Lamborghini has taken the wraps off its latest racing machine, the Temerario GT3, marking a significant milestone in the company’s motorsport journey. This new race car, designed and built entirely in-house at Lamborghini’s headquarters, is set to take over where the Huracán GT3 left off. The Temerario GT3 is Lamborghini’s first race car to be developed exclusively by its racing division, Squadra Corse, and is built to dominate the global GT3 racing scene while pushing customer racing forward. With a focus on affordability and widespread accessibility, Lamborghini plans to sell the Temerario GT3 to as many customer racing teams as possible, providing them with ongoing support rather than fielding a factory team in any racing series.
The Legacy of the Huracán GT3
After over a decade of success with the Huracán GT3, which participated in sprint, endurance, and one-make racing series across the globe, Lamborghini’s racing division is retiring the Huracán model to make way for its successor. The Temerario GT3 inherits the baton, continuing Lamborghini’s rich motorsport legacy. However, the Temerario promises a new set of features and performance enhancements that aim to make it more competitive in the highly regulated GT3 class.
Rouven Mohr, Lamborghini’s Chief Technical Officer, emphasized the importance of customer teams in the GT3 world. “Customer teams are essential to GT3. It will die without them,” Mohr stated. “Too many factory teams would drive up costs and push smaller teams out.” With the focus squarely on customer racing, Lamborghini is committed to producing a high-quality product while keeping costs manageable for teams.
Design and Engineering
One of the most exciting aspects of the Temerario GT3 is its engineering. The car is designed from the ground up to excel on the racetrack, featuring an aluminum space frame that is 20% stiffer than the one found in its road-going counterpart. This change was made to withstand the extreme stresses encountered during high-performance racing. Interestingly, while the Temerario is based on the production Temerario road car, it’s optimized for racing right from the outset.
Unlike Lamborghini’s upcoming road-going Temerario, which will be a hybrid, the Temerario GT3 forgoes hybrid power due to GT3 regulations, which prohibit hybrid systems. As a result, the car loses the hybrid battery, electric motor, and all-wheel drive system. Instead, the Temerario relies on a traditional rear-wheel-drive setup, with power being delivered by a modified V10 engine. This engine produces 550 horsepower before any Balance of Performance (BoP) adjustments, which is significantly lower than the 789 horsepower found in the street version. The engine is also tuned for better reliability, with a lowered redline of 8,000 RPM—well below the 10,000 RPM of the street car.
To ensure precise handling and responsiveness, the Temerario GT3 uses hydraulic power steering, which Mohr claims offers superior feedback, allowing drivers to stay in complete control of the car during races. The use of a six-speed sequential racing gearbox and a lightweight system, including the repositioning of key components like the alternator and starter motor, further emphasizes the race car’s efficiency and performance focus.
Suspension, Aerodynamics, and Cooling
When it comes to suspension, Lamborghini has equipped the Temerario GT3 with six-way adjustable KW shock absorbers, the same units used in the SC63, Lamborghini’s LMDh prototype race car. These shocks provide excellent control and adaptability, ensuring the Temerario can be fine-tuned to tackle any race conditions. Additionally, while GT3 rules limit modifications to suspension geometry, Lamborghini’s engineers have taken full advantage of areas like shock absorbers, which are critical for race car performance.
Aerodynamics is another area where the Temerario GT3 shines. The car’s carbon-composite bodywork is designed for optimal airflow, reducing drag while enhancing downforce. Lamborghini has taken a careful approach to make sure that the aerodynamics of the race car align with the cooling requirements needed for a high-performance vehicle. This includes more scoops and vents to cool the larger radiators and heat exchangers, which are crucial during long endurance races, especially at night when additional headlights are required.
The bodywork has also been designed for easier maintenance. The quick-disconnect lighting systems and removable underbody aero panels allow teams to service the car quickly during pit stops. The integration of these efficient features directly from the factory reduces the burden on racing teams, saving them time and effort.
Performance Enhancements Over the Huracán
While the Huracán GT3 was a formidable competitor in its time, Mohr admits that the bodywork and naturally aspirated engine worked against it when compared to turbocharged rivals. The Temerario GT3 solves that issue by adopting smaller turbos with a more efficient power curve, giving the car a competitive edge in the Balance of Performance era.
“Turbo engines are much easier to tune under the new regulations. That’s where the Temerario GT3 will have an advantage,” said Mohr. The turbocharged powerplant provides a more consistent and reliable output, improving the car’s performance under the varying conditions of different racing series.
Customer-Focused Features and Future Prospects
In designing the Temerario GT3, Lamborghini was keen on making the car easier for racing teams to manage. From the streamlined subframe mounts to the easy-to-remove carbon-composite panels, the car is built with efficiency in mind. The Temerario GT3 also benefits from lessons learned from the road car’s development, ensuring that what works on the race track can eventually find its way into the street version.
As for the car’s racing debut, Lamborghini fans will have to wait until the Temerario GT3 makes its first appearance at the 12 Hours of Sebring next March. Whether it will live up to its lofty promises remains to be seen, but the Temerario is certainly a car to watch in the coming seasons.
Conclusion
The Temerario GT3 represents a new chapter for Lamborghini in customer racing, offering cutting-edge technology, a refined powertrain, and superior aerodynamics—all while keeping an eye on cost and ease of maintenance for customer teams. With this new race car, Lamborghini is pushing the boundaries of motorsport engineering, offering a vehicle that’s as efficient as it is thrilling. While the Temerario GT3 is a direct successor to the Huracán GT3, it brings fresh innovations that should keep Lamborghini at the forefront of the GT3 racing world for years to come.
