| Now with Huracan GT3 EVO2, Pfaff Seeks First Podium with New Car April 24, 2025By John OreoviczIMSA Wire Service |
| DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – If fans of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship have learned anything over the past few years, it’s that the Pfaff Motorsports plaid livery looks good on a variety of racecars. Since 2023, sports car racing’s most proudly Canadian team has displayed its trademark red and black tartan and the No. 9 on Porsche, McLaren (which saw the colors temporarily changed to orange and black), and now Lamborghini cars competing in IMSA’s Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) class. Pfaff Motorsports started out in the Rothmans Porsche 944 Cup in 1986 and won the championship with Scott Goodyear two years later. It systematically moved up the sports car racing ladder, joining IMSA’s top series in 2019. Zacharie Robichon won a pair of races in a Porsche to finish third in the GTD class standings while also claiming the WeatherTech Sprint Cup. Travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic blunted Pfaff’s momentum, and it made only two starts in 2020. But Porsche factory driver Laurens Vanthoor and Robichon combined to win the 2021 GTD championship for Pfaff and Porsche with four race wins. Things got even better in 2022 when – again with Porsche support – the now-familiar pairing of Mathieu Jaminet and Matt Campbell blitzed the competition in the first year for GTD PRO. They won five races, including the Rolex 24 At Daytona, to add to the team’s 2021 victory in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. The 2023 season represented a step back in terms of results, as Patrick Pilet and Klaus Bachler finished fourth in GTD PRO as Porsche teams struggled with the new Type 992 version of the 911 GT3 R. That partially prompted the switch to McLaren, a move also driven by commercial reasons given Pfaff Automotive Partners’ status as McLaren’s official Canadian importer, with showrooms in Toronto and Vancouver. Although Marvin Kirchhoefer and Oliver Jarvis scored a pair of second place finishes in 2024 in the McLaren 720S GT3 Evo (including at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, where they secured their first of two), the relationship did not pan out. Pfaff Motorsports General Manager Steve Bortolotti was considering a major restructuring of the team until he was approached by Lamborghini about representing the marque in GTD PRO to accompany GTD entries fielded by Forte Racing and Wayne Taylor Racing. |
| The figurative journey from Germany to Italy via England has taxed the Pfaff organization, but Bortolotti believes the greater Toronto-based team is on the right track – even if the 2025 season hasn’t gotten off to a great start for full-season drivers Andrea Caldarelli and Marco Mapelli. The No. 9 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 was eliminated in a multi-car crash in the Rolex 24 and encountered a couple delays on the way to 10th place in class at Sebring. “Transitions are never easy, but this was far easier than we could have imagined it would be given how late it all came together,” Bortolotti said. “The welcoming of the other Lamborghini teams in the stable has made the transition much easier. We worked with Lamborghini and identified the holes we felt we had and identified staff that had really great experience with the car that we were lacking. “Obviously our mechanics have been with the team for a number of years, so they know the expectations, but Lamborghini had individuals come to our shop and train the guys on the basics. One of the new engineers that joined the team had a lot of experience with the car from DTM, and at Daytona, Lamborghini made sure they had a factory mechanic embedded with the team. If there was anything that came up, it was nice having that immediate expert to ask questions.” The Pfaff-Lamborghini combination got up to speed quickly at Daytona as Caldarelli was fastest in free practice and qualified fifth in class. Jordan Pepper, the fourth driver added for Daytona, was then swept into a six-car incident during the eighth hour of the Rolex 24. It was the first time a Pfaff car was retired from a race due to crash damage since 2019. “I can’t blame anyone for that, and we’ve been very lucky in that regard,” Bortolotti admitted. At Sebring, the No. 9 Lamborghini lost a lap early due to a torque sensor issue, then IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup driver James Hinchcliffe injured his left foot when the car was dropped onto it during a pit stop. Hinchcliffe came back to drive a double stint later in the race. Bortolotti is impressed by the working relationship between Lamborghini factory drivers Mapelli and Caldarelli. He sees similarities between them and the successful duo of Campbell and Jaminet, who are now teamed in the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 that competes in the WeatherTech Championship’s Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class. “Watching how Matt and Mathieu worked together when they were with us reminds me so much of what I’m now seeing with Marco and Andrea,” related Bortolotti. “They truly trust each other. There’s no worry about who is faster than who. They know how to work together to make the car faster, they know all the tools, and they know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. That goes a long way – drivers being self-aware and trusting that their differences, when combined, make them a better team. That’s important. “Marco does a lot of the development on Lamborghini’s race cars as well,” he added. “He knows exactly what he wants, and he and Andrea have an amazing chemistry that really reminds me of Campbell and Jaminet. They truly get along and truly have that trust in each another where one of them can get out of the car and say, ‘Oh, this is great for me, but I know you aren’t going to like it.’ There’s not a competition between them. It’s what’s best for the team and what’s best for getting the result we want.” |
| While Pfaff Motorsports has become famous for its plaid livery, it is also known as one of the most fan-friendly teams in the IMSA paddock. Ironically, an online fan vote determined the non-plaid livery that Pfaff and primary sponsor Motul USA will run May 9-11 at the Monterey SportsCar Championship at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. “Our identity is the plaid and the Canadian, and there’s a lot that goes with that, including the fun way we interact with fans,” Bortolotti said. “But the reality is, racing to win is the Pfaff way. We surround ourselves with people who would rather be at the racetrack to win than just being there to be there. That culture that we’ve built, that passion for doing things the right way and wanting to win, can’t be lost. From a recruiting standpoint and adding new people, that’s one of the criteria for working with this race team. We want to work with racers.” The Monterey SportsCar Championship features the GTP, GTD PRO, and GTD classes of the WeatherTech Championship. The 2-hour, 40-minute sprint race will be broadcast domestically from 3-6 p.m. ET Sunday, May 11 on NBC and streamed on Peacock, with international coverage available on IMSA.TV and IMSA’s official YouTube channel. |
