Lamborghini factory driver Loris Spinelli will complete Chicago Performance and Tuning Co.’s line-up for the 2026 Desder Indianapolis 8 Hour, joining Mads Siljehaug and Nicolai Elghanayan in the team’s #64 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2.
Spinelli’s race seat represents a natural progression from the role he has already played within Chicago Performance’s partial-season GT World Challenge America powered by AWS programme. The Italian worked closely with the team during its Sonoma Raceway debut and again around its Road America return, helping Siljehaug, Elghanayan and the engineering group accelerate their understanding of the Lamborghini. His Indianapolis participation was first reported by Sportscar365 before Chicago Performance formally confirmed the arrangement.
Indianapolis will be the third and final event of Chicago Performance’s planned 2026 programme after Sonoma and Road America. The eight-hour race will also close both the GTWC America and Intercontinental GT Challenge seasons, giving Spinelli, Siljehaug and Elghanayan an opportunity to finish the team’s first GT3 campaign together in one of North America’s major endurance events.
Spinelli moves from supporting role to Chicago Performance race seat
Spinelli has been involved with the programme since its opening weekend at Sonoma, even though he was not part of the race line-up.
Chicago Performance entered the season with a deliberately limited three-event schedule after creating its Lamborghini GT3 programme at short notice. The team received the Huracán GT3 EVO2 as essentially a bare chassis and had only a matter of weeks to assemble the car, establish the programme and prepare for its Sonoma debut.
That compressed schedule made Lamborghini’s support particularly valuable. Spinelli attended testing and remained with the team throughout the Sonoma weekend, providing technical feedback and working closely with Elghanayan as the American made his first competitive start in GT3 machinery. Chicago Performance’s preparations for its Road America return highlighted how extensively Spinelli contributed behind the scenes, including assisting with setup direction and simulator work.
Team Manager Christopher Lester believes that involvement means Spinelli is already fully integrated into the operation despite Indianapolis marking his first race start with the team.
“Loris has been a key part of this program from the very beginning, working closely with Mads and Nicolai to help bring both the car and the drivers up to speed at Sonoma and Road America,” said team manager Christopher Lester.
“Now, we’re excited to officially welcome him behind the wheel and into our lineup for Indianapolis.”
Rather than adding an unfamiliar third driver immediately before an endurance race, Chicago Performance therefore enters Indianapolis with somebody who already understands the car, its drivers and the team’s working methods.
Lamborghini experience adds another dimension
Spinelli also brings extensive experience with Lamborghini machinery to the #64.
The Italian has spent much of his GT career within the manufacturer’s racing structure and became a Lamborghini factory driver ahead of the 2024 season. His history with the marque stretches back to Lamborghini Super Trofeo, where he won the Pro championship in 2017 before building experience across international GT3 competition. He remains part of Lamborghini’s factory roster in 2026.
That background gives Chicago Performance a driver capable of contributing far beyond outright lap time. Indianapolis’ eight-hour format will place greater emphasis on setup compromises, tyre management, traffic and evolving track conditions than the regular three-hour GTWC America races, making detailed familiarity with the Huracán GT3 EVO2 especially valuable.
For a programme still in its first season with the car, Spinelli’s understanding of Lamborghini’s GT3 package could therefore help the team manage one of its most demanding weekends yet.
Uscinski welcomes ‘dream come true’ addition
Chicago Performance President and Team Principal Al Uscinski described the opportunity to race with Spinelli as an important milestone for the team.
The organisation’s 2026 programme represents a significant step from its previous activities, with Lamborghini returning to GTWC America competition through a team that had to assemble much of the project in a compressed timeframe before Sonoma. Despite those circumstances, Chicago Performance completed its first weekend without a major mechanical failure and later returned at Road America with a much stronger understanding of the package.
Spinelli’s addition for the finale strengthens that development further.
“To have the opportunity to have Loris race with us is a dream come true for everyone at Chicago Performance. We’re looking forward to seeing Loris, Mads, and Nicolai leading from the front,” he said.
“We’d like to extend a huge thanks to our partners, especially Lamborghini, for their continued belief in our team and this program.
“We’re looking forward repaying that support with another strong showing of pace when we hit the track in Indianapolis.”
The factory driver’s involvement also reflects the relationship Chicago Performance has developed with Lamborghini during its first GT3 campaign. Manufacturer support played an important role in getting the programme operational at Sonoma, and Indianapolis now gives the partnership an opportunity to race with one of Lamborghini’s own drivers in the car.
Road America showed Chicago Performance’s growing pace
Chicago Performance’s most recent appearance demonstrated how much progress the programme had made since Sonoma.
Elghanayan and Siljehaug returned for the Road America round after sitting out the middle portion of the championship, with the #64 immediately showing stronger outright pace than during its debut weekend.
Elghanayan qualified fourth among the Pro-Am runners before keeping the Lamborghini near the front during the opening stages. As repeated cautions and different pit strategies reshaped the race, the #64 moved into contention for a potential class podium, with Siljehaug emerging ahead during the later stages on an alternative strategy.
The Lamborghini ultimately required another stop, dropping it down the final order, but Siljehaug still set the fastest Pro-Am lap with a 2:07.241. That performance offered a clearer indication of the car’s potential than the final result and showed that Chicago Performance had moved considerably closer to the established GTWC America teams.
TR3 Racing eventually won the Pro-Am class at Road America, while Chicago Performance finished eighth in class. Nevertheless, the #64’s periods at the front and outright pace provided encouragement before the considerably longer Indianapolis race.
Siljehaug provides continuity across all three events
Siljehaug has served as the constant driver throughout Chicago Performance’s 2026 campaign.
The Norwegian was named as the team’s full-season driver for its three-event programme when the project was announced in February. His previous GT3 experience, including earlier work with Lamborghini machinery, made him an important reference point as the organisation adapted to the Huracán GT3 EVO2.
Elghanayan joined him at both Sonoma and Road America and will remain aboard for Indianapolis, preserving the partnership that has developed throughout the programme.
At the Sonoma season opener, the pair finished inside the Pro-Am points despite Elghanayan entering the weekend without previous GT3 race experience. Their Road America return then showed greater competitiveness as the team continued applying the lessons learned during its debut.
Spinelli now adds a third element without disrupting that continuity. Having already worked alongside both drivers throughout the year, he enters the race with an established understanding of their feedback and requirements.
Indianapolis presents biggest challenge of programme
Chicago Performance’s first two GTWC America appearances were run under the championship’s three-hour endurance format, but Indianapolis more than doubles that race duration.
The Desder Indianapolis 8 Hour brings the domestic championship together with the Intercontinental GT Challenge and is set to feature a record provisional 29-car grid. Chicago Performance’s #64 Lamborghini is one of 20 cars currently listed in Pro-Am, making that category by far the largest in the field.
The eight-hour format increases the importance of avoiding incidents and maintaining consistent pace across multiple driver cycles. Strategy will also become more complex as teams balance fuel, tyre use and driver time against Safety Cars and changing track conditions throughout the afternoon and into darkness.
For Chicago Performance, those demands arrive only three races into its GT3 programme. However, Spinelli’s experience gives the team an additional reference alongside Siljehaug and Elghanayan as it attempts to translate the speed demonstrated at Road America into a sustained endurance performance.
Spinelli completes planned three-race campaign
Indianapolis will bring Chicago Performance’s original 2026 programme full circle.
The team announced before the season that it would contest Sonoma, Road America and the Indianapolis 8 Hour rather than undertake a complete GTWC America campaign. That schedule was designed to allow the organisation to establish itself with the Lamborghini while gradually building the infrastructure and knowledge needed for GT3 competition.
Spinelli has been involved throughout that development without previously appearing on the race entry. He helped accelerate Elghanayan’s adaptation at Sonoma, continued supporting the programme through Road America and will now finally share the car with the two drivers he has worked alongside throughout the season.
The #64 will therefore arrive at Indianapolis with a line-up combining Siljehaug’s continuity, Elghanayan’s rapid development and Spinelli’s extensive factory experience.
For a programme that began with only weeks to prepare an unbuilt GT3 car for Sonoma, the addition of a Lamborghini factory driver for its biggest event represents another significant step. Chicago Performance now heads to Indianapolis looking to convert that progress into its strongest result yet.
