Lamborghini follows Aston Martin: After the British car manufacturer announced that it would enter the WEC World Endurance Championship with two LMH prototypes from 2025, Lamborghini is following suit. The Italian sports car manufacturer plans to expand its existing WEC program from a permanent starter to two cars. Lamborghini is thus responding to a demand from the organizer ACO that all manufacturers must from now on field two vehicles in the top class of the WEC.
“We will do it. We will have the second car in the WEC at the beginning of next year,” confirmed Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann in Le Mans in a media round, which was also attended by Motorsport-Magazin.com The new ACO requirement also applies to the existing manufacturers Cadillac and Isotta Fraschini, who, like Lamborghini, have only entered one permanent car each this year. The starting field is set to grow from the current 37 to 40 cars in the Hypercar class.
Lamborghini debut with SC63 in 2024 in WEC and IMSA
The Lamborghini SC63 had won the WEC opening race in Qatar made its racing debut – with the exception of the 24 Hours of Le Mans with only one car. In the WEC, the LMDh car is used by the Iron Lynx racing team, which also competes with a Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo 2 in the new GT3 class of the WEC.
Lamborghini Iron Lynx also competed in the US IMSA sports car championship with the SC63 in the 12 Hours of Sebring. In the IMSA, however, Lamborghini will only start in the races that are part of the Michelin Endurance Cup in 2024. There are three more of these events on the racing calendar in 2024.
Despite the commitment to the WEC, Winkelmann noted in Le Mans that the necessary expansion of the program presents Lamborghini with challenges: “That will make it more expensive for us.” From Lamborghini’s point of view, this is annoying, especially since Winkelmann cited the manageable financial investment of the LMDh regulations as the main reason for developing the car with chassis partner Ligier.
What challenges Lamborghini faces with an additional WEC car
However, the basic production of an additional car should not be the main cost factor, as Lamborghini’s CTO Rouven Mohr, who is currently also acting as the brand’s interim head of motorsport, revealed in the same media round: “Simply having a second car is the easiest and also the least expensive part. But you also have to take care of having the team behind it, the right engineers, the right data analysts to be at the right level.”
But it’s not just the cost factor that’s causing Lamborghini a headache. “From a team perspective, it’s a really big extra effort to take care of the second car. And that’s certainly a challenge for a company like ours, which doesn’t have hundreds of motorsport people,” Mohr clarified.
Will Lamborghini benefit from a second WEC car?
At the same time, Lamborghini could benefit from an additional car from a sporting point of view. In the 2024 WEC season, Lamborghini was only superior to the underdogs from Isotta Fraschini compared to the other newcomers. The highlight was a twelfth place for the top-class driver line-up (Bortolotti/Kvyat/Mortara) in the 6-hour race in Milan.
“Based on the fact that we only have one car on the grid, the development process is slower because we have less data,” Mohr explained. “We also don’t have as many opportunities during a race weekend to choose different setup or race strategies. So speaking as an engineer, I like it (having a second car; ed.).”
Lamborghini’s future in IMSA unclear
While the future in the WEC is supposedly clear, things are less clear in the IMSA. The Lamborghini management refers to the 2-car rule for 2025, which was only confirmed in Le Mans. “Of course we have already planned something in advance, but we were not yet fully aware of it. In the next few weeks, the board will decide how we will position ourselves in 2025, because it is clear that we have a few things to sort out at the moment,” says CTO Mohr.
However, a complete exit from IMSA after just a few races in 2024 is not on the agenda. Lamborghini is still aiming to at least take part in the IMSA endurance races. Rouven Mohr: “The USA is such an important market and we have a super-good relationship with IMSA. It is certainly the ambition to find a way for us to remain in the IMSA sphere.”
Lamborghini: When will a new motorsport boss arrive?
At the same time, the goals in other racing series should not suffer as a result of a possible IMSA program. “We have to be realistic,” said Mohr. “Because if you ask me, I would want to do more, that’s clear. But it doesn’t make sense to use up our resources, which are not as large as those of other manufacturers, on too many things so that you end up losing focus. We have to be focused and find the balance of what is the right way to go in detail.”
Planning for the future at Lamborghini is also made more difficult by the fact that, following the surprise departure of long-time motorsport boss Giorgio Sanna in March 2024, the position has not yet been permanently filled. “We have interviewed a few people and have a shortlist. And now we are in the final screening phase,” Mohr revealed in Le Mans. “Our wish would be to conclude the negotiations in the next few weeks, or two months at most.”
Lamborghini’s problem: If a solution is found outside of the company, there is a risk of a gardening leave period for a possible new appointment. Acting boss Mohr considers it “likely” that the new motorsport boss could even take until the end of the year before he actually takes office.