe, including in GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS and British GT.

He has made sporadic WeatherTech Championship appearances since then, most recently joining Pfaff at last year’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen.

“Obviously I’ve done a couple of races in IMSA before, but just kind of one-offs at Daytona and filling in for people with date clashes and things like that,” Mitchell told Sportscar365.

“I’m really excited to be in the full Pro car and to be in for the full season is really exciting.

“I know quite a few of the tracks from my time in Super Trofeo North America from a few years ago as well and doing the one-off races that I’ve done.

“Although it’s new, it still kind of feels familiar territory a little bit which is nice.

“I really enjoyed the race that we did in Watkins Glen with Pfaff last year so I’m super pleased to be back.”

Mitchell added that he felt that getting picked for a WeatherTech Championship campaign felt like recognition for his performances for Lamborghini elsewhere.

His resume with the brand includes a British GT title in 2020 and back-to-back CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa class wins in 2019 and 2020.

“I think when I first made the step from a junior driver with Lamborghini to a factory driver, the natural progression was to start off doing quite a lot of Pro-Am championships, whether that was in GT World Challenge or in British GT,” Mitchell said.

“And then I had some opportunities for a couple of seasons to run a full season in a Pro car in Europe with three drivers.

“But to be one of just two drivers in the only Pro car in IMSA, which is obviously one of the main championships for any brand, it feels like a bit of a nod to what I’ve done so far within Lamborghini.

“I definitely feel like I’ve progressed in a really natural way throughout the whole Super Trofeo Junior Driver Programme and into becoming a factory driver.

“I feel ready as ever to take on the challenge and well up for it.”

Mitchell further added that he feels his previous experience during his Super Trofeo season, in which he won three races, will serve as a good knowledge base for the season ahead.

“I sometimes say that some of the American tracks are quite similar to the British tracks in terms of that they quite often can be relatively narrow with very little runoff compared to the Formula One style European circuits, which have a lot more tarmac runoff,” he said.

“So along with that it can make the tracks quite tricky and kind of unique.

So I think to have a bit of track knowledge already can be very helpful rather than if I was going into this season without knowing any of the tracks.

“I think it would be a lot more difficult. So yeah, thankfully I’ve been back to some of those tracks again since doing some Super Trofeo.

“The likes of Virginia and Road America and these tracks I’ve also done in GT3, whether that’s been in SRO or in IMSA championships.

“So I feel like I’ve been racing more and more over here recently again and to be back for a full season is what I want.”

Source: Sports Car 365