Lamborghini Deploys Suspension Update for SC63; First Evo Joker

Photo: Jamey Price/Lamborghini

Lamborghini has rolled out with its first Evo joker for the SC63 ahead of this weekend’s Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, in a move that was decided ‘well before’ the Italian manufacturer elected to pause its LMDh program for 2026 according to Lamborghini chief technical officer Rouven Mohr.

The Ligier-chassied prototype is debuting an all-new rear suspension package, following successful static and on-track tests conducted at both The Brickyard and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in the build-up to Sunday’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship six-hour endurance race.

Speaking to selected reporters at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Mohr explained that revising the rear suspension was decided very early into the car’s dual WeatherTech Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship program in 2024 but only enacted on recently.

“When we debuted the car last year, our first experience, we already saw some feels of action,” said Mohr.

“One was the topic with the tire degradation that we always suffered a lot to warm up the new tires and also we had the quite strong degradation.

“The second thing was the mechanical balance of the car.

“For sure one of the reasons was, and this was for us clear already from the third race [last year], that the rear suspension had some weaknesses, from the kinematical point of view, and the stiffness itself.

“Therefore for us, it was already basically decided within the last year that sooner or later we’d have to adjust it.

“Last year we didn’t do it because we said, “OK, first let’s collect some further information. We were not yet running on all of the tracks, so let’s collect the information and make a proper decision.’

“For sure we want to deploy the potential to explore the potential of the car, to learn something from our side and we decided that, independently from the pause, that we do the suspension upgrade that was needed to check our biggest influence.”

Lamborghini factory driver Romain Grosjean said the update, which has resulted in the use of one Evo joker out of the five permitted by the FIA, ACO and IMSA per LMDh/LMH technical regulations, has been so far positive.

“It’s going in the right direction,” Grosjean told Sportscar365. “It’s definitely something we needed. Is that all? No, I think we need a bit more. But for the first tests we’ve done and the limited amount of track time we’ve had on it, it feels good.”

The ex-Formula 1 driver believes that further potential of the updated car will be seen at next month’s season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta due to the more bumpier nature of the circuit when compared to the IMS road course.

“More at Petit,” he said. “Sebring would have been the best place. Here [at Indianapolis] is very flat, so it doesn’t necessarily feel like a big difference. But I think on tire wear, maybe over a stint, we’ll see better.”

Mohr, meanwhile, revealed that three different options for the suspension upgrade were initially evaluated virtually.

He explained: “We were evaluating it first on the pure virtual side, then evaluating on the driving simulator, and then we decided for one of these three to put it into hardware to make the tests.

“Everything was going in the direction that we forecasted.

“The drivers’ feedback was that now definitely one of the major issues that the car was very sensitive on the rear axle regarding the bouncing.

“If you looked at some races, you’ve seen that the car was a little bit unstable in the sense that the mechanical platform was moving a little bit too much, especially on curby situations.

“This is also the reason why on flat tracks, we were not so bad on last year.

“With more bumpier tracks and more we had to cut the curbs, on these kind of tracks, we were nowhere.

“The tire degradation is for sure part, it’s not 100 percent only, but it was strongly influenced because at the end of the day, if you have a dynamic load changes, you also change the tire wear and then you change secondary effects.

“At the moment, everything seems to be like forecasted and [is] a step. How big of a step it is, let’s see.”

Mohr: Additional Updates Could Follow Should Program Be Restarted

Lamborghini has outlined two additional areas of the car that could see updates, and the further use of Evo jokers, should the LMDh program be restarted for 2027 according to Mohr.

“For sure we have a list of actions,” he said. “For instance, also on the aero side. But first we had to solve the suspension topic.

“The mechanical suspension influences the aero based on the ride height changes.

“It’s clear that priority one was the suspension. Now we hopefully fixed the suspension, then for sure the next field where we see some potential is the aero figures.

“Also there, if we have a more stable mechanical platform, we can also improve the aero side. This would now be the second package.

“Then we also have another package out of some small modifications that is also related to weight saving and other things, but let’s call it fine-tuning.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John