The Lamborghini SC63 LMDh program had such promise for the honored Italian brand, but after two seasons of lackluster performance, bad luck, and poor form the company has decided to pull the plug on the effort for the 2026 season. Unlike other brands racing in the FIA WEC's Le Mans Hypercar category and IMSA's GTP class, Lamborghini decided it could only support a single car effort globally, which has frankly made it a non-starter. Unfortunately for Lamborghini, it has also frequently been a non-finisher. The Italian manufacturer never gave the car enough support, financial or personnel, and the program suffered. On Monday the team announced a "strategic realignment" of its racing program, shifting focus away from the top-flight prototype program and toward its new-for-2026 Temerario GT3 racer, and the incoming 2027 shift in its single-make series Super Trofeo. With reduced SC63 activities in 2025, the car will disappear from race tracks entirely for the 2026 season.
Lamborghini joined the Hypercar ranks in 2024 with a full-season effort in WEC while also running the endurance rounds of the IMSA schedule, and fielding a second car for the Le Mans 24. With three retirements and five further non-points finishes, it was a brutal first season for the team. For 2025 the WEC announced that teams could only enter the series if they brought two cars, and Lamborghini decided it couldn't dedicate the resources to do so, pulling out of WEC entirely and still running only the endurance rounds in IMSA. Lamborghini also parted ways with long-time partner Iron Lynx racing.
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The 2025 season, now an official factory effort run by Riley Technologies, started with similar levels of ignominy. With retirements at both Daytona and Sebring, the driver squad was rightfully dejected. The season rebounded a bit with a solid run at the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen, where the team briefly led the field before contact with a GT3 car shuffled them down the order to a 7th placed finish. There are still two rounds of the IMSA Endurance Cup season for Lamborghini to mount an effort, and the team has confirmed it will finish out the 2025 season before shelving the car, but prospects don't look good.
"The program was designed to ensure global visibility through the presence of a hybrid racing car in each of the two championships where this class is admitted," a statement from Lamborghini reads. "However, the conditions on which the program was based have significantly changed. As the project developed, resource demands—both in terms of budget and technical complexity have grown beyond original projections. Given this context, Lamborghini has made the strategic decision to refocus its efforts and investments on the GT3 platform and Super Trofeo, which remain the cornerstones of the brand's motorsport activities and a key pillar in delivering performance excellence to its customers around the world."
Officially, the 2026 withdrawal has been deemed a "pause" rather than a cancellation, leaving the brand open to a return to Hypercar/GTP for 2027. Reports from Sportscar 365 indicate that Lamborghini always intended to run just a single season without a privateer partner like Iron Lynx to help foot the bill. With mediocre results in a highly competitive category, it seems unlikely that taking a year off will help Lamborghini find another partner, however. I'm afraid this angular piece of motorsport modern art will remain a footnote in racing history.
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