The prospect suggested by The Race last week is now official: there will be no Lamborghini SC63 on the grid in 2026 in either the World Endurance Championship or IMSA SportsCar Championship.
Lamborghini left the WEC at the end of 2024 and announced on Monday that it has decided to place its IMSA GTP programme "on hold" for the 2026 season.
In motorsport - just like in relationships - "taking a break" often turns into something more permanent.
Why is it quitting?
So how does the Squadra Corse department justify the end of the SC63 project after only two seasons of racing? Officially, Lamborghini has announced a strategic realignment of its motorsport activities.
"Initially conceived as a natural evolution of Lamborghini's successful customer racing platform, the Hypercar/GTP project was launched with the ambition of further expanding the brand's presence in top-tier endurance racing," Automobili Lamborghini's statement explained.
"The programme was designed to ensure global visibility through the presence of a hybrid racing car in each of the two championships where this class is admitted.
"However, the conditions on which the programme was based have significantly changed. As the project developed, resource demands both in terms of budget and technical complexity have grown beyond original projections."
The changed conditions Lamborghini refers to include the FIA and ACO's requirement to enter a minimum of two cars in the WEC from 2025 onward, and Lamborghini's split from Iron Lynx, which was largely funding the project - which you can read more about here.
What's next for Lamborghini Squadra Corse?
Lamborghini will now focus on programmes that are financially profitable for the company, that is, customer racing. This includes the GT3 platform as well as the three iterations of its one-make Super Trofeo.
There are also two completely new projects, developed for the first time entirely in-house by Automobili Lamborghini.
The new Temerario (pictured above), the GT3 version of which was unveiled in early July during the 2025 Goodwood Festival of Speed, will make its racing debut in 2026. The car is expected to race in the IMSA SportsCar Championship, as well as in the GT World Challenge, DTM, and at the Nürburgring 24 Hours.
Its official debut is scheduled for the 2026 Sebring 12 Hours, the second round of the IMSA SportsCar Championship season. The new Temerario Super Trofeo model, meanwhile, is set to be revealed by the end of the year.
A significant departure
While smaller privateers such as Vanwall and Glickenhaus exited the WEC at the end of 2023 due to lack of funding, Lamborghini becomes the first major manufacturer of the Hypercar era to withdraw from top-level competition.
The brand's decision to pull out of the WEC already caused a stir last year, especially since, as recently as early 2025, it had not ruled out a return to the world stage.
Ultimately, even a reduced IMSA programme with a single car couldn't be salvaged, a telling sign that a WEC comeback was always unlikely.
Before being retired to the museum, the SC63 will contest the final two rounds of the 2025 IMSA Endurance Cup: Indianapolis (September 21) and Petit Le Mans (October 11).
Expected to feature a revised rear suspension, the car will be driven by Daniil Kvyat, Romain Grosjean, and Mirko Bortolotti, all eager to show once again that the SC63 still has untapped potential. So far, its best results remain a pair of seventh-place finishes at the 2024 Sebring 12 Hours and the 2025 6 Hours of The Glen.
Then it will be time to move on. Fresh off his victory at the 2025 Spa 24 Hours and a 2024 DTM title, Bortolotti will return full-time to GT racing. The two former F1 drivers Grosjean and Kvyat will now be on the hunt for new opportunities.
