Lamborghini drivers Bortolotti, Perera join SSR Performance in DTM
Factory Lamborghini drivers Mirko Bortolotti and Franck Perera will contest the 2023 DTM season with SSR Performance.
The duo will join Alessio Deledda at the three-car SSR Performance outfit, which left the Porsche stable over the winter and will field the latest-generation Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO II in the DTM’s first season under the ADAC umbrella.
Both Bortolotti and Perera make the switch from fellow Lamborghini squad Grasser Racing, which is expected to downscale its DTM involvement from four cars to two, while Perera will make his full-time DTM debut after a one-off outing with GRT in 2022.
Bortolotti is a two-time class winner of the Daytona 24 Hours and his other successes including outright title victory in the Blancpain GT series, which is currently known as GT World Challenge Europe.
Perera, meanwhile, was a former test driver for Toyota in Formula 1 and was part of GRT’s winning crew in the 2018 Daytona 24 Hours alongside Bortolotti, Rolf Ineichen and Rik Breukers.
The presence of Bortolotti and Perera means Lamborghini will have a strong factory presence in the DTM after a largely successful 2022 season in which it scored a number of podiums, with Bortolotti finishing fourth in the drivers’ standings.
However, Lamborghini will be the only one of the six manufacturers without a DTM race win to its name when the 2023 season begins at Oschersleben on May 26-28.
“We face the next challenge. I love the challenge and I am all the happier about the new partnership with Lamborghini,” said team boss Stefan Schlund.
“Together with Giorgio Sanna we put together a great package for Lamborghini and SSR Performance. With Mirko Bortolotti, Franck Perera and Alessio Deledda we bring an excellent driver line-up to the start.
“We have to work hard in the coming weeks and months. We want to be successful and score important points for the championship from race one.”
#19 Emil Frey Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo: Franck Perera
Photo by: Alexander Trienitz
During its first season in the DTM last year, SSR Performance scored a maiden race win at Spa and two further podiums at the Norisring and Nurburgring, all courtesy of Porsche-affiliated driver Dennis Olsen.
Following its switch of manufacturer partner, it will be one of the two squads representing Lamborghini in the DTM, effectively replacing T3 Motorsport in the Italian marque’s line-up.
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