Lamborghini Nearing LMDh Decision

Photo: Jamey Price/Lamborghini

Lamborghini is closing in on a final decision for its proposed LMDh program that if given the green light, would be for both the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship beginning in 2024.

Head of Lamborghini Motorsport Giorgio Sanna told Sportscar365 that Squadra Corse is “working deeply” within the entire company to complete the evaluation process that could see the iconic brand enter top-level sports car competition.

The Italian manufacturer has been a key part of the technical working group meetings since the start of the so-called DPi 2.0 formula and has continued into the ACO-IMSA convergence era.

“Even approaching LMDh as a customer racing program, it’s clear we’re talking about the top class with a completely different effort needed and with better exposure to what we’re doing in GT3,” Sanna told Sportscar365.

“This is not just a decision from the customer racing department. This is a company decision.

“For this reason we’re taking all the time needed to take the right decision and link it to the company’s strategy for the future that we’re discussing in this period.”

Should a Lamborghini LMDh program be approved, it would be part of the Volkswagen Group’s partnership with chassis constructor Multimatic that is currently shared across the already confirmed efforts from Porsche and Audi.

Sportscar365 understands that all three manufacturers would share the same chassis and engine while utilizing brand-specific bodywork packages.

“For sure the Volkswagen platform is really beneficial,” said Sanna.

“At the end it’s not so far from the approach we had in the beginning of our experience in GT3 when we decided together with Audi Sport to develop the Huracan GT3 in synergy with Audi, with the R8 LMS GT3.

“The principle is very similar and it works very, very well. I think this is an additional plus to take the decision very soon.”

While declining to go into specifics, Sanna said they would be looking at selecting capable top-level teams to represent the brand in both the WeatherTech Championship and WEC.

Sportscar365 understands that current Lamborghini GT3 customer squad FFF Racing Team has been among those that have been in early discussions for the possible LMDh program.

“Considering the importance and the level of the championship we cannot think at the same platform we have in GT3,” said Sanna.

“It’s more exclusive and technical to put in place. For this reason for sure we’ll look for selected teams.

“A few of [the existing GT3 customers] are very interested about this idea. We will take the time needed to do all of the evaluation.

“The first step is to get the approval.”

Sanna said a decision will be taken before the end of the year.

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