This year, due to its limited rollout, only eight Lamborghini Temerarios are racing globally.
By 2027, that number should increase to over 100, with additional GT3s being joined by the launch of the Temerario Super Trofeo, across the European, North American and Asian series.
It’s making for an intense two-year spell for the Italian marque, which has also taken development of its GT offerings in-house for the first time.
Since its debut at the 12 Hours of Sebring, the performance gains from the Temerario GT3 have been rapid. A class win at the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup round at Brands Hatch brought home its first silverware, with podium finishes in both the DTM and IMSA Sportscar Championship having followed.
Most recently, the Temerario GT3 successfully completed its first 24-hour race, with Rutronik Racing reaching the chequered flag at the 24 Hours of Spa without any major delays.
“We started the season with the brand new car, that has been, for the first time, entirely developed in-house by Squadra Corse and Lamborghini, so there’s been a lot of work,” Andrea Reggiani, Lamborghini’s new head of motorsport, told DSC at Spa.
“We were expecting the first year to be a year of improvements, so that’s why we decided to introduce the car only in a few championships with teams that we trust, and teams that we knew could work with us to help in extracting the performance of the car and developing the car.
“The progress week after week, race after race, has been clear, and in particular I am very pleased by the reliability of the car, because of how we haven’t had many issues in that regard, which now we take for granted, but it shouldn’t be when you introduce a new car.”
Reggiani, who replaced Rouven Mohr as head of motorsport, only joined Lamborghini in March. While he hasn’t been involved since the beginning of the car’s development, he is responsible for its transition from a car to a fully-fledged customer racing programme.
“I joined Lamborghini the Monday of the Sebring weekend, so me and the cycle of the Temerario really started at the same time,” he explained.
“Honestly, I think it’s the best moment to join, because it’s a great opportunity to be at the beginning of a new cycle after a very long and successful cycle of the Huracán. Now there is this new chapter where the company’s invested a lot, both for the GT3 and the Super Trofeo.
“Clearly, this year the focus is on the GT3. Next year it will be also on the Super Trofeo. There is already a lot of work in that regard, and so I think for me it’s a great moment to join to be able to see this cycle from the very beginning, and hopefully help the cycle to be successful.”
Customer interest in the Temerario GT3 has been high, Reggiani stated, with the marketplace well aware that additional cars will be built for next year, a move which he confirmed should also see the programme expand beyond IMSA, DTM and GT World Challenge Europe competition.
“We have requests from teams racing in almost all series over the globe, from Asia, from the US, from Europe,” he said.
“Certainly from teams that are already with us, but also, surprisingly, many teams that are not racing with us at the moment are approaching us to see if here are opportunities for the future.
“We don’t know the exact number of cars that will race next year, but it will be several more than this year, [with] more teams and more championships. On the other hand, we want to be sure that we are approaching a championship with all the proper elements in place to be successful, in terms of who will be our teams, who will be driving the car, and the support that we can provide.”
The progress made by the Temerario GT3 has come off the back of Lamborghini and its teams learning about, and refining, the package, with them now, after a total of 12 race meetings, having had the experience needed to become aware, and start working on, the car’s relative strengths and weaknesses.
These could be addressed through either an ‘erratum’ fix (an official out-of-cycle homologation extension granted by the FIA to manufacturers to address critical, mid-season reliability issues without waiting for their next major vehicle update) or an Evo, something homologation rules don’t permit for the car until 2028 at the earliest. Reggiani’s current focus though, is on extracting as much from the current car as they can instead of pushing through with an evolution.
“At the moment we are focusing all the work on maximising the potential of what we have in the car, and working with the partners that built and developed the car with us, because there is still a lot of work due in that regard,” Reggiani confirmed.
“We will definitely improve all the things that we are able to improve within the homologation limits. And then there are several options on when we could think to introduce an Evo. Every possibility is open, but I think that with the improvements that we already have planned within the limits of what we can do, there might not be the need to rush an Evo, and [instead Lamborghini can] take the time to do it properly.”
On the Temerario Super Trofeo front, the key challenge Lamborghini faces here is volume, with the marque planning to launch the car simultaneously in all three of its regional championships next year. The series will all run exclusively for the Temerario, with no plans for the Huracán to be grandfathered in.
The car began on-track running in May, with the test programme having proven to be a success so far.
“This year and next year are two very busy, critical years, because you see that the cycle of the Huracán [launched in 2015], has been so long,” Reggiani said.
“Hopefully the cycle of the Temerario will be as long and as successful, but in these two years, where we are starting all the series, and building, developing and improving all the cars, I would say this is the moment where the team is stretched.”
One key difference between developing the Super Trofeo, compared to the GT3, is that both performance and endurance running is less of a priority, with the car designed for one-make sprint races.
This means that it does not need to be designed to fit within a certain category of racing, homologation window and Balance of Performance system, as was the case with the GT3.
“The reliability is there, and that’s confirmed by all the developing and the testing we’re doing, and we’ve done many [tests] with the Super Trofeo already,” Reggiani confirmed.
“The performance of the Super Trofeo is not the critical issue, because the cars are the same, but even there the performance is way above the expectation and requirement for the series, so I don’t see any particular issue in starting the three championship at the same time for next year.
“We have a very detailed production plan, and we are also building all the cars in-house with the support of the production team of Lamborghini. It’s not a Squadra Corse build. The company is building the car with the same planning and care as the road cars, so I have no doubt that the production plan will be met and on schedule, so the car will be produced.
“We will have to be very organised and structured to provide the support to all the teams that will start running a new model, to have them build the knowledge to manage the car properly, but we have time to plan, and we will deliver on that.”
Images courtesy of Jack Webster, SRO/JEP and Lamborghini Squadra Corse
