WORDS BY ROB HANSFORD | IMAGES BY LAMBORGHINI / PHD PHOTO
Lamborghini has unveilved its challenger for the 2024 World Endurance Championship at Goodwood Festival of Speed.
The SC63 was unveiled to the world at Goodwood's marque event on the opening day, with Lamborghini claiming it is the most advanced car it has ever produced.
Italian team Iron Lynx will run the team on Lamborghini's behalf, with one car being raced in WEC, while a second car will tackle the North American Endurance Championship races of IMSA Weather Tech Sports Car Championship.
However, while the two cars will have split programmes, both cars will contest the Daytona 24 Hours in January and the Le Mans 24 Hours in June 2024.
"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," said Lamborghini chairman and CEO Stephan Winkelmann.
"The SC63 LMDh is the step into the highest echelons and into the future of motorsports for our Squadra Corse."
Unlike Toyota, Peugeot and Ferrari, who all use V6 engines, Lamborghini has opted to use an all-new 3.8 litre turbo V8.
Lamborghini is utilising a 'cold V' configuration which means that the turbos are mounted on the outside of the vee angle, and it believes this will aid with cooling, as well as making it easier for the engine to be serviced.
And while the manufacturer believes this will aid its competitiveness, it also believes it could provide technology transfer opportunities for its road division.
"Our LMDh car, the Lamborghini SC63 is an exciting challenge from both a technical and a human standpoint," said the company's chief technical officer Rouven Mohr.
"The development of our internal combustion engine, aerodynamically efficient bodywork and the overall technical package is a process that has push us constantly to raise our own standards.
"Now it is time to put the wheels in motion, literally, on track in order to be ready and competitive for the 2024 season.
"As we develop our LMDh car, we are also mindful of the technology transfer opportunities. We will take our learning experiences from motorsport and apply them where possible to out future production cars."
Lamborghini has partnered with Ligier to develop and build its monocoque, the first manufacturer to do so on an LMDh project, and Lamborghini states that has added benefits as it has allowed it to specify its development requirements specifically around the push rod front suspension design and overall weight distribution.
Lamborghini factory drivers Mirko Bortolottie and Andrea Caldarelli will race for the team next year, alongside ex-Formula 1 drivers Daniil Kvyat and Romain Grosjean. The remaning drivers will be announced in due course.
The 2024 WEC season gets underway on February 24-25 at Qatar.