The Lamborghini Temerario GT3 is nearing its world racing debut, which is currently set for the 2026 Sebring 12 Hours.
Already, there’s a fair amount of excitement for the new twin-turbo V8-powered GT3 car. It’s the first to be built and developed entirely by Lamborghini, from a unique platform – after a decade of success for the Huracán GT3, which shares a modular platform and V10 engine with the Audi R8 LMS GT3.
But for a variety of reasons laid out by Lamborghini Chief Technical Officer, Rouven Mohr, 2026 will be a transition year for the Italian manufacturer’s GT3 racing endeavours. The Temerario GT3 will have a staggered, limited rollout in 2026, as Lamborghini customer teams still using the Huracán GT3 will continue to receive ample support.
For one, production of the Temerario GT3 in its first year will be limited due to a shared assembly line with the street version, which is in high demand.
“To be realistic, if everything went well, we will have 10 cars available,” Mohr admitted. “The main production line is being shared with the production car, and this is priority one, because we have at the moment, a lot of orders for the Temerario. ‘It’s clear that we then have to check, okay, when can we produce which batch?’ This is already the maximum number, that even I don’t think we will get.
The second reason is that even though the base is solid, Lamborghini is determined to make sure that the car is suitable for competition before it debuts, down to the detail work needed to optimise tyre performance, aero balance, and suspension setups for racing.
As Mohr explained: “Usually, you do a lot of development on the seven-post rig to perfectly fit the tyre pattern under different conditions, depending also on the construction of the tyres. I can tell you that in the modern GT3 field, you have to do a lot of work on the test bench and also on the simulator.
“But this is still, let me say, work ongoing. At the moment, we are not there at the level of detail to make these adjustments. This is coming later, even after the homologation. Because you’re not homologating the setup – we homologate the car. So this is, for sure, a lot of the focus in the preparation for next year.
“Next year will also be a testing year,” Mohr said of 2026. “In the first year in competition with the car, you learn a lot. You can test what you want, but competition is competition. So next year, for us, it’s more learning the car and bringing the car in the performance window. And this we will do, for sure.
On-track testing is already underway, more than a month since the car first rolled out. That testing programme will likely include a trip down to Daytona International Speedway for IMSA’s annual winter Sanctioned Test. But as has been the case for a number of incoming top-tier prototypes, a Daytona 24 Hours world debut has been ruled out – hence the target for the Sebring 12 Hours to follow.
“At the moment, we are still in the middle of the development phase – so it’s a little bit too early. If you ask me, what would be my ambition? It would be Sebring, because Daytona is unrealistic. Then the next opportunity is Sebring. And at the moment, we’re working to get it,” Mohr added. “But it can be also, if it’s not on the point, we are not doing it.
If and when the Temerario GT3 makes its scheduled debut at Sebring, it would share the track with Huracán GT3 customer teams in IMSA. Hypothetically, the Temerario GT3 could share Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps next year with examples of the car that won this year’s 24 Hours of Spa.
For the moment, the first stops of the Temerario GT3’s world tour have yet to be determined by the company. “It’s not super secret, but we have not defined the full parameter of where we will put the car. We have to decide carefully which championships,” Mohr said.
“We’ll select the teams where we have a good partnership. And this we will also decide based on the development growth – by which we will also decide, then, which teams get the allocation. But for sure, this is clear – there will be a mixture.
“We have good teams at the moment, we’re quite happy. And in the US and Europe, in every series, we have kind of a ‘pinnacle team’ – and for sure, together with them, we will make the operations,” he said, while ruling out the possibility of a factory team running the Temerario GT3 in year one.
These plans also likely would not include an immediate return to LMGT3 competition, in either the FIA World Endurance Championship, or the European Le Mans Series (where a Lamborghini won the first LMGT3 title in 2024). But not for a lack of desire, according to Mohr – but rather the difficulty of securing a place on the grid, due to the SC63’s withdrawal from the WEC this off-season.
“I would put it this way: The most priority for me is winning races. For sure, I’m also a businessman first. If there is only one car that wins races, then we have another positive business case,” Mohr said.
“If you ask me now on LMGT3, for sure, the company would like to. But at the moment it’s not possible, because we don’t have an LMDh car (in WEC). We could ask for a waiver, but this year, the waiver is going to Mercedes.
“If you ask me if I want? Yes, I want. If you ask me, at the moment, if we can? We can’t.”
Images © Lamborghini
