The Goodwood Festival of Speed provided the perfect showcase for Lamborghini to unveil its SC63, the Hypercar it will field in the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Lamborghini has unveiled its SC63 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. This car will compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and in the Endurance Cup forming part of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship from 2024. The Italian marque will thus compete in the premier class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time in its history. Lamborghini has teamed up with Iron Lynx to run the car and to recruit world-class drivers from the Formula One and Endurance racing elite.
A “cold V” design
The SC63 is powered by a twin-turbocharged 3.8-litre V8 engine developed specifically by Lamborghini’s engineers. It features a “cold V” configuration, which means that the turbos are positioned outside the engine valley, so that they are easier to cool and maintain. This solution also helps optimise the car’s centre of gravity and, when combined with balanced aerodynamics, has been found to be the most effective way of achieving optimal tyre grip, perfect balance, good handling and consistent speed, both over a single lap and over long-distance races.
“The SC63 is the most advanced racing car ever produced by Lamborghini,” says 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."
Distinctive style
The bodywork was designed by Lamborghini’s Centro Stile department in conjunction with the racing team. It features many of the brand’s styling cues, such as the iconic Y-shaped headlights at the front and rear. “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 a Lamborghini,” says Mitja Borkert, Head of Design at Lamborghini’s Centro Stile. “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."
The SC63 has been designed and developed to offer the widest possible operating window to optimise performance while taking care of its tyres, even on the roughest tracks. Prior to the track tests, the team carried out intensive development work with a simulator. Factory drivers Mirko Bortolotti, Andrea Caldarelli, Daniil Kvyat and Romain Grosjean were also involved. The latter two have recent experience of hybrid cars in Formula One and provided their input when the engineers were designing the steering wheel controls.
"Everyone at Iron Lynx is eager for testing to get underway"
Iron Lynx CEO, Andrea Piccini
One Hypercar will compete in the full FIA WEC season next year, while a second machine will contest the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Iron Lynx will oversee both campaigns, with the names mentioned above included in the driver line-ups. The other drivers will be announced later this year. Tests will begin in a few weeks’ time.
Iron Lynx Team Principal and CEO, Andrea Piccini, said: “Being involved in such an ambitious project is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We are honoured and extremely excited to be part of it and to 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 is undoubtedly one of the biggest challenges we’ve ever faced as a team, and we are now looking forward to seeing the SC63 on track."
Browse through our gallery showcasing the Lamborghini SC63.
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