The career of a driver starts here: the world of karting, gateway to Motorsport for those who want to approach professionalism on four wheels. For this reason Lamborghini Squadra Corse announced last spring the start of a new youth program dedicated to karting talents: the Kart Drivers Program, which complements the existing Formula Junior Program, the Young Drivers Program and the GT3 Junior Program, and represents the pyramid base of the youth programs of the racing department of the House of Sant’Agata Bolognese.
The reason that prompted Lamborghini Squadra Corse to explore also this field of Motorsport is to offer a growth opportunity towards professionalism to the most talented drivers of this category, to accompany them along a training path which starts precisely from karting, goes on with training single-seaters (F.4 with the Formula Junior Program) and continues in the world of Gran Turismo competitions with the Young Drivers Program and the GT3 Junior Program, reserved respectively to the drivers of the one-make series Blancpain Super Trofeo and to those participating in the various GT championships worldwide with the Lamborghini Huracán GT3. This has the aim to provide young drivers with a solid alternative, not necessarily on open wheels, for their career.
As a partner for the Kart Drivers Program, Lamborghini Squadra Corse has chosen DR Racing Kart, a business founded by the five-time world champion, Danilo Rossi, and completely devoted to the karting world: from the design and construction of chasses, to the participation in national, European and world WSK and CIK-FIA championships. Danilo Rossi’s task is to act as a talent scout and to spot the most talented kart drivers, who are then evaluated by the Motorsport department of the House of Sant’Agata Bolognese and included in the Kart Drivers Program, which provides practical support for their future career.
The first training session took place at the Adria International Raceway last July and, on that occasion, the first four drivers of the program were selected:
Cristopher Zani – Italy – age: 20
Mauro Simoni – Italy – age: 29
Justas Jonusis – Lithuania – age: 14
Muiz Gafar – Malaysia – age: 14
From the Adria International Raceway to the new Karting Raceway of Adria the step was short. The four drivers of the Kart Drivers Program took to the track with Mirko Bortolotti, the latter behind the wheel of a customized DR Kart 125 KZ (with the number 63, the year of foundation of Automobili Lamborghini and recurring race number on Huracán GT3 cars) for a return to the origins and a training session, as the kart is a great training opportunity for any kind of driver.
