The brand-new Lamborghini SC63 LMDh has completed its first major test with the Iron Lynx team at Imola, following the car’s reveal at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and initial shakedown at Vallelunga. The SC63, which is set to compete in the full …
The brand-new Lamborghini SC63 LMDh has completed its first major test with the Iron Lynx team at Imola, following the car’s reveal at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and initial shakedown at Vallelunga.
The SC63, which is set to compete in the full FIA WEC and select IMSA Endurance Cup races next season, was driven by Lamborghini Squadra Corse drivers Mirko Bortolotti, Andrea Caldarelli, and Daniil Kvyat at the Italian circuit.
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During the test, in which Iron Lynx completed 1500 kilometres of running, the Italian works team calibrated the car’s new V8 engine, speed limiter and traction control systems and set up its Xtrac gearbox. It also collected valuable aero and cooling data from the run.
“It’s the first time that we’re involved in such a big project starting from scratch,” said Andrea Piccini, Iron Lynx’s team principal and CEO.
“There are many people working together and the first task is to create the right atmosphere and build a team. Since we drove the car out of the pits in Vallelunga last week, the drivers reported a generally positive feeling.
“We didn’t suffer any major issues, step by step we’re driving longer stints, learning the car and getting faster. Still, a long way to go, a lot of debugging and development needed, but the first impression is definitely positive!”
The SC63 is the first LMDh-rules prototype to be based on a Ligier chassis ‘spine’ and is powered by an all-new 3.8-litre twin turbo V8 engine that has been developed by Lamborghini engineers specifically for the program.
Lamborghini is targeting the FIA WEC 2024 season opener in Qatar next March for the car’s race debut. It is not going to be ready in time for an appearance at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona in January, the first event on the new-look, five-round IMSA WeatherTech Endurance Cup schedule.
In it’s 60th year as a car company, sports car manufacturer Lamborghini is taking its first steps into the motorsports world beyond GT racing with the SC63, its hybrid prototype race car built to the LMDh ruleset and destined for GTP in the IMSA …
In it’s 60th year as a car company, sports car manufacturer Lamborghini is taking its first steps into the motorsports world beyond GT racing with the SC63, its hybrid prototype race car built to the LMDh ruleset and destined for GTP in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and Hypercar in the FIA World Endurance Championship. The car was fully revealed today at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
“This year marks not only the 60th anniversary of our brand, but also the 10th anniversary of Squadra Corse, Lamborghini’s motorsport division,” said Girogio Sanna, Lamborghini’s head of motorsport. “Over the last decade we have achieved great results. Starting from scratch, we have won some of the most prestigious endurance races in the GT category for our production-based racing cars. These include three class wins at the Daytona 24 Hours and two wins in a row at the Sebring 12 Hours. Now we are ready for what is our biggest step into the future of motorsport, measuring ourselves against the best manufacturers in the world.”
Developed in conjunction with Ligier, the SC63 is the first LMDh car in which the French race car constructor has had a hand. The internal combustion engine is a 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 developed specifically for the racing program. It’s a “cold V” configuration with the turbos mounted outside the v-angle of the engine for serviceability as well as a lower center of gravity. As with all LMDh cars, it uses a spec hybrid system with a maximum combined output of 670hp.
With Lamborghini the only manufacturer engaging Ligier for the SC63, there was a certain freedom afforded the car company in the design of the pushrod front suspension, as well as weight distribution and designing the car to be worked on and repaired easily.
The body and aerodynamics follow what has become a familiar pattern with LMDh cars, including a rear wing as the adjustable aerodynamic element that is mated with a central vertical fin. The bodywork was designed by Lamborghini’s Centro Stile department in conjunction with the race design team and feature elements heavily influenced by current Lamborghini road car design, notably the Y-shaped lights front and rear.
Pressure-relief holes in the fenders run lengthwise, blending into louvered rear vents on both the front and rear fenders. Multiple air intakes on both sides of the car feed eight different radiators to handle engine cooling, intercoolers, gearbox, Energy Recovery and Storage System cooling, and the condenser for the air conditioning.
“From the beginning, my personal briefing to the design team was that the car needs to be highly functional, but we wanted to create a car that is immediately recognizable as Lamborghini,” explained Mitja Borkert, head of design at Centro Stile. “The main recognition of the front and rear of the SC63 is driven by the Y-shaped signature light. The size of the cabin and the main character of the car is driven by the sporting rules, but we have also implemented our own brand styling cues throughout the car.
“Integrated into the side panel of the body you can see a NACA duct that was inspired by the air intake of the Countach. When you look at the rear wheel arch, we gave the impression of acceleration towards the front, and this relates to the wheel arch design language of Lamborghini that can also be seen on the Revuelto.”
The Revuelto is the latest supercar from Lamborghini, and the first real production model to feature a hybrid powertrain.
The SC63 has been developed with a lot of Driver-in-the-Loop simulation work by Lamborghini factory drivers Andrea Caldarelli, Mirko Bortolotti, Romain Grosjean and Daniil Kvyat, the latter two having experience with hybrid race cars from their Formula 1 experience. Those four drivers will continue with on-track testing and make up part of the racing lineup as well, with others to be named later.
Lamborghini has committed one car each to WEC and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Michelin Endurance Cup. The cars will be run, as are the company’s factory GT3 programs this season, by new partner Iron Lynx.
“Being involved in such an ambitious project is a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” said Andrea Piccini, Iron Lynx team principal and CEO. “We are honored and extremely excited to be a part of it and start a new chapter for Iron Lynx with Lamborghini. It’s been amazing to see everything finally come together for the reveal of the SC63. Everyone at Iron Lynx is eager for testing to get underway. This undoubtedly is one of the biggest challenges we’ve ever faced as a team, and we are now looking forward to seeing the SC63 on track.”
The SC63 represents Lamborghini’s first foray into non-GT racing (outside the ill-fated Formula 1 attempt in 1991). The LMDh formula, being based around a hybrid powertrain, came at the right time as Lamborghini was developing hybrid road cars. And while Lamborghini has made its name with screaming V12 and V10 engines, the twin-turbo V8 made more sense within the rules; since maximum output is regulated, teh focus was centered more on efficiency. In addition the Lamborghini Urus uses a twin-turbo V8, as likely will the replacement for the Huracán.
“The SC63 is the most advanced racing car ever produced by Lamborghini and it follows our roadmap ‘Direzione Cor Tauri’ laid out by the brand for the electrification of our product range,” said Stephan Winkelmann, Lamborghini chairman and CEO. “The opportunity to compete in some of the biggest endurance races in the world with a hybrid prototype fits with our vision for the future of high-performance mobility, as demonstrated for road-legal cars with the launch of the Revuelto. The SC63 LMDh is the step into the highest echelons and into the future of motorsports for our Squadra Corse.”
Automobili Lamborghini is celebrating its 60th year as a car company, and while its planned celebration of that milestone two weeks ago was curtailed by the flooding in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy – the same flooding that scuttled the F1 …
Automobili Lamborghini is celebrating its 60th year as a car company, and while its planned celebration of that milestone two weeks ago was curtailed by the flooding in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy – the same flooding that scuttled the F1 Grand Prix at Imola – the company has much to look forward to in the coming year with the launch of the new Revuelto and its LMDh car entering WEC and IMSA competition next year.
Unlike its rival down the road in Maranello, racing hasn’t been a part of Lamborghini’s DNA. But what started off with a one-make series that led to a tentative step into GT3 with the Gallardo that was then followed by a headlong dive with the Huracan, is heading to the pinnacle of sports car racing next year with its twin-turbo V8 powered LMDh car.
“When Ferruccio Lamborghini founded the company, he said, ‘I don’t have to prove anything, the racetrack is fine like that,’” explains Lamborghini CEO Stephen Winkelmann. “So it’s the opposite of our main competitor. We decided when we had the facelift of the Gallardo years ago that this would be a good opportunity to start with Super Trofeo, to start with racing again, because we strongly believe that we have to prove something also on the racetrack.
“There is a huge fan community. Besides that, there is a transfer in terms of development. It’s part of the super sports car DNA to go racing – this is the simple fact. And then we had a lot of gentleman drivers who were asking for this. So there were a lot of things coming together. And now step by step, we’re getting nearer to where the air gets thin.”
The Gallardo platform was the basis for the first Lamborghini Super Trofeo car, as well as the bones of the company’s first GT3 car, which was built by Reiter Engineering. With the Gallardo’s successor, the Huracan, Lamborghini Squadra Corse, the manufacturer’s motorsports arm, brought the GT3 program in-house. Now both the Super Trofeo and Huracan GT3 are on the second evolutions, based on the ultimate Huracan, the STO.
Super Trofeo runs three championships – the IMSA-sanctioned North America series, Europe and Asia. The North American season-opener at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca featured 32 entries; similar numbers were featured in the resumption of the Asia series. This weekend’s Europe opener at Paul Ricard will have nearly 50 entries, including five from the Iron Lynx team that is running GT3 programs in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Michelin Endurance Cup as well as GT World Challenge Europe, and will run the LMDh program in WEC and IMSA next year.
“On the Super Trofeo side, we are doing very well,” says Vice President of Motorsport Maruizio Reggiani. “We have sold out 60 cars that we are delivering worldwide, more than 20 GT3 cars. We also have more requests than what we can offer, honestly. So in terms of sales and business, we are really satisfied.”
The Super Trofeo is very close, and in some parameters exceeds, the Huracan GT3 car. That makes for a good progression from one to the other.
Super Trofeo helped put Lamborghini back on the competition map, and in its current guise, serves as a strong launch pad for drivers aiming to move into GT3 Image by Lamborghini
“When we decided to develop the Huracan Super Trofeo, the target was to develop a car that has to be a sort of scholarship car,” says Reggiani.
“So it is today still the only one-make series car with the same technical contents of the GT3, because we have a car with a very sophisticated aerodynamics like the GT3, with the traction control and ABS adjustable from the steering wheel, with a pure race engine management So, when the gentlemen or young drivers move from the Super Trofeo into the GT3, they feel immediately comfortable and competitive.
“In the last few years we have already experienced in gentleman drivers winning Spa 24 in Pro-Am class, the IMSA WeatherTech Championship, so we we take care about the wishes of our customers and drivers to grow in motorsport. So the Super Trofeo into the GT3 and starting also with the technical support that we offer to them within dedicated engineers and technical support that make the difference when they are on the track.”
In the coming months, the LMDh car that will compete in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP category and the WEC Hypercar class, making the company’s Le Mans debut a year from now, will get extensive track testing and a full reveal of its specs. LMDh makes sense as Lamborghini is venturing into hybridization with the new plug-in Revuelto that has a 147hp electric motor supplementing the 814hp V12. But while Lamborghini made its name with outrageous V12- and V10-powered sports cars, the basis for the LMDh engine will instead be plucked from the Urus SUV.
“You build the engine not because you want to build the engine, it’s based on on the regulations,” explains Giorgio Sanna, head of Lamborghini Motorsport. “And since LMDh is for sure a more, let me say, efficiency-oriented regulation based on the limit of the maximum power system power output, a V12 simply doesn’t make sense from the technical side even if you would like to. It simply technically doesn’t make sense based on these regulations.”
Iron Lynx will run the car, and Squadra Corse has added some star drivers such as Romain Grosjean and Daniil Kvyat to its roster that already included GT aces such as Marco Mapelli, Andrea Caldarelli, Jordan Pepper and Mirko Bortolotti. While Iron Lynx was most recently associated with another Italian manufacturer, Lamborghini saw it as the perfect partner to moved forward into LMDh. Iron Lynx is under the same ownership umbrella as PREMA, an Italian team that competes across the open-wheel development ladder in Europe as well as in WEC LMP2; PREMA Engineering will provide technical and engineering support for the Lamborghini LMDh car.
“I think this is a wedding that comes from both sides, in the right moment probably from both sides,” says Reggiani. “We are extremely proud about this partnership. We are talking about an Italian team with already strong results in the GT World Challenge. They are young like us, because they created the team basically when Squadra Corse was born. We are looking to put in place a very solid program that pass through the Iron Dames to the GT3 program in the Pro and Pro-AM category and arrive at the pinnacle of our platform with LMDh, without forgetting Super Trofeo.”
For a company that has not had much history in motorsports, Lamborghini has been steadily increasing its presence over the past decade as it moves into sports car racing’s top tiers. It’s partnered with a stellar team, and bolstering its driver roster with some heavy armament. And while Ferruccio Lamborghini’s words about the company not having to prove itself on the racetrack ring true – every sports car the company will build in 2023 and probably well into 2024 is already sold – the company sees value in bolstering its super sports car reputation and using motorsport to improve the product. This bull is ready to charge.
Lamborghini factory driver Mirko Bortolotti says his campaign with Prema Racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship this season is a vital part of the build-up to the debut of the Lamborghini LMDh prototype in 2024. The Italian, who is driving …
Lamborghini factory driver Mirko Bortolotti says his campaign with Prema Racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship this season is a vital part of the build-up to the debut of the Lamborghini LMDh prototype in 2024.
The Italian, who is driving the No. 63 Prema Racing ORECA with Doriane Pin and fellow future Lamborghini LMDh driver Daniil Kvyat, is using the WEC program as a chance to get track time in a prototype alongside his development work behind the scenes on the forthcoming Ligier-based car.
While the unnamed Lamborghini LMDh isn’t ready to race yet, Bortolotti says he has already been spending significant chunks of time undergoing simulator work as the team finalizes the concept for the car, which RACER understands will begin testing this summer.
“We are working on the car intensively,” he said. “There will be news soon. I am deeply involved in the car’s development — we are using every free day of the week on it, mainly on the simulator at the moment.
“I am not the only driver involved in development, because my schedule is quite busy I am trying to find a compromise between racing and being involved in the development of the car. I have had to step out of some important races this year to free up time for LMDh development.”
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Alongside that, competing alongside Kvyat — who was confirmed as an LMDh driver for Lamborghini just this month — is very important for him as he prepares to immerse himself in the factory team project. Kvyat is the fourth driver confirmed for the program, following the news from last year that Bortolotti, Andrea Caldarelli and Romain Grosjean would be part of the team.
Bortolotti told RACER he knew going into the season that Kvyat would be confirmed as a driver for 2024 long before it was made public ahead of the 6 Hours of Portimao and has made a point of getting acquainted with the former F1 racer.
“We want to get to know each other, to start working on procedures, to have a season together. Whatever we do, it doesn’t matter if it’s for Prema or me, what matters is that it’s a winning mentality.
“We haven’t known each other for long. But I knew him obviously from his Formula 1 career — he doesn’t need an introduction, we know how good he is. We are really happy to have him as part of the team, it’s a privilege. We are a strong team together and we are looking at the future.”
However, Bortolotti doesn’t yet know whether he will share a car with Kvyat in 2024, as Lamborghini hasn’t yet decided on its driver lineups.
The plan is rapidly coming together, though. The Iron Lynx-run effort will compete in the full WEC and in IMSA’s endurance races, both with a single car, with a second car planned for the major races like the Le Mans 24 Hours and Rolex 24 At Daytona.
Customer cars will also be made become available, though the timeline for this hasn’t yet been made clear by the Italian marque. It also isn’t yet entirely clear whether or not the car will be ready to compete at the 2024 Rolex 24 in January. The amount of progress made in the coming weeks will be the deciding factor.
Prema Racing’s LMP2 effort with drivers (left to right) Doriane Pin, Mirko Bortolotti and Daniil Kvyat is laying the groundwork for the forthcoming Lamborghini Hypercar program. Motorsport Images
Before that, Bortolotti is focused on getting the most out of his 2023 LMP2 program in the WEC. After a podium at Sebring and a fourth-place finish in Portimao, he and his teammates are firmly in championship contention.
“It’s been really good,” he said when asked to assess the season so far. “We have Doriane (Pin), who has a lot to learn, but she is very mature and quick. She is in the perfect environment with us. I look forward to her development this year. We have had a good start to the season so it would be a lie to say we don’t want to do well in the championship. It’s important to build. We will see where we are in the standings at the end of the year.
“We need to be honest that our main target this season is to work together. The best team-building, though, is being successful. It’s a great opportunity.
“I have been with Lamborghini since I was in Super Trofeo in 2014, which was almost a road-legal car. This journey through thick and thin and being successful internationally at big races and championships brought us here now, and we are really proud to make this big step into Hypercar.”
Former Formula 1 driver Daniil Kvyat has joined Mirko Bortolotti, Andrea Caldarelli and Romain Grosjean in Lamborghini Squadra Corse’s factory LMDh lineup. Kvyat will be involved in an extensive testing and development program for Lamborghini’s LMDh …
Former Formula 1 driver Daniil Kvyat has joined Mirko Bortolotti, Andrea Caldarelli and Romain Grosjean in Lamborghini Squadra Corse’s factory LMDh lineup.
Kvyat will be involved in an extensive testing and development program for Lamborghini’s LMDh prototype this year before making his race debut in 2024 with Iron Lynx in the WEC and IMSA championships. In the meantime, he will race for Prema in LMP2 in this year’s WEC alongside Bortolotti and Doraine Pin.
“I am very happy to have joined Lamborghini Squadra Corse, it is a great honor for me,” Kvyat said. “Lamborghini is a very well-known Italian brand with a great history in automotive world and, having grown up in Italy, this is an additional source of pride for me. We hope to achieve many goals together, I thank you for your trust in me and I look forward to starting work on the LMDh project later this year.”
The deal marks his full-time return to racing after a planned 2022 program with Russian LMP2 team G-Drive was spoiled when the team withdrew from the WEC, a move made in response to restrictions placed on Russian drivers by the FIA following the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Kvyat will race for Lamborghini under an Italian license.
“As a group, we are very excited to welcome Daniil to Lamborghini and believe he will be a strong asset to our LMDh project over the course of the 2023 season,” said Giorgio Sanna, Lamborghini Squadra Corse’s head of motorsport.
“Daniil’s main role with us will be working closely with our engineers and mechanics on the prototype car which will debut next year, and given his vast experience in other racing categories, I have no doubt that he will play a crucial part in us hitting the ground running in 2024.”
Kvyat entered F1 in 2014 with Toro Rosso off the back of a strong junior career as a Red Bull development driver. He was promoted to Red Bull Racing for 2015, but after a challenging couple of years was moved back to Toro Rosso, where he remained until 2017. After a one-year stint as a Ferrari reserve driver he returned for another spell at Toro Rosso/AlphaTauri. He lost his race seat to Yuki Tsunoda ahead of the 2021 season, but stayed on with the team for the year as a reserve.
Following the FIA’s introduction of restrictions on Russian drivers, Kvyat’s racing activities in 2022 were limited to the NASCAR Cup Series, where he made a one-off appearance with Team Hezeberg at IMS.
You get a Lambo! You get a Lambo! You get a Lambo!
BELLEAIR, Florida – Su Oh doesn’t have a car in the U.S. or back home in Australia. She shares an Audi Q5 rental with Hannah Green when she’s in America and borrows her parents’ Volkswagen CC when she’s in Melbourne.
On Sunday at the Pelican Women’s Championship, Oh was the first player of the day to take a swing at the par-3 12th hole, and she recorded her second ace of the season. Oh hit a smooth 7-iron from 157 yards, becoming the third player this week to win a two-year lease on a Lamborghini.
“I would actually love it if I could take it to Australia,” she said, “but I don’t think that’s going to work.”
🚨 ACE ALERT 🚨@suohgolf aces the par-3 157 yard 12th hole with her 7-iron at the @pelicanlpga!
Austin Ernst was the first player to ace No. 12 during Monday’s pro-am. She took a test drive around the parking lot on Friday but, as of Sunday, said she hadn’t yet talked to the dealership about the details of insurance or a cash-out option.
Pavarisa Yoktuan was the second player to ace the 12th, and her fantastic reaction was caught on camera as this week marks the first time the LPGA has had a “Feature Hole” live stream on Peacock. Every players’ shot into the 12th is being streamed live.
Thailand’s Yoktuan took a test drive herself on Sunday, but said given how much she travels, it didn’t make sense to pay the insurance on it. She didn’t get an official quote, but heard at least $30,000 for two years.
“But I don’t think it’s that cheap,” she said. “I think it’s probably more.”
Coming into this week, Yoktuan had made $23,991 for the entire 2021 season.
BELLEAIR, Fla. – Pavarisa Yoktuan’s seventh career hole-in-one is certainly the most memorable. The Thai player hit an easy 8-iron into the par-3 12th at Pelican Golf Club and joyfully watched it disappear. Every player who aces the 12th hole at the Pelican LPGA Championship wins a Lamborghini.
Austin Ernst was the first to win one during Monday’s pro-am. On Friday morning before her second round, Ernst drove a Lamborghini around the parking lot of the Pelican clubhouse with cameras rolling. After sitting down in the front seat, Ernst yelled out for her husband to get in with her: She’d never driven a manual before.
“It’s a two-year lease,” said Yoktuan, “so I don’t know how much I have to pay for monthly (for insurance). But, yeah. I want to give it a try … we’ll see.”
Yoktuan used to drive a BMW until she crashed it two months ago. She now drives a motorcycle. Last year in Thailand, Yoktuan won $3,000 for making a hole-in-one.
The 12th hole coverage features live interviews by Amy Rogers and studio coverage from host George Savaricas and analyst Jim Gallagher Jr. Coverage of the watery par 3 will begin at 9:45 a.m. ET over the weekend. It’s free to consumers on the Peacock app.
Make an ace, win a Lambo – sounds like a sweet deal.
The ace that won Austin Ernst a two-year lease on a Lamborghini on Monday wasn’t caught on camera. But every shot that’s struck on the par-3 12th during competition rounds of the LPGA Tour’s Pelican Women’s Championship will be streamed live on NBC’s Peacock. It marks the first-ever Featured Hole stream in LPGA history.
“Apparently a lot of people came close on Monday,” said Ernst, who struck an 8-iron from 147 yards at the Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida. Any player who follows Ernst’s lead the rest of the week will also win a two-year lease on the iconic Italian car.
Ernst said she hadn’t gotten the information yet on how much the insurance will run her for two years. That number will determine whether or not it makes sense to accept the prize.
Back home in South Carolina, Ernst drives a Chevy Tahoe, and she was relieved to hear that the Lamborghini is an automatic as she has yet to learn how to drive a manual.
“I was like wait, I can’t drive a stick,” said Ernst. “Probably shouldn’t learn how to drive on that car either.”
Raymond James Pro-Am ahead of the 2021 Pelican Women’s Championship at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, FL on Monday, November 8, 2021.
(Ben Solomon/Outlyr)
Live stream coverage of the 12th hole will feature live interviews by Amy Rogers and studio coverage from host George Savaricas and analyst Jim Gallagher. Coverage of the watery par 3 will begin at 7:45 a.m. ET on Thursday and Friday and 9:45 a.m. ET over the weekend. It will be free to consumers on the Peacock app.
Television coverage of the Pelican will be live on Golf Channel from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thursday and Friday. Weekend coverage will be tape-delayed on Golf Channel from 7:30-10:30 p.m.
The event’s live stream times on the NBC Sports App and golfchannel.com are from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, and 1-4 p.m. over the weekend.
