Lamborghini Sets Up For Le Mans 24 Hour Assault With 830Hp Hypercar

Either Lamborghini has misread the room with its track-only, limited-edition Essenza SCV12 hypercar or every other automaker has.

While most of the world’s established supercar makers have pulled in their horns during the Covid-19 pandemic, Lamborghini today strutted out the most powerful naturally aspirated V12 it has ever developed.

It’s a Le Mans 24 Hour hopeful with no hybrid power, no electrification, nothing.

Just a huge non-turbo V12 sucking through as much air as possible for the benefit of just 40 buyers worldwide – most of whom (if past experience is anything to go by) will tuck them away forever in hermetically sealed collection rooms.

The upside is that it should qualify Lamborghini for an all-out assault on the Le Mans 24 Hour race when its rules change in 2021.

Lamborghini calls it a successor to the Miura Jota and Diablo GTR, with semi-radical aerodynamics from racing prototypes. That’s a tough line to swallow.

Lamborghini is involved in GT3 racing, plus the Blancpain series, but it has never won an outright trophy at Le Mans, much less Formula One.

“The Essenza SCV12 represents the purest track driving experience that our brand can offer, an engineering feat that highlights the inextricable link between our cars and the asphalt of the track,” Automobili Lamborghini CEO and Chairman Stefano Domenicali said.

“Lamborghini is a brand constantly looking to the future and searching for new challenges, but we never forget our roots and who we are: Essenza SCV12 is the perfect combination of our unconventional spirit as a super sportscar manufacturer and our true passion for motorsport.”

Its V12 motor delivers more than 830 horsepower, and Lamborghini claims that’s boosted at higher speeds by the ram-air effect.

The Aventador’s complicated transmission has been ditched for an Xtrac sequential six-speed gearbox, which becomes a stressed chassis member with the push-rod suspension mounted directly to it.

With no internal roll cage, Lamborghini is asking the carbon-fiber monocoque to do a lot of heavy lifting in safety, especially with a 1.66hp/kg power-to-weight ratio.

Its aerodynamic setup is said by Lamborghini to deliver more downforce than its GT3 racers, and up to 1200kg of aerodynamic downforce at 250km/h, or 400kg more than a McLaren Senna (and a lot less ugly).

Loosely based on the Aventador, the Essenza SCV12 adds a roof-mounted air scoop, a huge front splitter and winglets along with a dual-air intake on the hood.

There are three body sections for the 1600kg track car; the idea being to make it faster to replace damaged panels during pit stops.

The Essenza SCV12 might just be headed to Le Mans under the ACO’s new hypercar rules, and it has been developed to comply with the FIA’s prototype safety rules.

“Essenza SCV12 is the ultimate expression of the V12 naturally aspirated engine, the symbol of our brand since 1963,” Lamborghini chief technical officer Maurizio Reggiani said.

“It is a project in which we combined the pursuit of engineering perfection with refined aerodynamics, futuristic design, and innovative solutions such as the carbon monocoque without internal rollcage.

“The result is an engaging and uncompromising car, born to race and to showcase on the track the characteristics that have made Lamborghini famous worldwide, guaranteeing unique and special emotions for both the driver and onlookers.”

The keys to the Essenza SCV12 also give membership to an exclusive Lamborghini club that will store their cars and transport them to some of the most prestigious racing circuits in the world, then on-track service.

A new storage hanger has been built at Lamborghini’s headquarters at Sant’Agata Bolognese, near Bologna, with webcams for each dedicated race-style garage so owners can see their cars at any time of day or night.

Another part of the club will be the Lamborghini Squadra Corse Drivers Lab, which partners with Tecnobody to tailor athletic training programs for customers as well as the factory Lamborghini racers.

There will be arrive-and-drive track days from next year at selected FIA Grade 1 circuits, with involvement from five-time Le Mans 24 Hour winner Emanuele Pirro.