DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Make no mistake, the Lamborghini SC63 showed considerable improvement throughout the event weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, even if its 10th-place race result in the TireRack.com Battle On The Bricks didn’t reflect it.
It was apparent early at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway weekend that a revised suspension would pay dividends for the car. Lamborghini executive leadership decided to move forward with as part of deploying an “evo joker” for the car to show its potential.
“I have to say that from the rear suspension, we had some weaknesses from the kinematical point of view, kinematics and also to kinematic stiffness itself,” explained Lamborghini Chief Technical Officer Rouven Mohr. “Therefore, for us, it was already basically decided within the last year that sooner or later we have to adjust it.
“Last year, we didn’t do it because we said, ‘OK, first let’s collect some further information.’ We were even with the car not running on all the tracks. So, let’s collect the information and make a proper decision.”
Mohr indicated drivers Romain Grosjean and Edoardo Mortara, who shared the No. 63 Lamborghini SC63 in the latest IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship round at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, were happy with the suspension updates.
It showed with practice pace, where Grosjean was fourth in Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) Practice 2, 0.767 of a second off the fastest time. The car actually closed the gap in qualifying to be within 0.601 of a second, but that only netted the No. 63 car ninth on the grid.
The race saw the No. 63 Lamborghini run in podium contention, at one point as part of all six IMSA GTP manufacturers running in the top six positions. But a decision to take one more energy stop as rivals stayed out dropped the car back to P10 at the checkered flag.
The suspension update comes amidst the backdrop of the car’s impending pause after Motul Petit Le Mans next month. Lamborghini officials decided to move in that direction to pause the car’s future, but not necessarily sunset it.
“We have a list of actions,” Mohr said. “For instance, also the aero side, we see some things we did now, but first we had to solve the suspension. The mechanical suspension is influencing the aero, based on the ride height changes. It’s clear that priority one was the suspension.
“Now we fixed that, and for sure the next area is that we can also improve the aero side. This will be now the second package, and then we have also, let me say, another package out of some smaller modifications that is also related to weight saving.”
Mohr, Lamborghini Chairman and CEO Stephan Winkelmann and Lamborghini Head of Motorsport Maurizio Leschuitta explained that a return is “hypothetical.” But they’ve assembled a list of updates that are designed to show what the car could do if it returns. External factors more than anything contributed to the decision, they said.
“Things changed, and this is something you have to know look into,” Winkelmann said. “The rules changed, technology was moving faster and more expensive than expected, and also the commitment.
“So, we decided – and this is something which you have to do in a company sooner or later – whether you put more into it, or decide to put things on hold. So, we decided to pause in the year 2026. This is the idea we’re having right now. And this is the decision we took altogether, and I think it’s the right one at this time. And we will see what’s going to happen during ‘26 if we’re back in ‘27.”
The Lamborghini executive leadership team also stressed the importance of racing in IMSA and in the North American market. The brand will still be present in 2026 with the continuation of its Huracán variant in both the WeatherTech Championship (GT3 specification) and Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America (Super Trofeo specification), as well as introduce its new Temerario GT3 with an anticipated race debut at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
“Like Mr. Winkelmann said, (the SC63 return) is very hypothetical now,” Mohr said. “If I judge the situation now it’s clear that first of all, IMSA is super important because it’s our most-important single market.
“Secondly, IMSA, from my point of view, also from the motorsport approach, from the show, what they do, is a fantastic race series, a good partner, also on the GT3 side.
“And we have to be honest, if I only count the facts, WEC is much, much more expensive on top. If we have not solved the problem for IMSA, we will also not solve it for WEC.
“Not because we don’t like WEC. Le Mans is one of the biggest races that you can have in the world but unfortunately it’s much more expensive.”
