SA’s Jordan Pepper and Lamborghini triumph at Nürburgring

Grasser Racing Team’s Jordan Pepper, Marco Mapelli and Franck Perera drove their Huracán GT3 Evo2 to victory in the third round of the Endurance Cup at the 3 Hours of Nürburgring at the weekend, marking Lamborghini’s first victory in the Fanatec GT World Challenge (GTWC) Europe since 2021.

It is the first time the Grasser Racing Team has tasted GTWC success in the Pro class since 2017, while Mapelli stood on the top step of the podium for the third time after victories in 2021 and the Sprint Cup weekend in 2019.

Pepper, who made history earlier in this year when he became the first South African to be signed as a factory driver for Lamborghini Squadra Corse, comes from a racing family. Father Iain Pepper is a veteran SA racer and sister Tasmin Pepper was a reserve driver in the defunct, all-female W Series championship. Brother-in-law Keegan Campos races in the local GTC Supa Cup. 

Jordan has considerable experience in top-flight racing, including at North America’s IMSA Championship where he came fourth at the Daytona 24 hours and Sebring Raceway.

Starting third on the grid for this past weekend’s race, Pepper got an early lead when the leading Ferrari and Porsche made contact.

Mapelli then took over and maintained the lead, but had to defend hard against attacks from the Mercedes team. 

Perera took over the third driving stint, and despite slipping to second briefly he reclaimed the lead and slowly extended his margin to come home just under 10 seconds ahead of the second-placed CLRT Schumacher Porsche 911 GT3 R and Mann-Filter AMG GT3 Evo in third.

“I’ve never driven so hard in my life. Thanks go out to Lamborghini Squadra Corse and the Grasser Racing Team for such an awesome car and for the preparation. Hard work never goes unnoticed,” said Pepper.

Mapelli said: “I think we executed the race perfectly from the start. Jordan did an amazing job, and we were able to manage the race properly. The Mercedes had more than us at times but to stay behind another car is not easy. But in the end, we were able to manage it well and Franck did a great job.”