We are less than 24 hours away from the Lamborghini Temerario GT3 making its global race debut at Sebring, marking the beginning of a new era for the Italian manufacturer in GT3 competition. With Pfaff Motorsports entrusted to run the car in its first outing, anticipation is building around both performance and reliability as the 12-hour endurance test looms.

Entering its first race weekend with Pfaff Motorsports, there is a sense of excitement among all parties, especially the car’s running team.

“It’s been very exciting to be part of the process,” said Pfaff Team Manager Steve Bortolotti. “Lamborghini deserves a lot of credit for involving not just Pfaff Motorsports, but teams that will be campaigning the car in Europe in the development process. I think that takes a lot of transparency. It’s not always an easy thing because not every test goes the way you want it. But sharing that process with the teams and allowing us to be part of the way forward looks like has actually been something that I think we all see a lot of value in. We came to the test in November here and then also at Daytona. We felt like we got a pretty good handle on the car and having that experience with the car when we showed up here this weekend was like we’re that much farther ahead. With a new car, there’s always new things that are going to pop up, but we really have this intimate knowledge of the car that we never really would have had. Full credit to Lamborghini for showing us what’s behind the curtain so early on.”

From testing mileage to Sebring race reality

Prior to the car’s debut, the team has taken on a significant amount of testing and practice leading up tomorrow’s 12-hour enduro.

While the car’s development is young, the Temerario GT3 and Pfaff had made strong strides from its first outing to now.

“We ran at night when we tested here in November, so we had a good handle on how the car was in cooler weather versus in the heat of the day,” said Bortolotti. “The car has improved cooling versus the Huracán when it comes to brakes and that sort of stuff. You definitely notice a big difference in performance at night. I think the car really comes alive at night and is quite impressive, frankly. But yeah, we’re just going to have to survive the daytime and make sure that first, we get to the end of the 12 hours. That’s goal number one. Hoping that once the sun goes down, we have a better shot at a good finish.”

Sebring goal is clear: finish clean and learn

Through this process, Pfaff has had a strong support system with Lamborghini.

As the car continues to grow, synergy between both Pfaff and Lambo is crucial to the future of the Temerario.

“The transparency is very important,” says Bortolotti. “It starts with defining a clear goal. A mutual goal that we’re both pulling towards. It would be crazy for us to not have a common goal that we’re working towards. For this race, the goal is to run the 12 hour and not have any unscheduled stops or mechanical issues with the car. That’s a very fair goal. We’ve been working towards that goal together. So, as the season goes on, those goals are going to change. That can’t be the goal at a race like Detroit where it’s 100 minutes. Like, that’s not the goal there. That’s expected. But that’s when, over the course of the season, we’ve really got to work to find pace. I think qualifying today was a good indication of where we need to get to. We’re not there yet, but nobody was expecting it to be. Nobody rolls out a brand-new car and expects to be qualifying pole. I have way too much respect for our competitors in this paddock that you’re going to show up and be on it like that. But we learned a lot in qualifying today. Looking ahead to Laguna and some of the upcoming rounds, having that understanding of how the car uses the peak of the tire on low fuel is great. It’s very intimate. That’s knowledge that then Lamborghini can pass on to the DTM teams. Obviously, a different tire in DTM, but there are some learnings that allow us to understand how much energy we’re putting into the tire.”

Factory driver experience helps speed up the learning curve

Not only does the team have a strong team at Lamborghini, but a knowledgeable driver lineup.

Featuring factory drivers Andrea Caldarelli, Sandy Mitchell and Franck Perera, Pfaff have the men in charge to help in the growth of the Temerario.

“Certainly, Andrea’s been involved, I believe, since the initial rollout,” said Bortolotti. “I saw him there in Italy last June. He’s been there since day one. I know Sandy and Frank have got a ton of mileage over the course of development. So, you know, the three of them have been part of that transition all the way along and a lot of the changes that were made and inevitable curve balls that come their way. They have a bit more experience with how to deal with it. It’s very difficult for a gentleman driver to come in and just be like, oh, okay, what if some light goes off that catches their attention? Well, the factory drivers, they know that they’ve probably seen it before. So with over 20,000 kilometers in testing, they’ve seen a lot.”

Temerario already easier to work on than Huracán

As for what has been the difference from the Huracán to the Temerario? Well, it has created a lot less headaches for race day.

“It is certainly a lot easier to work on this car than the Huracán,” Bortolotti stated. “Just the way how modular the car is. How quickly the body panels come off and on. That’s been a huge help for the mechanics, especially because when you’re doing work on the car, it’s a lot easier to shed the body work and have access to the components you need access to versus you’re wrestling underneath a fender because you don’t feel like removing 20 fasteners to get a fender off. Stuff like that is a huge amount of stress relief. If you can go clip, clip and the front end comes off, that’s a lot less stressful than having a zoom, zoom, zoom, and removing all the stuff. So yeah, it’s been pretty cool.”

Smooth switch

Leading up to the race, Pfaff was able to garner one last send-off for the Huracán. While things may have seemed hectic navigating preparing for the Rolex 24 with the old model car along with gearing up for a debut with the Temerario at Sebring, it was rather seamless.

“To be fair, Lamborghini had this plan from day one. This was the plan. When we know in June of 2025 what the plan is for January through March of 2026, it makes it a lot easier to plan. So, from our side, all the recon that had to happen on Huracán was in our shop waiting for us when we came back from Petit. We knew in November we had some testing with Temerario, but we knew that as soon as we got back from Petit, we could get started before we had the proto-Temerario in the workshop. So having that ability to start right away, because we knew the plan was instrumental. Then as soon as Daytona was over, I think my guys were home for three days and they went over to Italy. Then we installed the IMSA kit. Everything IMSA related was put in the Temerario in Italy. We did just under 1000 kilometers in Italy with the car in IMSA trims so this way, when the car flew over to Toronto to our workshop, we had a car that was a lot further along than anything and we still had it three weeks ahead of this race. That was the lead up to this (Sebring), so it wasn’t a stressor. I think Lamborghini deserves a ton of credit for that.”

Pfaff and Lamborghini a natural fit

The excitement is real with the Temerario. Both Lamborghini and Pfaff feature strong fan bases and with a rollout of a brand-new car, the eyes towards the teams is at a fever pitch.

“I think it’s a match made in heaven, frankly,” Bortolotti said. “I think we have a lot of similar interests as companies, different but also a lot of shared goals. We share the same fighting spirit amongst both companies and in different ways we kind of project that, but I think it’s something that we have in common. Seeing how many fans there are of the Lamborghini brand in motorsport is incredible. Think back to 15 years ago, they didn’t have that same passionate fan base that they have now, and that’s something I think they should be and we are very proud to be associated with in this new era of the Temerario. As far as Pfaff motorsports fans, we love our fans. We’ve got a unique base of the hardcore Canadians that love the Plaid and love what it is we do. I think we also have a lot of fans stateside that just love our humility and the way we market and the way we like to have fun with racing. There’s a lot of teams that take themselves a little bit too seriously in this paddock, and racing is supposed to be fun. It’s for the fans. It’s their disposable income. It’s their time. It should be fun for them, and it should be fun for those of us competing in it. Deep down, yes, it’s a job, but it needs to still be fun.”

Year one targets

For Bortolotti, the expectations by the end of the season are straightforward.

“Completing every lap of every race would be Goal #1 from here on out to Petit. Then Goal #2 would be to have more than one podium for the end of the day.”