First Year with Lamborghini Temerario GT3 Trending Upwards after First Podium
By John Oreovicz
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – There’s only one race in Canada in the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, which adds extra importance for the Canadian teams and drivers in action. Both Canadian-flagged GT teams feature distinct Canadian liveries, with Pfaff Motorsports’ iconic red and black plaid and 13 Autosport’s red and white maple leaf adorning their respective cars.
For Pfaff Motorsports in particular, this year’s Chevrolet Grand Prix weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park is huge.
Pfaff is in the second year of its partnership with Lamborghini, and the Greater Toronto Area-based team has just five races under its belt with Lamborghini’s new-for-2026 GT-class contender, the Temerario GT3. In fact, Pfaff had the honor of giving the Temerario GT3 its worldwide competition debut earlier this year at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
Since then, it’s sometimes been a bumpy ride for the No. 9 Pfaff Lamborghini and drivers Andrea Caldarelli and Sandy Mitchell. But it’s had some early highlights with a top-five run in Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and second place in the Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic on the streets of downtown Detroit.
The team made progress in a Long Beach GTD one-off appearance, and the Detroit podium was a great morale boost as Pfaff continues to unlock the secrets of the Temerario GT3, which is the first racing car developed fully in-house by Lamborghini Squadra Corse.
“For me, personally, it was fantastic to be standing on my first IMSA podium, but I felt even more happy for the team rather than myself,” said Mitchell. “I was genuinely so happy for all the guys and girls behind the scenes to have put so much effort in, whether that’s from Lamborghini or Pfaff. We’ve seen how much work has gone into developing this fully in-house GT3 car in a short space of time and Pfaff is working so well with the Lamborghini factory to make things happen and to make steps forward. We really feel it and see how much work goes into that, so I was so happy for everyone to get a boost.”
Pfaff’s goal is to get back to the level of success it enjoyed with its association with Porsche, when it won four races and the 2021 IMSA GTD championship with drivers Laurens Vanthoor and Zacharie Robichon, followed up in ’22 by a five-win GTD PRO championship-winning campaign, this time with factory Porsche drivers Matt Campbell and Mathieu Jaminet.
Pfaff’s last WeatherTech Championship race win came at Sebring in 2023 with a Porsche piloted by Vanthoor, Klaus Bachler, and Patrick Pilet. The team aligned itself with Lamborghini in 2025 after a single season fielding a McLaren, with Caldarelli finishing ninth in GTD PRO with a best finish of third at Detroit.
Cars fielded by Pfaff have finished in the top five at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park four of the last five years, with Jaminet and Campbell winning after capturing the Motul Pole Award in 2022.
Caldarelli, who joined the ranks of Lamborghini Squadra Corse factory drivers in 2017, believes development of the Temerario GT3 is going to plan.
“We’ve definitely done big progress, I think,” he said. “Detroit, even though it was a chaotic race, I do feel that we belonged there and we were fighting, realistically, for the podium. I think it was very encouraging. It was huge, to be honest. In terms of car behavior and feeling (compared to) Sebring, we definitely understood much, much more and we are definitely more prepared for different situations. I think it’s literally like a discovery thing, race by race, weekend by weekend.
“I think Canadian Tire Motorsport Park will be more similar to Watkins Glen, where we had big challenges,” he added. “It will be interesting to see where we are.”
Mitchell and Caldarelli lie seventh in the GTD PRO standings, still within 210 points of leaders Connor De Phillippi and Neil Verhagen and the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO in a season of great class parity. Pfaff Motorsports General Manager Steve Bortolotti is pleased with what he has seen to date.
“We always knew this was going to be a challenging season, just with the limited in-season testing we’re able to do,” Bortolotti said. “I feel like we’ve done a really good job with learning every session and every time we’re on track, where we end up farther ahead than we would have been otherwise. The inconsistency that we’re seeing is kind of the reality of a new car and a new GT3 car especially.
“We’ll learn what we can and make sure that we apply it as we go throughout the season,” he concluded. “Hopefully, we can nab a win here before the end of the season just as a boost in the step for everybody on this team.”
One thing Italian Caldarelli and Scotsman Mitchell are absolutely certain they will experience at CTMP is a warm welcome from the Canadian fans.
The car is back in its trademark red and black plaid colors this weekend after rolling through some special alternate liveries to support its partners this year.
“For me, last year was the first time at CTMP and you can definitely see so many people with the red and black plaid,” said Caldarelli. “It was a really cool experience. It’s going to be a really nice event for us, for the team and we will try to do the best we can.”
“It’s the first time that I’m going to experience the team’s home race, so I’m really looking forward to it,” added Mitchell. “I’ve heard a lot about all the red and black plaid and the support the team has, and I think it’ll be fantastic atmosphere. And to top it off, it’s an awesome track to drive around!”
Streamed coverage of the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park starts at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday July 12, available through Peacock in the U.S. along with IMSA.TV and the official IMSA YouTube Channel internationally.