GTP Momentum Keeps Churning with Lamborghini’s SC63 Unveiling

The most recent stop on John Doonan’s “2023 World Tour” was last week’s Goodwood Festival of Speed in England, where the IMSA president saw the Lamborghini SC63 prototype in person for the very first time. The SC63 will compete in the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class of next year’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

“It is a stunner,” Doonan said with pride.

Lamborghini became the fifth major auto manufacturer to build a top-tier prototype to LMDh specifications and officially commit to the WeatherTech Championship, joining current contenders Acura, BMW, Cadillac and Porsche.

The SC63 features a chassis produced by Ligier with bodywork designed by Lamborghini. The car is powered by a new 3.8-liter twin-turbo V-8 (the first pure racing engine designed by Lamborghini Squadra Corse) and mated to the single-source hybrid powertrain system mandated for all LMDh manufacturers.

Even without the vivid green livery of partner team Iron Lynx, the SC63 features instantly recognizable Lamborghini styling cues.

“The Lamborghini unveil is further validation of what the GTP regulations are all about, and DPi (Daytona Prototype international) before that,” Doonan said. “Take the color and the logo off these prototype race cars, and we’re getting to the point where you can identify the brand when the car is not in full livery. The design teams from all these manufacturers have done such an incredible job.”

New for 2023, the GTP class has sparked a period of impressive growth for IMSA. There are now nine regular GTP entries, a 50 percent increase over the final year of DPi, with a fourth Porsche 963 expected to bring the GTP field to 10 cars beginning next month at Road America. With Lamborghini and potentially others ready to enter the fray – French manufacturer Alpine has revealed an LMDh prototype but not yet committed to IMSA – the GTP grid could reach a dozen cars or more in 2024, with even more in 2025.

“When we established this ‘next gen’ LMDh category going forward for the prototypes, I think there were 15 or 16 manufacturers sitting at the table doing their due diligence about whether they were going to make a run at a proposal for coming to compete,” Doonan recalled. “To have six of them fully unveiled, with five committed and potentially a few others in the consideration phase, I think it’s certainly beyond our expectations and incredible for our sport. They see this platform with the integration of hybrid electrification as a storytelling element for the fans.

“We have a lot to be thankful for as a sport, and I think our fans have spoken by coming out to our events or tuning in on television. We've seen increases in on-track attendance and viewership throughout the season.”

IMSA’s goals with the GTP class were to create a platform that would make top-level prototype racing cost-effective, entertaining and relevant as an automotive industry marketing tool. Just past the halfway point of the season, those goals are clearly being met.

The racing has been close and competitive, with all four participating brands reaching victory lane and the manufacturer’s championship separated by less than 100 points top to bottom. The driver and team championships are even closer, with a slim 63-point deficit from fourth to first and those top four teams each representing a different marque.

It was enough to convince Lamborghini that IMSA and sports car racing were the best platform for the company to achieve its technical and marketing targets. Apart from a short-lived Formula 1 engine program in the late 1980s and early ‘90s, racing has rarely factored into Lamborghini’s history and culture.

That changed in 2009, when the Italian supercar firm created the Super Trofeo concept for single-marque competition. Lamborghini now also produces a GT3 version of its Huracán model that competes in the WeatherTech Championship’s GT Daytona (GTD) and GT Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) classes. IMSA is also the sanctioning body for the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America championship, now in its 11th season.

With its commitment to top-level prototype programs in IMSA and the FIA World Endurance Championship, Lamborghini has signaled that it is all in on motorsport.

“This year marks not only the 60th anniversary of our brand, but also the 10th anniversary of Squadra Corse, Lamborghini’s motorsport division,” commented Giorgio Sanna, Lamborghini head of Motorsport. “Starting from scratch, we have won some of the most prestigious endurance races in the GT category for our production-based racing cars. These include three class wins at the 24 Hours of Daytona and two wins in a row at the Sebring 12 Hours.

“Now we are ready for what is our biggest step into the future of motorsport, measuring ourselves against the best manufacturers in the world.”

The unveiling of the Lamborghini SC63 is just the latest bit of good news for IMSA in what has been a banner season for the WeatherTech Championship.

“Any automaker that wants to use the platform of endurance sports car racing to build their brand or identity for a certain model, that’s right at the core of what we stand for and what our strategic objectives are,” Doonan said. “IMSA has had a 10-year-plus relationship with Lamborghini due to the single-make championship. Now, in addition to their GT campaigns, they have decided that racing for overall wins is going to help add additional value to their brand and their involvement in motorsport.

“It honestly doesn’t get much better.”

The GTP class races next in the IMSA SportsCar Weekend at Road America in Wisconsin, Aug. 4-6. The race airs live at 11 a.m. ET Sunday, Aug. 6 on USA Network.