Lamborghini SC63 Entering “Second Phase” of Development

Lamborghini is entering the “second phase of development” for its LMDh car according to its head of motorsport, as it prepares to introduce a second SC63 chassis early next year.

The new car will be the third Lamborghini SC63 chassis in total after the first one was written off in an accident at Paul Ricard in August during the early stages of testing.

That left the Italian manufacturer with only one car to undergo the rest of this year’s track running, as well as the homologation procedure ahead of its race debut in 2024.

Lamborghini Squadra Corse boss Giorgio Sanna downplayed the impact of the accident, stating that enough dyno testing has been done to validate the powertrain’s reliability.

The second SC63 was introduced and ran in Italy and Spain, but then needed to be sent to the U.S. to undergo IMSA’s homologation process last week.

That chassis will then complete some testing in the U.S. before returning to Europe and going into the Sauber wind tunnel to complete its homologation with the ACO and FIA.

“From a homologation point of view, you have to use the same car in the two wind tunnel tests,” Sanna told Sportscar365.

“So we will bring the car back, and then we will have a new chassis coming at the beginning of the year.”

Introducing a new chassis will mean that Lamborghini finally gets to carry out the two-car test program it originally envisioned to have in the second half of 2023.

“Ideally, one car is dedicated to the testing on the track, and one car should be dedicated to the homologation procedure,” said Sanna.

“Now of course the car is doing both, without problems. It’s just a matter of organization. If somebody is looking for a comfort zone in motorsport, it is too easy of a job.

“We are entering the second phase of the development, which means to validate the performance and reliability of the car. We will go to the group test in Daytona, and immediately after that we will go to COTA for another important session.

“Then, based on the results, we will evaluate when and where to test. We will be back on the track in January and February. We will try to prepare at the maximum level for the debut in Qatar.”

Sanna explained that Lamborghini ramped up its dyno testing to make up for the sudden lack of two SC63s.

“We postponed one session by around two weeks,” he said. “But in the meantime, we worked very hard as usual to do indoor tests.

“To develop the car is not just [about] going on the track. To develop a car as sophisticated as an LMDh means planning proper tests indoors with the powertrain on the dyno, to work on the systems and electronics of the car.

“I think that, for the stage we are at today, we are particularly satisfied because we have not only worked well on the track, but in parallel we have worked very well on the dyno.

“This is an advantage. It’s the reason why, when we went back on the track after Paul Ricard, we did two sessions in Italy and Spain with very good results.

“Because in the meantime, while we were getting the second car ready, we were also working on all the points that we discovered during the first sessions on the track.”

Sanna would not say whether Lamborghini has completed a 24-hour endurance run on the dyno but expressed confidence about the powertrain, which consists of a 3.8-liter V8 engine and the spec LMDh hybrid system.

“We have tested already and we are in a very good phase,” he said.

“Regarding the powertrain, we are satisfied. I cannot say what we have already done, but I am optimistic for the endurance.”

Lamborghini Expects 2024 to be “Learning Season”

Sanna believes that next year is going to present a “learning season” for the company as it makes its debut in prototype racing on two sides of the Atlantic with Iron Lynx.

Lamborghini plans to have four SC63s active next year: one each for the single-car race programs in WEC and the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup, and two test/backup cars.

Last weekend it confirmed that Daniil Kvyat will be part of the WEC squad, while Andrea Caldarelli will race in IMSA’s GTP class. The rest of the six-driver lineup will be announced before the end of the year.

When asked about targets for the start of 2024, Sanna replied: “For sure it’s a learning season. That’s clear.

“It’s the first season for the car, the factory and the team. We are rookies in every sense.

“But we would like to debut with a strong performance. We did it already with the GT3 in the past.

“We just have to keep focused on ourselves, on the car, to prepare everything in detail, and to keep pushing.”