Lamborghini could be headed to Le Mans in 2021, report says
The company is considering participating in the new hypercar class that's set to replace LMP1.
Lamborghini has never been hugely into racing. I mean, sure, it has the Super Trofeo series, but compared to its main rival Ferrari , the folks from Sant'Agata keep things mostly on the streets. That could change though, according to a report published on Thursday by Autocar.
The reason that could change is the major revision to the top classes at Le Mans and consequently the rest of the World Endurance Championship (WEC). The insanely expensive and technologically demanding LMP1 class is going the way of the dodo bird, and the folks from the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) are planning to replace it with a new hypercar class -- a type of car that Lamborghini understands and is well-situated to compete with.
If Lamborghini does choose to compete in the WEC, it'll have to fend off some truly wild offerings from rival companies like Aston Martin and even Toyota's Gazoo Racing. To keep those competitors at bay, it seems likely -- based on comments made by Stefano Domenicali -- that the company would model its efforts on the one-off SC18 that it built for a customer rather than create a model from scratch due to resource constraints.
When Autocar asked Domenicali directly about the likelihood of a Le Mans entry, he kept his cards close to his chest saying, "There are discussions and we are looking to understand the regulations to see if it is of interest. There is nothing to say until the evaluation is finished, and at that point the answer could be yes or no. For now, it is possible."
If the answer to that ends up being yes, then Lamborghini had better come to it soon if it plans on fielding a competitive car, especially with the new class being set to debut for the 2020 racing season.
