Lamborghini is planning to enter 2021 Le Mans in the new hypercar class
Lamborghini is eyeing the 2021 Le Mans hypercar class, according to a report from the UK’s Autocar. If Lamborghini decides to commit—and Lambo bossman Stefano Domenicali was clear the company has not yet decided—it might fiddle around with the one-off SC18 as an entry point.
“We don’t have the budget to invest in a totally new project, but the SC18 shows that we have a base for what could be an interesting approach,” Domenicali told Autocar. “The car shows that we have internal capabilities for such a project.”
Translation: Lamborghini could dominate Le Mans… if it wanted. We hear hypercar muscle-flexing happening, and that’s exciting.
The SC18 is a one-off built by Lamborghini motorsports division Squadra Corse tapping into the Aventador SVJ’s raucous V-12. Yes, it looks properly pointy and obscenely aggressive—but we’d be most excited to hear an appropriately-regulated version of the high-revving V-12 around the Circuit de la Sarthe. The streets are aliiiiive… with the sound of Lamborghini…
Whether or not Lamborghini commits to the new top class at Le Mans, the new regulations seem to be successfully attracting new competitors. Aston Martin will tote along a version of the Valkyrie—though it was sure to remind us that the naturally-aspirated 1160-horsepower V-12 will require detuning to fit WEC regulations. McLaren is demonstrating interest in the class, as well, reports motorsport.com. (Ford and Ferrari, meanwhile, don’t seem keen.)
Toyota, unsurprisingly, appears eager to continue in the replacement class for today’s LMP1 group. Back in 2018, Toyota laid down the gauntlet for anyone hoping to challenge its recent dominance of the top class. This spring, the Japanese automaker announced it is producing a road-going version of the GR Super Sport hypercar concept as a homologation special that will give the green flag to the Le Mans-going hypercar version.
We’re pumped for wild new concepts to go through the endurance-racing wringer. The unofficially-named Le Mans hypercar class will hopefully bring new manufactures wheel-to-wheel and ignite the fumes of high-powered rivalries. We can only imagine the network of drivers among F1, DTM, and GT circuits that Aston Martin, Toyota, and McLaren could attract to this hypercar class—let alone the privateer efforts that these new regulations could entice.
If we can be patient, who knows what may trickle down the production car pipeline?
