Lamborghini Temerario GT3 Set for Sebring Endurance Test

Photo: Lamborghini

Lamborghini is planning to undertake its first endurance test with the Temerario GT3 at Sebring International Raceway later this year, ahead of the car’s targeted race debut in the 12-hour race next March according to Lamborghini’s Head of Motorsport Maurizio Leschiutta.

The Italian manufacturer has continued its testing and development program with the twin-turbo V8-powered GT3 machine, which was unveiled at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July.

Speaking with selected reporters during last weekend’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship round at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Leschiutta provided an update on the progress made in the months since, revealing it has completed roughly 5,000 kms in testing, with the target to reach 10,000 kms by the end of the year.

While testing has so far been exclusively at Italian circuits including Vallelunga, Imola, Mugello and Misano, Leschiutta said there’s plans in place to run the car at both Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and Paul Ricard in the coming weeks before taking part in the IMSA-sanctioned test at Daytona International Speedway in mid-November.

He confirmed it will then be followed up by the car’s first-ever endurance test at Sebring later that month.

“We need to bring the car to the sanctioned test because IMSA needs to see all the scrutineering system works,” explained Leschiutta.

“There is no sanctioned test before Sebring so it really is the one shot for them to say, ‘OK we understand what we’ll need to do the homologation and BoP before we start Sebring in a fair way.’

“We want to start in a fair way. We understand the BoP is a tool used to balance the performance and we want to help IMSA and the other governing bodies as much as possible to have a fair balance the cars.

“It’s important for us to be at the November sanctioned test.”

Lamborghini chief technical officer Rouven Mohr reiterated that the car is still on track to make its race debut in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, as part of a phased rollout in selected championships and races next year with a limited number of chassis.

“At the moment we are fully committed to this plan,” he said. “But it’s clear that the timeline is tough, like always in motorsport.

“We have for sure problems to solve but at the moment we’ve confirmed the plan. Let’s see.

“We evaluate for sure day by day if the progress is what we’ve expect it. The next milestone is the homologation for sure.”

While current GTD Pro Lamborghini partner Pfaff Motorsports could possibly run the Temerario GT3 from Sebring onwards, Lamborghini’s customers in the GTD class would likely still have the Huracan GT3 EVO2 for at least a portion of the season.

It’s understood Lamborghini has already received approval from IMSA to allow both Huracan and Temerario GT3 cars to be eligible in the WeatherTech Championship in 2026 in what’s being considered a transition year by the brand.

“It could be possible but this also depends on production ramp-up and also the problems we find,” said Mohr on the possibility of additional WeatherTech Championship teams getting the Temerario later in the season.

“We also have to be realistic. The car is really entirely new. The drivetrain, everything is new.

“So it’s clear that in the beginning you want to sort out our problems before we go in the distribution to too many customers. At the end of the day we want to fulfill the expectations to Lamborghini and not disappoint the people.”

Temerario GT3 at Nurburgring 24 Ruled Out for 2026

Mohr, meanwhile, has essentially ruled out seeing the Temerario GT3 contest next year’s Nürburgring 24, largely due to the event’s specific technical regulations that requires Nordschleife-specific components.

“At the moment, if you ask me, I would say we would not bring the car,” he said. “At the moment, no, because it would be the first 24-hour race for the new car, then on Nürburgring with a very special specifications, a very special track characteristics. At the moment I would not do so.”

When asked if the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa would be a more suitable 24-hour race debut, Mohr said: “It could be.”

He added: “If one of the 24-hour races would be the debut [for next year], for sure, the only one I could recommend would be Spa.

“Daytona is too early, even if we like it, but unfortunately it’s too early for the car. Nürburgring I would not recommend based on the facts I said before, so Spa could be the opportunity.”

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