Lamborghini Squadra Corse presented the Factory Drivers for the 2020 season, including reconfirmed members and two new arrivals. Giacomo Altoé and Albert Costa have been inducted into the ranks of official drivers, joining Andrea Caldarelli and Marco Mapelli (2019 Blancpain GT Series champions), Dennis Lind, Franck Perera, and Giovanni Venturini.
Born in 2000, nineteen-year-old Veneto native Altoé is the first millennial to become an official driver of Sant’Agata Bolognese. The Best Lamborghini Young Driver, Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe champion, and winner of the World Final and the Italian GT Championship in 2018, Altoé was supported by Squadra Corse for the following season, fully repaying the confidence shown in him. In 2019 he was not only rated first among the drivers of the Lamborghini GT3 Junior Driver program, but he also triumphed in the International GT Open paired with Albert Costa, the first Spaniard to become a Lamborghini Factory Driver. Born in 1990 in Barcelona, Costa already has a long career behind him, in which he distinguished himself in both karting and Formula racing championships prior to entering the GT categories. In 2020 Altoé and Costa will race together again, taking Emil Frey Racing’s Huracán GT3 EVO to its debut at the GT World Challenge Europe.
Another debut is that of Danny Kroes in the Italian GT. Born in 1999, in 2019 the Dutchman excelled by winning the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe and made a very good impression on the staff headed by Raffele Giammaria during the test sessions of the Lamborghini Young Driver Program. This result will enable him to compete, with the support of Lamborghini Squadra Corse, in his first season in a GT3 championship.
Just like Frederik Schandorff, another young talent who “graduated” from the Lamborghini Squadra Corse academy. At the beginning of 2019, he won the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Middle East, finishing the season with the title of World Champion of the single-brand series thanks to his victory at the World Final in Jerez de la Frontera last October. All this earned him a well-deserved spot for the upcoming season in the prestigious GT World Challenge Asia with the Vincenzo Sospiri Racing team.
Giorgio Sanna, Head of Automobili Lamborghini Motorsport, remarked: “I am pleased to welcome Giacomo and Albert to the family, as in the last several seasons they have both shown talent, speed, and the right attitude. In addition, Giacomo is the perfect example of how our young driver programs help to train up-and-coming drivers and offer them real career opportunities.”
Albert Costa commented: “Becoming a Lamborghini Factory Driver is an incredible feeling. Since I was a boy, Lamborghini has been the brand of my dreams, and since I started racing in the GT I’d always wanted to race with a Huracán. I am really happy, and now I have to work harder than ever, because last year Lamborghini won everything there was to win and the expectations for the upcoming season are very high. I’ll give my absolute best to the team both on the track and outside, and I want to win to thank Squadra Corse for their faith in me.”
Giacomo Altoé stated: “I’m really enthusiastic. It’s an important milestone for my career but especially a starting point for improving and growing even more. I’m honored to strengthen my collaboration with Lamborghini and I’m looking forward to starting the test runs to get the best preparation for the upcoming season.”
Source. Lamborghini/Photo. The Editor
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