Lamborghini announces Jordan Pepper as official factory driver

Jordan Pepper has been unveiled as the latest addition to the Lamborghini Squadra Corse factory driver line-up ahead of the 2023 racing season.

The experienced South African will join existing members Mirko Bortolotti, Andrea Caldarelli, Marco Mapelli, Sandy Mitchell and Franck Perera as well as fellow newcomers Leonardo Pulcini and Romain Grosjean as an official driver.

Pepper, who also makes history by becoming the first Lamborghini factory driver hailing from South Africa, will make his debut as a factory driver alongside Grosjean, Caldarelli and Bortolotti as part of the Iron Lynx squad for the 24 Hours at Daytona later this month.

In addition to his Daytona driver, Pepper is also due to contest a full campaign of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe series, with exact details expected in due course.

“I’m very excited to be joining the Lamborghini Squadra Corse family from the 2023 season and beyond,” said Pepper. “Stepping away from another factory programme at the end of 2020 gave me an opportunity to explore and see what I would like to do with my future, and I was very privileged to be able to drive a Lamborghini for K-PAX Racing in America for the previous two titles.

“That experience, the title in the debut season and second last year, along with the Spa 24 Hours alongside Andrea and Marco gave me an insight into how the factory works. It’s a manufacturer that I have grown to like and build a strong relationship with and when Giorgio told me there was a chance to join, it was quite an easy decision to make.”

“There wasn’t much discussion needed between us and we came to a good agreement straight. He’s shown great trust in me from offset to make this partnership work and what better way to kickstart our collaboration than in the Daytona 24 Hours, debuting the new GT3 EVO2.”

Pepper arrived at Lamborghini at the start of the 2021 season, joining Caldarelli as part of the K-PAX Racing outfit which dominated the GT World Challenge America series. He was crowned drivers’ champion alongside Caldarelli and contested the first two rounds of the 2022 season in the same car before moving across to the sister car, teaming up with Misha Goikhberg.

Pepper has experience of a factory role before, having been a leading figure in Bentley’s official roster. He most notably took victory in the Bathurst 12 Hours in 2020 and in the 1000km of Paul Ricard the year before.

Lamborghini’s Head of Motorsport, Giorgio Sanna said: “We are very happy to welcome Jordan to our roster of Factory Drivers. Since joining us in 2021, he has shown himself to be a very fast and reliable driver which was displayed with the drivers’ title in GTWC America in his first year driving a Lamborghini.

“His professional attitude and determination will also be a good fit with the rest of the factory drivers this year and I am looking forward to seeing what he can achieve with us, starting with the Daytona 24 Hours at the end of this month.”