Marco Mapelli
#1 Marco Mapelli | Seregno, Italy I 1/9/1987
Marco Mapelli was recruited to complete a star-studded 24 Hours of Spa line-up in 2022. Mapelli made his team debut during the 2021 Indianapolis 8 Hour. The Italian GT racing veteran has been a Lamborghini Factory driver since 2017, and he shared an overall sweep of the 2019 GT World Challenge Championship in both Europe’s Sprint and Endurance Cup series. Mapelli also once set a Nürburgring production lap record in his first year with Lamborghini, piloting a Huracán Performante through the treacherous twisties of the legendary circuit at a time of 6 minutes, 52 seconds.
“I’m really looking forward to race with K-PAX Racing in 2022. IGTC [Intercontinental GT Challenge] is a very demanding championship, but I believe K-PAX with their experience and knowledge can face it in the proper way. I know Andrea (‘The Captain’) very well, as we have shared loads of success and good moments together in the past. I always enjoying driving with him. Jordan [Pepper] is a very fast and reliable driver, so I can’t wait to get it started. Preparation is definitely the key for every race, especially when you’re far away from ‘brickyards.’ Strategy: it’s something very crucial, especially in this Endurance championship.”
Sandy Mitchell
Sandy Mitchell | Forfar, Scotland.
22-year-old Sandy hails from Forfar in Scotland and is now in his third year as a Lamborghini Squadra Corse Factory Driver. In 2016, when he was just 16, he became the youngest ever pole position holder and race winner in the Intelligent Money British GT Championship, and he has won at the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa in both the Silver Cup and Pro-Am, was second in the 2019 Super Trofeo World Final, and clinched the 2020 British GT title behind the wheel of a Huracán GT3.
“The official GT World Challenge test days will be my first time with the team and I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve raced in almost all the classes in GTWCE, so it’s great to have a chance in a Pro car which is a huge thing for my career and an opportunity that I’ve been working hard to get. We’ll be looking to have good, consistent races, and GT World Challenge is all about taking the chances when they’re there, because it’s very rare that that one or two cars do well in all races, with it being so highly competitive, and especially in the top 10-15 places.
“The highlight of the year is going to be the Spa 24 Hours, which is a race I’ve won in two classes already with Pro-Am and Silver, so it would be pretty cool do that in Pro. K-PAX Racing always have really good speed and put on a really good showing last year in the Spa 24 Hours, so I’ve got no doubts that the car is going to be quick and we’ll have a good team around us.”
Franck Perera
Franck Perera | Montpelier, France
Franck, from Montpelier in France, is an experienced racer who claimed his first title in Formula Renault 2.0 in 2003. A Formula 1 test driver in the mid-2000s, he competed in Champ Car and IndyCar before switching to GT and endurance racing, clinching the European Le Mans Series GTC crown in 2015, and is no stranger to K-PAX Racing, having joined the team on several occasions including at last year’s Indianapolis 8 Hours.
“I’m really happy to race with K-PAX, especially in Europe. I really had a great time in Indianapolis with the team last year. It was not an easy race, but I think we did a great job, and we have the chance to do something really great this year together with K-PAX and Lamborghini.
“It’s really important to have three good drivers, but also three drivers that get along together, that respect each other, and do the job, because at the end we win together and not alone. What I’m really focused on, and I think we’re going to work together and prepare as much as possible for, is Spa. It is the hardest race of the season and Lamborghini is still missing the win, so I believe we have the chance to fight for it.”
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2023: Round Five – Barcelona