Lamborghini readies LMDh prototype for Goodwood
Lamborghini wants to be at Le Mans next year - the journey starts next month...
Say what you like about the WEC and the drawn-out introduction of its new Hypercar category, but Ferrari’s return to Le Mans after 50 years - and its shock, fairytale win - triggered more mainstream coverage than the event had enjoyed in years. Speaking to the BBC, WEC boss Frederic Lequien, said: "It's a return to the history of Ferrari competing against Peugeot, Porsche and Cadillac. We have the best car manufacturers in the world. Never in history has endurance racing been so bright."
He would say that, of course - but when even the likes of Lamborghini are readying an LMDh car for Le Mans 2024, you know that the pinnacle of endurance motorsport must be doing something right. The firm announced that it was working on the development of a Hypercar late last year; now it has confirmed that the as-yet-unseen race car will get its public debut at Festival of Speed next month.
Speaking to PH, Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann noted that while its new WEC entry had required significant investment to bring to fruition, motorsport was important to its wider fanbase and did not deny the appeal of taking on both Ferrari and Porsche at Circuit de la Sarthe next year. As is customary these days, he also alluded to the developmental benefits that might be gleaned for the manufacturer’s road cars.
While not mentioning any specifics - the full details of the LMDh car remain under wraps - we can only hope that this sentiment applies to the LMDh car’s twin-turbo V8. Lamborghini has already identified the new engine as the first developed in-house by Squadra Corse, and, alongside the obligatory Energy Recovery System, it effectively (spiritually, certainly) replaces the familiar V10 which has been deployed elsewhere in the firm’s race cars. Coincidentally (or not), a hybridised twin-turbo V8 is widely thought to be the powertrain of choice for the next generation of Huracan, which is due to be revealed next year.
With the predicted demise of the V10 a hot topic for Lamborghini (even allowing for its spectacular preservation of the naturally aspirated V12 in the Revuelto) Winkelmann would not be drawn on the details of the new engine, except to reiterate that the next generation model would be a hybrid with a shelf life sufficient to take it to the end of the decade. The Huracan itself will officially retire once Lamborghini has completed production of the Sterrato, the off-road variant that he originally championed (and then green-lit on his return to Sant'Agata Bolognese after a five-year stint at Audi Sport).
Pressed on the nature of Lamborghini’s continuing relationship with Audi following comments reported elsewhere, Winkelmann rubbished claims that manufacturer had ‘gone it alone’ with its incoming supercar. While the platform for the Huracan’s replacement is indeed bespoke to Lamborghini, he pointed out that the car will still feature other components shared with the wider VW Group, and that it would be extremely difficult for the firm to develop some of the hugely complex systems - particularly software and battery technology - on its own.
Elsewhere, the brand remains fundamentally tied to its owner. Next in its roll-out of electrified products is the launch of the hybrid Urus, a model that’s already been caught testing and that we expect to see before the end of the year. It will retain its own V8 - the widely shared 4.0-litre unit - although we don’t yet know what level of performance Lamborghini has sought from the battery-electric version. The smart money though is on a bonkers amount, given that the Urus will eventually become a hybrid-only model.
Beyond that, Winkelmann suggested that its replacement would be a fully-fledged EV - although its first electric car is still lined up to be a much sleeker 2+2 model in the GT mould. Due in 2028, the precise configuration of the newcomer is yet to be decided - though it has been characterised as a ‘spaceship’ by its designer - but it will certainly be more of a practical prospect than the brace of hybrid supercars that Lamborghini will still be selling alongside it at the time.
Quite how long it can ultimately prolong the life of the internal combustion engine remains to be seen. Winkelmann conceded that the potential advent of synthetic fuel might yet have a role to play in what Lamborghini does toward the end of the decade, but those decisions do not need to be taken yet. For now, the CEO is content that offering two legislation-friendly petrol-burning supercars is the prudent thing to do in the medium term - hopefully bolstered by heavily publicised future success on the racetrack.
Thanks! I'll say this then:
It's a load of s
t. I can also spill some top secret details about Lamborghini's exciting new "Hypercar" also!
It's not really a Lamborghini at all, it's just a Ligier spec chassis, with a spec hybrid unit! Wow! Great!
But don't worry, they do bother to at least build and engine, and design some bodywork to look cool. Aero performance just needs to be consistent, nothing more, because BoP will take care of the actual performance level. So you can make the body look on brand and not worry about anything else. You know, silly details like building an efficient race car.
Good on Ferrari for at least building their own car, like Toyota, Glickenhaus, Peugeot, and Vanwall, but clearly that is too much for automotive minnows like BMW, Cadillac, Porsche(!) and now Aud...sorry, Lamborghini to accomplish, but their fairy tale win probably wouldn't have come true without an artificial helping of BoP for no reason other than creating a spectacle. But whatever, details!
BoP (when managed openly, and with strict limitations) is a great way to broadly align wildly different performance levels of production based race cars like in GT3, but it has no place in prototype or formula racing where you're building to a specific set of regulations, unless you're trying to run a pantomime, instead of an actual sport.
But who cares about all that crap right?! It's Ferrari vs Porsche vs Lamborghini vs.... Whoop! "Golden age"!
Btw, I own an SW20 MR2 with a 355 body kit on it, so from now on it actually IS a Ferrari 355 ok? No pedantic beardy moaning please. It's red with a little Ferrari badge I got of Alibaba, so it's the real deal. Now I just need to somehow BoP it to 355 levels of performance...
Thanks! I'll say this then:
It's a load of s
t. I can also spill some top secret details about Lamborghini's exciting new "Hypercar" also!
It's not really a Lamborghini at all, it's just a Ligier spec chassis, with a spec hybrid unit! Wow! Great!
But don't worry, they do bother to at least build and engine, and design some bodywork to look cool. Aero performance just needs to be consistent, nothing more, because BoP will take care of the actual performance level. So you can make the body look on brand and not worry about anything else. You know, silly details like building an efficient race car.
Good on Ferrari for at least building their own car, like Toyota, Glickenhaus, Peugeot, and Vanwall, but clearly that is too much for automotive minnows like BMW, Cadillac, Porsche(!) and now Aud...sorry, Lamborghini to accomplish, but their fairy tale win probably wouldn't have come true without an artificial helping of BoP for no reason other than creating a spectacle. But whatever, details!
BoP (when managed openly, and with strict limitations) is a great way to broadly align wildly different performance levels of production based race cars like in GT3, but it has no place in prototype or formula racing where you're building to a specific set of regulations, unless you're trying to run a pantomime, instead of an actual sport.
But who cares about all that crap right?! It's Ferrari vs Porsche vs Lamborghini vs.... Whoop! "Golden age"!
Btw, I own an SW20 MR2 with a 355 body kit on it, so from now on it actually IS a Ferrari 355 ok? No pedantic beardy moaning please. It's red with a little Ferrari badge I got of Alibaba, so it's the real deal. Now I just need to somehow BoP it to 355 levels of performance...
Thanks! I'll say this then:
It's a load of s
t. I can also spill some top secret details about Lamborghini's exciting new "Hypercar" also!
It's not really a Lamborghini at all, it's just a Ligier spec chassis, with a spec hybrid unit! Wow! Great!
But don't worry, they do bother to at least build and engine, and design some bodywork to look cool. Aero performance just needs to be consistent, nothing more, because BoP will take care of the actual performance level. So you can make the body look on brand and not worry about anything else. You know, silly details like building an efficient race car.
Good on Ferrari for at least building their own car, like Toyota, Glickenhaus, Peugeot, and Vanwall, but clearly that is too much for automotive minnows like BMW, Cadillac, Porsche(!) and now Aud...sorry, Lamborghini to accomplish, but their fairy tale win probably wouldn't have come true without an artificial helping of BoP for no reason other than creating a spectacle. But whatever, details!
BoP (when managed openly, and with strict limitations) is a great way to broadly align wildly different performance levels of production based race cars like in GT3, but it has no place in prototype or formula racing where you're building to a specific set of regulations, unless you're trying to run a pantomime, instead of an actual sport.
But who cares about all that crap right?! It's Ferrari vs Porsche vs Lamborghini vs.... Whoop! "Golden age"!
Btw, I own an SW20 MR2 with a 355 body kit on it, so from now on it actually IS a Ferrari 355 ok? No pedantic beardy moaning please. It's red with a little Ferrari badge I got of Alibaba, so it's the real deal. Now I just need to somehow BoP it to 355 levels of performance...
Therefore..., I don't expect much from 'Lamborghini', but we do live in a different age and its most definitely great marketing for the WEC and the LeMans race in particular.
Putting aside all of the above, the WEC has become exciting to watch/learn of results and am certainly glad Toyota's dominance has/is drawing to a close.
Maybe BoP should now be applied to F1!, but appreciate that would go against the grain, as that's not what F1 is all about. Verstappen certainly doesn't lap all runners up to 7th 5 times. Perhaps F1 racing is therefore much, much closer and competitive than we actually realize. All we see with the eye is Verstappen/Red Bull winning week in week out.
Sorry., went off piste!
Thanks! I'll say this then:
It's a load of s
t. I can also spill some top secret details about Lamborghini's exciting new "Hypercar" also!
It's not really a Lamborghini at all, it's just a Ligier spec chassis, with a spec hybrid unit! Wow! Great!
But don't worry, they do bother to at least build and engine, and design some bodywork to look cool. Aero performance just needs to be consistent, nothing more, because BoP will take care of the actual performance level. So you can make the body look on brand and not worry about anything else. You know, silly details like building an efficient race car.
Good on Ferrari for at least building their own car, like Toyota, Glickenhaus, Peugeot, and Vanwall, but clearly that is too much for automotive minnows like BMW, Cadillac, Porsche(!) and now Aud...sorry, Lamborghini to accomplish, but their fairy tale win probably wouldn't have come true without an artificial helping of BoP for no reason other than creating a spectacle. But whatever, details!
BoP (when managed openly, and with strict limitations) is a great way to broadly align wildly different performance levels of production based race cars like in GT3, but it has no place in prototype or formula racing where you're building to a specific set of regulations, unless you're trying to run a pantomime, instead of an actual sport.
But who cares about all that crap right?! It's Ferrari vs Porsche vs Lamborghini vs.... Whoop! "Golden age"!
Btw, I own an SW20 MR2 with a 355 body kit on it, so from now on it actually IS a Ferrari 355 ok? No pedantic beardy moaning please. It's red with a little Ferrari badge I got of Alibaba, so it's the real deal. Now I just need to somehow BoP it to 355 levels of performance...
Thanks! I'll say this then:
It's a load of s
t. I can also spill some top secret details about Lamborghini's exciting new "Hypercar" also!
It's not really a Lamborghini at all, it's just a Ligier spec chassis, with a spec hybrid unit! Wow! Great!
But don't worry, they do bother to at least build and engine, and design some bodywork to look cool. Aero performance just needs to be consistent, nothing more, because BoP will take care of the actual performance level. So you can make the body look on brand and not worry about anything else. You know, silly details like building an efficient race car.
Good on Ferrari for at least building their own car, like Toyota, Glickenhaus, Peugeot, and Vanwall, but clearly that is too much for automotive minnows like BMW, Cadillac, Porsche(!) and now Aud...sorry, Lamborghini to accomplish, but their fairy tale win probably wouldn't have come true without an artificial helping of BoP for no reason other than creating a spectacle. But whatever, details!
BoP (when managed openly, and with strict limitations) is a great way to broadly align wildly different performance levels of production based race cars like in GT3, but it has no place in prototype or formula racing where you're building to a specific set of regulations, unless you're trying to run a pantomime, instead of an actual sport.
But who cares about all that crap right?! It's Ferrari vs Porsche vs Lamborghini vs.... Whoop! "Golden age"!
Btw, I own an SW20 MR2 with a 355 body kit on it, so from now on it actually IS a Ferrari 355 ok? No pedantic beardy moaning please. It's red with a little Ferrari badge I got of Alibaba, so it's the real deal. Now I just need to somehow BoP it to 355 levels of performance...
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