In its final U.S. outing of the year, the new Lamborghini Temerario GT3 was «right in the mix» during this 10-hour race. For Lamborghini, the sunsets at Road Atlanta come one after another, all looking much the same. In 2025, the spectacular SC63 bid farewell with a spectacular display by Romain Grosjean. And a heartwarming fourth-place finish that was well worth many victories.
This year, the Pfaff Motorsports team bowed out at the end of Petit Le Mans, the final round of the IMSA North American Endurance Championship, held this Saturday at Road Atlanta (United States). The Canadian team, which played a major role in the development of the new Lamborghini Temerario GT3, finished its final season with a 4th-place finish.e final place.
A hard-fought victory in a chaotic race marked by 16 neutralizations and a red-flag interruption, called after lightning strikes came a little too close to the track. Behind the wheel of car No. 9, sporting its traditional «plaid» livery, the trio of Italian Andrea Caldarelli, Scot Sandy Mitchell, and Frenchman Franck Perera battled until the very last lap to clinch the championship title in the GTD Pro class.
The three drivers finished the race less than three-tenths of a second behind the No. 1 BMW from the Paul Miller team. The M4 drivers, Neil Verhagen and Connor De Phillippi, are the new champions in the class. The Caldarelli-Mitchell duo also finished in 2nd placee final standings in the championship. To give you an idea of how intense the competition is in IMSA, six teams were still mathematically in contention for the title heading into this final race.
A competitive Temerario in challenging conditions
After the finish, Franck Perera of France responded : « The races are always pretty wild over there. This one was no exception, with those conditions and the yellow flags. ». Qualified for the 8th rounde place in this competitive category, the only Temerario entered in this 29the The Petit Le Mans race had quickly seen the field shake up on a wet track. Most of the competitors changed their tires in the first few laps of the race, opening up a variety of strategic options.
So, Andrea Caldarelli returned to his pit after 11 minutes of racing to switch to a set of Michelin Pilot Sport ProGT H1+ tires for dry conditions. The car from Sant’Agata Bolognese even led its class for about 30 laps, notably holding first place after 2 hours of racing. Rain then returned twice, once again shaking up the standings and causing multiple race neutralizations. Once night fell, the Temerario was in 7th placee place. A final neutralization about 20 minutes before the finish, the stoppage of Corvette No. 3 due to a flat tire, and the need for some competitors to make a final refueling stop allowed the Temerario to move up to 4the place
Amid the sometimes disjointed flow of this race, a few statistics are worth noting. First, the Lamborghini’s best lap time (1’20’’314) places the Temerario in 4the best time during the ten-hour race. It thus finished ahead of the top-performing Ferrari 296 GT3s and other Porsche 911 GT3-Rs. Weighing in at 1,362 kg due to the Balance of Performance (BoP) regulations, the Italian car was nevertheless one of the heaviest on the track. Second, this fourth-place finish rounds out a very positive second half of the season for the Temerario, building on the progress seen since this summer in the German DTM championship and the GT World Challenge Europe.
Temerario GT3 Results in IMSA Since the 1ster July:
- Road America: 1e
- Virginia International Raceway: 1er
- Indianapolis: 3e
- Petit Le Mans: 4e
Furthermore, the Caldarelli-Mitchell crew (joined by Franck Perera for the longest races) has never retired this season, proving that this new car is reliable. Potential customer teams will take note. Disrupted by the weather, this Road Atlanta race also provided Lamborghini with an opportunity to calibrate its Temerario GT3 with Michelin wet-weather tires under race conditions.
This will give the Taureau additional information on the right time to switch from dry tires to wet tires—and vice versa. So far, the IMSA season has mostly been contested in sunny conditions. The other championships where this new car competes use tires from different manufacturers. In both the GT World Challenge and the DTM, Pirelli holds a monopoly. In IMSA, Michelin is the official tire supplier through 2035. However, the American championship and its supporting races are an important breeding ground for the manufacturer in its quest to make the Temerario GT3 a commercial success.
End of the apprenticeship
This final race at Road Atlanta also marked the farewell of the Pfaff Motorsports team. It was this team that debuted the Temerario GT3 last March at the 12 Hours of Sebring. Its team principal, Chris Pfaff, recently announced a «hiatus» for the IMSA program. After the checkered flag, Italian driver Andrea Caldarelli wrote on his social media accounts : « An incredible season, marked by the development and racing of an entirely new car, with so much progress, so many lessons learned, and so many unforgettable moments along the way. » « It’s a bittersweet conclusion, knowing that this marks the end of our journey with Pfaff. But if there’s one thing I’ll take away from this, it’s the people. The bond we’ve formed, the laughter, the pressure, the late nights, and the tremendous effort put in by every member of the team "
Lamborghini will team up with new partners next year. And the model will also be available in a SuperTrofeo version. But all of these cars will owe a lot to a Temerario finished in a plaid pattern.
7e of the Michelin Endurance Cup
The No. 9 Lamborghini finished second in the IMSA championship in the GTD Pro class. However, its result was less impressive in the Michelin Endurance Cup, a series that counts only the longest races of the season (Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen, Road America, Petit Le Mans). The crew finished only 7the place. And this despite a victory at Elkhart Lake.
English 
French 
Italian 
Spanish 
German 
Japanese 
Dutch