Lamborghini to Use Evo Jokers in SC63 “Development” Year

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

Lamborghini is planning to introduce updates to the SC63 LMDh car this year in its IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup campaign according to its new motorsports boss Maurizio Leschiutta, which will “most likely” be rolled out over the course of the season.

The Italian manufacturer, which is entering the second year with the Ligier-chassied prototype, has focused its program around the five long-distance WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races with partner Riley, which has been contracted as the service provider.

Both Leschiutta and Lamborghini chief technical officer Rouven Mohr have coined this year as a “development” season for the car, which struggled to match the outright pace of the competition in the Hypercar class of the FIA World Endurance Championship and GTP category in the WeatherTech Championship.

When asked by Sportscar365 on what areas of development are they looking at on the car, Leschiutta said: “Just about everything.”

He added: “We looked specifically to vehicle dynamics, to the suspension and also to the aero part because we need to make some steps forward in these areas.

“I always say, ‘Try to do less, try to do it better.’

“So what we want to do is focus on the three pain points of the car, which we know, and develop changes and form some improvements which will likely require a performance Joker.”

Mohr, meanwhile, added that a continuous focus on weight reduction is another area of focus.

It’s understood the car had been running above the WEC and IMSA’s minimum weight figures last year in both championships.

“In general we’re always trying to improve this,” said Mohr. “It’s clear. We also made a step during the winter. I wouldn’t say it’s the topic because performance is always dependent on several topics.

“The kinematics, especially the rear suspension, and also the aerodynamics.

“For sure, weight is always a topic in the race car. We cannot be too light, from a homologation perspective yes, but nevertheless you can have your balance weight.

“For sure, we are like always working on it.”

Leschiutta said a timeline for the rollout of updates on the car has already been determined internally and indicated that multiple developments could come over the course of the season.

This would be made possible as the car is not currently racing in the WEC, which is poised to enforce a more strict joker policy for this year.

“We have a plan,” Leschiutta said. “It’s secret right now.”

The ex-BMW LMDh project leader, who joined Lamborghini in December, believes he can help bring his previous top-level prototype knowledge to the program.

“In GTP, I was involved in the development of the BMW M Hybrid from the beginning so I saw where it was born and where it ended up,” said Leschiutta.

“I understand, from this point of view, what’s necessary in this kind of car, to make it competitive and have experience in certain areas, which for sure we can transfer to the SC63.

“Are there insights, yes? Lamborghini not having done this on its own in 2024 for the first time, I can now bring experiences and best practices from another manufacturer to enhance the work. This is what I hope to do.

“We have good people and lots of ideas. Now we have to channel them in the right way.”

Lamborghini “Super Happy” With Riley Partnership

Mohr added that he’s been so far very pleased with its new service provider Riley, which is expected to also play a role in the car’s further development.

“We are super happy to have Riley on board because we felt already from the beginning on that there’s a kind of same chemistry that allows us to collaborate in a very, very collaborative way,” he said.

“We have quite similar minds and we’re super happy to have them on board.

“How it comes, to be honest, it was also clear for us when we decided that we continue with IMSA, we want to take more responsibility, it was clear that for the operations we needed a provider or partner.

“We, as Lamborghini Squadra Corse, don’t have the facility here, we don’t have the logistics, we don’t have the people. It doesn’t make sense [to do all that for one year].

“It’s not a change in the general strategy, it also doesn’t make sense to build everything up on our side and then at the end of the day we are not continuing.

“Therefore we were scouting for an adequate partner that was able to be, in a very short time, be ready, because it’s clear that it was not the plan since ages, so we were a little bit under time pressure.

“We found a commitment with Riley immediately. Therefore, I’m super happy to have them. I’m pretty sure they will help us a lot also to improve the car.”

Lamborghini Considered SC63 Racing Hiatus

Mohr admitted that not racing at all this year, and focusing entirely on development of the car was also under consideration but ultimately ruled out in favor of its continued support of IMSA and the North American market.

Active LMDh manufacturers are limited by the number of testing days it can conduct in a year, which is believed to have been an initial consideration point by Lamborghini.

“On the testing side, we were for sure evaluating it, to be honest,” said Mohr. “But we didn’t want to do it because we also have a commitment with IMSA.

“We have a very, very good relationship to [IMSA President] John Doonan, to the entire IMSA team.

“We decided, in a cooperative discussion with them, that we are not stepping out from IMSA because also from our side, the U.S. is our biggest market all over the world and we wanted to continue.

“From the pure regulation point of view, it was at least an alternative but we said from the beginning we don’t want to do it.”

Leschiutta added: “When you go testing, you’re always in first place. This often generates a false sense of security thinking that you’ve done better.

“The only time you actually measure your improvements when you measure them against the field.

“For us, also, we have to strike a compromise. We have to strike a presence in IMSA because as Rouven says, we want to support IMSA.

“IMSA gives us visibility and it gives us visibility in the market that’s important.”