Sunday, November 24, 2024
No menu items!
HomeAutomobileLamborghini Kills FIA WEC Program After One Season Of Terrible Finishes

Lamborghini Kills FIA WEC Program After One Season Of Terrible Finishes

Image for article titled Lamborghini Kills FIA WEC Program After One Season Of Terrible Finishes

Photo: Lamborghini

Lamborghini’s inaugural season as a Le Mans Hypercar constructor in the FIA World Endurance Championship ended about as ignominiously as it possibly could have, with a DNF classification at the recent 8 Hours of Bahrain. Across the eight-race season, Lamborghini only managed to finish five times, with an average finishing position of 13th in a 19-car class. Lamborghini did not do well for itself on its first run, and as a result has decided to pull out of the series altogether. Part of the issue lies in the FIA WEC requiring all teams to field at least two cars in the 2025 season, and Lamborghini only wants to allocate enough budget for a single car effort.

While Lamborghini’s efforts with the Iron Lynx team were always in question when the FIA announced the new two-car-team rule, what was unexpected was the announcement that Lamborghini and Iron Lynx would also be pulling out of their somewhat successful LMGT3 class efforts. The two-car Iron Lynx/Iron Dames squad managed to put up a podium finish at the Belgian round of the championship. With both of those cars now gone from the series, there will be no Sant’Agata Bolognese representation on the grid in 2025.

Sources close to the Squadra Corsa don’t expect Lamborghini to give up on the SC63 effort. Lamborghini has continued testing the SC63 this week ahead of this announcement, and has announced that it will enter a single car in the IMSA Endurance Cup races (24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring, 6 Hours of Watkins Glen, The 6 hour “Battle On The Bricks” at Indianapolis, and Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta). It is possible that with this removal of FIA WEC budgets from the coffers, it could enter a second chassis as a full-season IMSA competitor.

Honestly, I’d be quite happy about Lamborghini dedicating more effort to an IMSA program. The SC63 is among the prettiest cars on the GTP/Hypercar grid, and I selfishly want to see more of it here in the U.S.

Racer makes a good point in its coverage of this story:

By giving up its spaces on the grid for 2025 there is no guarantee that there will be room to accommodate its forthcoming Huracan GT3 successor, which is expected to debut in 2026 – just at the point when the new Genesis Hypercar is expected to be added to the FIA WEC field.

Lamborghini might have just fumbled the bag when it comes to the Temerario GT3 even having a high profile series to race in across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

RELATED ARTICLES

Most Popular

Recent Comments