You are here:
, , , ,
Posted in:
With the future of the Lamborghini SC63 LMDh programme still uncertain at best, Lamborghini’s leadership also had time to discuss the plans for the upcoming Temerario GT3 at last week’s roundtable discussion from Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
As of publication, the Temerario GT3 – Lamborghini’s first 100 per cent internally-developed GT3 vehicle – is undergoing testing in preparation for its worldwide debut, which the company has still targeted for the 2026 Twelve Hours of Sebring in March.
Pending a decision from Lamborghini’s board, expected to come before the end of October, that’s still the plan, according to Chief Technical Officer Rouven Mohr.
“At the moment, we are fully committed to this plan. But it’s clear that the timeline is tough, like always in motorsport. We have problems to solve, but at the moment, we’ve confirmed the plans – and we are evaluating day by day. If the progress is like we expect, then the next milestone for us is a long vacation, for sure!”
After the car makes its competition debut at Sebring, it is expected to have a limited rollout in select series, including the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – due to the demand for the street version of the V8-hybrid Temerario.
“One thing is also clear at the moment: Our street cars, let me say, are quite attractive – and the people buy them! So it’s clear that the street cars have priority one regarding production capacity. And since our race cars are, let me say, also taking a capacity of production volume, we have a limited factor of cars that we can build for next year.
“So what are the most important race series for us? IMSA is, for sure, one of them. So it’s clear that here we will see the Temerario. And then we’ll check how many cars we need for this race series, to support our most supported teams, and avoiding as much as possible direct competition between the old car (the Huracán GT3) and the new one.
“But it will not be avoidable, I can tell you this already in advance, because we do not have enough cars for the beginning of next season to manage all the needs.”
Therefore, it will be inevitable that two generations of Lamborghini racing vehicles will race together next year in IMSA, with the Temerario expected to debut at Sebring in the GTD PRO category, while customers with the Huracán GT3 EVO2 will continue to use the car in GTD, at least at the start of the season.
Mohr did suggest that some IMSA customers who don’t receive the Temerario GT3 at launch could end up with one before the end of 2026.
“But this, again, depends on production ramp-up, what is possible – and also the problems that we find,” he continued. “We also have to be realistic: The car is really entirely new, drivetrain, everything is new. So it’s clear at the beginning that we want to sort out our problems before we go into distribution to too many customers. Because at the end of the day, we want to fulfill the expectations to Lamborghini and not disappoint people.”
Of the current customer base, Mohr said he was “super pleased” with the progress that new customer team Pfaff Motorsports has made as Lamborghini’s GTD PRO representative, considering the last-minute deal which aligned the Canadian team with the Italian manufacturer.
“Sometimes we have to reflect a little bit how short a time schedule this was, because at the end of last season, we were in the situation that we had to restart some of the programmes. And I remember pretty well, when we had the first discussion together with Pfaff – it was just before Christmas. And then to start the programme from zero was a challenge. Based on this, the commitment of Pfaff, and also how much effort they put into the programme, the learning curve – I’m 100 per cent satisfied,” Mohr said of Pfaff, whose results haven’t yet matched all the effort this year due to some fits of bad fortune.
“I’m pretty sure that if we continue this path, having a season of preparation for next year, a little more planned in advance, I’m pretty sure that the success is only a question of time.”
And of course, thanks to the success of the Huracán GT3 in IMSA and other series, including GT World Challenge, DTM, and SUPER GT, Lamborghini has been able to attract teams like Pfaff, Wayne Taylor Racing, and Forte Motorsports to represent them in North America’s top sports car racing championship.
“We are always interested in good teams, it’s clear,” Mohr continued. “And we are always speaking with teams, it’s part of the business. For us, it’s a big honour that any big names in the business – I will not give you the examples – that they are interested in racing with Lamborghini. Because ten years ago, most likely, they will not ask! Therefore, from my point of view, it’s really thanks to what the company built up. It’s a really good situation.”
Lamborghini Squadra Corse Head of Motorsport, Maurizio Leschiutta, gave an update on the car’s pre-homologation testing progress, where as of last week, “It’s clocked about 5,000 (kilometers) all in, and our target is to reach close to 10,000 by the end of this year,” he said.
It’s run at four different Italian circuits already (Vallelunga, Imola, Mugello, and Misano) with upcoming tests at Misano, Barcelona, Paul Ricard, plus an endurance test at Sebring, independent of the car’s mandatory appearance at the IMSA Sanctioned Test at Daytona International Speedway on November 14-16.
“IMSA needs to see that all the scrutineering systems work. There is no (other) sanctioned test before Sebring. So it really is the one shot for them to say, ‘okay, we understand what we need to do,’ the homologation and BOP, before we start Sebring in a fair way,” Leschiutta added. “We understand that BOP is a tool used to balance performance, and we want to help IMSA and the other governing bodies as much as possible, so that they have a fair balance. It’s important for us to be (at Daytona) in November.”
Outside of IMSA, Lamborghini has key areas in which it wants to build and maintain a strong presence. As mentioned yesterday regarding the SC63, that programme’s future after a planned 2026 “pause” is uncertain, and a partner that is willing to support the project financially would be required for the car to race again in IMSA, let alone in WEC, where there is a requirement for two full-season entries.
With that in mind, Mohr is open to the possibility of Lamborghini stepping up its commitment for the Intercontinental GT Challenge: Lamborghini won this year’s Spa 24 Hours, the IGTC’s biggest event – but hasn’t competed for SRO’s de facto “GT3 world championship” since 2022.
“I don’t want to repeat the story of last year, but it was not our free choice to not be part of Le Mans, now the situation is like this. And for sure, we see a lot of attractive other race series: IMSA is the first one, where we’re still committed, and we will also continue to look for other options,” he said.
Mohr admitted that the Temerario GT3 likely won’t compete at the Nürburgring 24 Hours next year, and if the car is to make its 24-hour race debut in 2026, it would most likely be at Spa-Francorchamps, where the Temerario GT3 would defend Lamborghini’s win from this year.
“At the moment, if you ask me, I would not say that we will bring the new car (to the Nürburgring),” he said. “Perhaps we’ll have a miracle and we’ll have so fewer problems that we don’t know what to do. But at the moment, I would not. Because it would be the first 24-hour race for the new car, and at the Nürburgring, with its very special track characteristics, at the moment I would not do so.
“If we do one of the 24-hour races next year, for sure, the only one that I would recommend, perhaps, is Spa. Daytona is too early – we always like Daytona, but unfortunately, it’s too early for the car. Nürburgring, I would not recommend, based on the facts that I said before. So Spa could be an opportunity.”
Spearheaded by JLOC, Lamborghini’s most loyal racing team, finally winning its first SUPER GT GT300 title in Japan last year, plus the rapid growth of GT World Challenge Asia, Mohr has also identified Asia as a market where Lamborghini has an opportunity to expand its reach.
“(JLOC) really did a fantastic job last year, and also, this year, we are super satisfied,” he said confidently, despite the team’s post-championship slump. “For sure, we are in contact to discuss the Temerario allocation.
“Asia is for us, still a market where we see potential in the future, especially in SUPER GT. I mean, the Japanese crowd is very passionate, we love it a lot. And we have a huge fanbase there, so this is also on our priority list.”
As one chapter winds down while another begins next year, Lamborghini President & CEO, Stephan Winkelmann, took time as well to reflect on the Huracán GT3’s legacy for the brand, and what comes ahead with the new Temerario GT3. “For us, it was the first time we engaged in GT3 racing,” Winkelmann said.
“It was much more than we could ever expect. All the wins we had are memorable in the history of Lamborghini. Lamborghini was not born as a race car manufacturer, so our approach was very humble. I think it was the right way to do it. We started with the Gallardo in Super Trofeo, then we had the idea, maybe with a new car, to enter GT3.
“So we did so, and it was successful not only in endurance racing, but we won a lot of championships. Last year, we won the DTM. If I have to draw a line under the sunset of the Huracán, the Huracán has been very positive. All of the people sitting at the table, we were involved over the years, and this is something which we will miss.
“The Temerario is stepping in big footsteps, as they say. GT3 in general has changed dramatically. When we started racing in the middle of the last decade, it was really still gentleman racing, and also the budget was controllable. Now it’s much more professional, much more complicated; more cars, more manufacturers. This is one of the reasons we said we’ll focus on the Temerario, both the GT3 and the development of the Super Trofeo.”
Feature image © Lamborghini
Author: RJ O’Connell
, , , ,
See more
Posted in:
0 Comments
Posted in:
0 Comments
© 2023 dailysportscar.com. All Rights Reserved. Link Digital
Related Article
