DR Kart and Lamborghini Kart Drivers Program launch at Adria

Last Monday in Adria saw the first get together between the DR Racing Kart factory team and Lamborghini Squadra Corse with official driver Mirko Bortolotti as part of the announced program called Lamborghini Kart Drivers Program.
 
The program comes to complete the career path that Lamborghini has been working on for its junior drivers towards becoming a Lamborghini GT3 factory driver. The program now starts from karting, moving on to Formula 4 and then onto the GT car talent programs like Young Drivers Program for those competing in the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo and GT3 Junior Program for youngster racing in the most prestigious GT Championship worldwide.
 
The launch of the program saw the official drivers of the DR Racing Kart factory team Mauro Simoni and Cristofer Zani in KZ category with Muizz Musyaffa Abdul Gafar and Justas Jonusis in OK Junior category, get together with Lamborghini factory driver Mirko Bortolotti on the karting track. While Mirko has raced in karting in the past, it was his first outing with the powerful six-gear shifter kart and also his first experience on the kartodromo of Adria. After the test he said “the KZ is great fun! Thanks to the power-to-weight ratio and a good set up, the maneuverability on the Kart is obviously phenomenal.”
 
The morning test followed some exchange of information between the drivers and analysis on the telemetry systems, demonstrating the advanced technical level of the DR Kart Racing factory team.
 
As the day continued, the two teams moved to the bigger track, the International Raceway of Adria, where the Lamborghini Squadra Corse had prepared a presentation of the program. Giorgio Sanna, Head of Motorsport of Automobili Lamborghini gave an extensive presentation of the Lamborghini Squadra Corse activities, the junior program and the ladder to GT cars. Mirko Bortolotti took over explaining the requirements and necessary approach to becoming a professional racing driver, as well as the importance of teamwork when moving up to a larger team and series where drivers share the same car. Lastly Lorenzo Facchinetti, Lamborghini external consultant for motorsport communication, talked about the importance of being professional also of the track as much in the behavior as well with the communication, and how Lamborghini prepares the young drivers for this.
 
Following the presentation, the action moved to the track, where the Lamborghini Squadra Corse presented the Huracán LP 620-2 Super Trofeo car and briefed the DR Kart Racing drivers about the all the functionalities and how to work the complex board and steering wheel of the car as well as the importance of the ABS and traction control systems.
 
The drivers then got taxi rides in the Huracán LP 620-2 Super Trofeo car on the side of Mirko Bortolotti, and got to see from the passenger seat the abilities of the GT car. “The experience of getting on the Lamborghini Huracán was fantastic especially with a driver like Mirko. The car impressed me a lot as I didn’t expect that a car could make such strong braking and cornering speed” was Zani’s reaction. Similarly for Mauro Simoni it “is an amazing car, with a very powerful engine and with significant traction in cornering. But the feature that impressed me most is the braking, I didn’t expect to be so powerful”.
 
“I really enjoyed the first day of the Lamborghini Kart Drivers Program at Adria, where we experienced both a KZ Kart as well as our Huracán Super Trofeo. It was interesting to see how Karting has grown up, becoming even more professional and technological over the last years. Personally it was also great to get back to the roots and to meet old friends such as Danilo Rossi and his team. I’m already looking forward to the next event”, said Mirko Bortolotti after the event.
 
The day concluded with a few filming sessions on both tracks for the media.