Written by: Evan Veer, Edited by: Sean McKean
Lamborghini Squadra Corse have unveiled their new-for-2024 SC63 LMDh at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The stunning new prototype is an important move for the Italian brand’s motorsport division, as explained by Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelman in a press release:
“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.”
Lamborghini is the first manufacturer to base its LMDh prototype on a Ligier chassis, and this special base is reflected by a number of eye catching features unique to the SC63, including a wide horizontal opening around the rear - presumably used for the radiators - as well as large openings in the bonnet together with lots of open space surrounding the front wheels compared to its peers.
Like the other LMDh manufacturers, Lamborghini’s design department has made sure to give the head- and taillights an easily identifiable shape associated with the brand, which in the SC63’s case, resulted in a Y-shaped pattern close to the one seen on Lamborghini’s modern road cars like the Sián.
The car is powered by a 3.8L twin-turbo V8, with the turbos being placed in a ‘cool V’ configuration allowing for better cooling.
In its debut season, the SC63 will feature in both the WEC and IMSA’s endurance rounds with a single car run by Iron Lynx in each championship. The efforts will be supported by Prema, whose current LMP2 campaign has in turn been aided by Iron Lynx as the teams move further together.
Another attention pulling aspect of the project is its driver lineup, as Romain Grosjean, Daniil Kvyat, Mirko Bortolotti, and Andrea Caldarelli have all been announced as factory drivers for the 2024 season. It seems likely that Kvyat and Bortolotti will be entered into the WEC, while Grosjean and Caldarelli will be fielded in the IMSA endurance rounds assuming nobody runs in both championships. This leaves one additional slot in each car left to be announced later this year.