Mitchell “As Keen As Ever” for Dual Pro Effort With Lamborghini

Photo: JEP/SRO

Sandy Mitchell has stated he is “as keen as ever” as he returns to the Pro ranks of GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS, embarking on a full season program by competing in both Sprint and Endurance Cup in his capacity as a Lamborghini factory driver.

The Scot kicks off his sophomore Sprint Cup campaign this weekend as part of Barwell Motorsport’s first foray into the Pro category, sharing a Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 with Hugo Cook.

That program comes in addition to his commitments with Vincenzo Sospiri Racing in Endurance Cup, finishing 14th in the Paul Ricard season opener alongside Franck Perera and Marco Mapelli.

This season marks the first time that Mitchell has fully competed in the Pro class across both series after cutting his teeth in other categories.

His resume includes back-to-back CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa class wins (one in Silver, one in Pro-Am), after which he joined Lamborghini’s factory roster ahead of the 2021 season.

In 2023, he had a single season of Pro competition with K-PAX Racing in Endurance Cup before the American squad stepped away from GTWC Europe at the end of the year.

Mitchell subsequently moved back into the Pro-Am ranks with Barwell, but noted that a return to Pro racing was “definitely what he wanted.”

“Most of my racing in the last number of years has been in Pro-Am,” Mitchell told Sportscar365.

“Obviously we’ve still been competitive overall and qualifying well up the order overall, but it has a completely different approach in the way that your weekend goes.

“You’re playing much more of a kind of driver coach as well as a driver role, whereas [in Pro] I can fully focus on myself and trying to learn together off [teammates] and really try and improve the car towards what we want it to be.

“It’s definitely a nice position for me to be in and really to prove that I back myself to be able to be right up there as one of the top drivers on the grid.

“I feel like I proved that at times in 2023, so I’m looking forward to battling up the front overall this year.

“I think quite a few people, including myself, were hoping for me to be back in a Pro car this year. I had a strong showing with K-PAX.

“To be a year back in Pro-Am but then to come back this year is definitely what I wanted. It is a nice place to be and I’m looking forward to getting stuck into it.”

Mitchell’s previous campaign with K-PAX ended with a best result of ninth overall at the Nürburgring, although a potential podium at Monza fell apart due to a suspension issue.

“There was a good two or three races that season where we were really, really on the pace,” Mitchell recalled.

“I think Monza stands out as the one where we really nailed the car and the driving.

“We should have been standing on that podium, really, which would have been an awesome first race in Pro for me, but the dream didn’t quite happen.

“Just ran into a few issues that year, just having a few gremlins and things like that, which stopped us from getting the results that we deserved.

“I’m definitely back as keen as ever to try and get my first Pro podium in GT World Challenge and hopefully win at some point as well.”

Meanwhile in Sprint Cup, Mitchell’s extensive relationship with Barwell is set to take on a new chapter with the British squad’s first Pro entry.

“It’s a big learning curve for Hugo going into Pro as a Silver driver,” said Mitchell.

“But from what we’ve seen so far in testing and in British GT, he’s an extremely capable driver with really good potential.

“I think we’ll be very close in pace and hopefully make a good couple of results, which would be a good target for us.”