Currently reading: Lamborghini bound for Le Mans with 671bhp hybrid hypercar
Marque’s first electrified endurance racer will compete in 2024 World Endurance Championship

Lamborghini is heading to the world of top-flight endurance racing with a fearsome hybrid hypercar that has strong design and technological links to its road car line-up.

Presented to a huge crowd at the Goodwood Festival of Speed by CEO Stephan Winkelmann and technical boss Rouven Mohr, the SC63 – named for the year Lamborghini was founded – will race in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) and the American sports car championship IMSA from 2024.

One car will race in each series, and both will take on Toyota, Ferrari, Porsche and Glickenhaus at the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours in June next year.

Based on a chassis supplied by Ligier, one of four available architectures for the Hypercar class, the SC63 is described as representing the three core pillars of Lamborghini: hybrid, aerodynamics and design.

Winkelmann hailed the race car as a true sibling model to the brand’s road cars, saying “Mitja [Borkert, head of design] has done a great job” in creating a “recognisable” Lamborghini for the track, the aggressive aero addenda and Y-shaped headlights highlighted specifically as trademark elements.

Lamborghini SC63 rear quarter tracking

Borkert said: “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 recognisable as Lamborghini.

“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 been seen on the Revuelto.”

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The hybrid drivetrain – capped at 671bhp according to LMDh specifications – is a totally bespoke 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8, and Mohr says that because the specification is common to all cars, the engineering focus has been on “reliability, drivability and efficiency”.

Lamborghini SC63 front quarter static

The turbos, Lamborghini highlights, are mounted on the outside of the engine in a ‘cold V’ arrangement, which makes for easier servicing and boosts cooling. It is also said to lower the centre of gravity for a boost in handling.

“This solution,” said Lamborghini, “combined with a specifically developed aero balance and attitude, has been identified as the most effective to achieve the best tyre grip, and perfect balance, drivability and consistent speed both over a single lap but also across long-distance races.

There is a “strong connection between our motorsport and street cars” said Mohr - most specifically the ultra-stiff carbonfibre monocoque and stringent aerodynamic requirements.

Lamborghini SC63 rear quarter static

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The minimum weight for an LMDh car is 1030kg, and while Mohr stopped short of giving an official figure, he said Lamborghini is “happy” with its efforts to come “as close as possible” to that figure.

The SC63’s unveiling is doubly important because it arrives in both Lamborghini’s 60th year and the 10th anniversary of its Squadra Corse racing division, which will run the LMDh programme in partnership with Italian outfit Iron Lynx.

Testing will begin in earnest next month - a landmark moment for Lamborghini’s electrification strategy, as it ramps up to launch a hybrid version of the Urus and an electrified successor to the Huracán in 2024.

What are the LMDh regulations?

The LMDh regulations require manufacturers to use a base chassis provided by one of four constructors – Ligier, in the case of Lamborghini – which can then be modified in certain areas. While firms produce their own combustion engine, they all use a spec hybrid unit, with all power sent to the rear wheels and total system output capped at 671bhp.

Balance of Performance regulations are then used to try and equalise the performance of all the cars along with those from the more open Le Mans Hypercar (LMH) class.

Additional reporting by James Attwood

Felix Page

Felix Page
Title: News and features editor

Felix is Autocar's news editor, responsible for leading the brand's agenda-shaping coverage across all facets of the global automotive industry - both in print and online.

He has interviewed the most powerful and widely respected people in motoring, covered the reveals and launches of today's most important cars, and broken some of the biggest automotive stories of the last few years. 

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Peter Cavellini 13 July 2023

Just another Lemans Car?, well they generally don't look anything like the road car brand and essentially it doesn't matter whose name is on the car just as long as it performs and maybe wins.

giulivo 20 September 2022

They already have Porsche... will it be more or less a clone of the Porsche, just like the Bentley used to be more or less a clone of the Audi? 

jason_recliner 29 September 2022

Yes. Fuck VW.

Lanehogger 13 July 2023

Porsche's 963 chassis is from Multimatic and has a 4.5 litre V8 with a different turbo arrangement. The differences between the Porsche and Lamborghini will be more akin to the 919 vs the Audi R18, almost chalk and cheese despite both being VW Group LMP1 cars.

eseaton 17 May 2022

Lamborghini at Le Mans?  So very very wrong.