Lamborghini will join the ranks of top-level motorsports come 2024 when it enters both the FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA SportsCar Championship with a new LMDh race car.
LMDh is a new race car category which will have its first season in 2023. It is eligible for both the Hypercar class of the WEC as well as the new GTP class of the SportsCar Championship, just like the rival LMH category, and relies on spec chassis similar to current LMP2 chassis.
For its LMDh campaign, Lamborghini will team up with Iron Lynx, and compete as Lamborghini Iron Lynx. Lamborghini will also work with Prema Engineering which offers operational, technical, and engineering support for motorsports.
Iron Lynx is an Italian racing team that currently competes in GT racing with a Ferrari 488 GTE, including in the WEC, but will switch over to a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 in 2023 to mark the new partnership with Lamborghini. Iron Lynx will also field a Huracán GT3 Evo2 through its Iron Dames all-female racing team.
Lamborghini LMDh teaser
“Ever since we announced our intention to race in the LMDh racing series, it was clear to us that Iron Lynx was the right partner to take such an important step with,” Stephan Winkelmann, Lamborghini’s CEO, said in a statement. “Over the years, Iron Lynx has proven to be a fast, strong and successfully entity, just like the Lamborghini motorsport department.”
Lamborghini is still developing its LMDh. The car will use a chassis sourced from Ligier, one of four chassis suppliers for LMDh, and will run a V-8 hybrid powertrain, with the V-8 to be a new twin-turbo unit developed by Lamborghini’s own Squadra Corse racing arm, though one thought to be related to the twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 fitted in Lamborghini’s Urus SUV. The hybrid component will be a single motor-generator integrated with a 7-speed transmission.
Lamborghini in July named Andrea Caldarelli and Mirko Bortolotti as its first drivers for the campaign.
While Lamborghini’s LMDh will only start racing in 2024, Acura, Alpine, BMW, Cadillac, and Porsche will all field LMDh race cars in the inaugural 2023 season. ByKolles, Ferrari, Glickenhaus, Peugeot, and Toyota are all committed to the rival LMH race car category.