The Lamborghini Huracán GT3 will make its North American GT3 racing debut with confirmed entries into the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Daytona (GTD) class in 2016. The official debut will be in the 24 Hours at Daytona on Jan. 30-31 with multiple customer teams, continuing Lamborghini Squadra Corse’s tradition of customer support. There will be no factory entries, but all customer-racing teams will have factory support.
Lamborghini’s move into GTD comes as the class adopts the 2016 FIA GT3 specifications for all of its entries. The 585-horsepower Huracán GT3 was born from a desire to offer factory-built and supported cars to customers worldwide. It is the first GT3 car to be fully engineered, developed and assembled internally by Automobili Lamborghini.
The move to GT3 racing in North America is the exciting next step as the Lamborghini Motorsport program continues to build its racing ladder. The GT3 program is the top step of an impressive pyramid, which includes Lamborghini Esperienza and Accademia and three Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo series worldwide.
There are direct connections between two of the confirmed GT3 entries and Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo North America, which is in its third season. Change Racing and O’Gara Motorsports both will add Lamborghini Huracán GT3 programs in addition to their existing Super Trofeo North America efforts in 2016. In addition Konrad Motorsport, a powerful Super Trofeo Europe team, has confirmed participation in the 24 Hours at Daytona with the Huracán GT3.
Change Racing has been in the fold since the North American series inception in 2013. Change Racing is a past team champion and has fielded the driver champion two years in a row, in addition to winning the 2014 Pro-Am Super Trofeo World Finals. O’Gara Motorsport team owner Tom O’Gara has been involved with the Super Trofeo series in North American since 2013, but this is the first year for the team as a solo entrant. The team leads the championship in the team and Pro and Amateur driver categories.
Konrad Motorsport fields a three-car effort in Super Trofeo Europe this season. This will be a return appearance to the 24 Hours at Daytona for the team, which is no stranger to endurance racing, but the first with Lamborghini. The Lamborghini Huracán GT3 will be introduced in both North America and Asia, after having already proven itself in Europe this season running in the Blancpain Endurance Series with Grasser Racing Team, where it has won the season opener at Monza (Italy) in April.
