Lamborghini has launched a new GT3 racer that will compete in the Blancpain Endurance Series this year.
Two of the Huracan cars will be fielded by the Austrian Grasser Racing Team, who won four races in the Blancpain GT Series in 2014 with the Gallardo model.
The lead car will feature official Lamborghini test drivers Fabio Babini and Adrian Zaugg, as well as Mirko Bortolotti.
GT veteran Babini, 45, won the GT class at Le Mans in 2001, claimed the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe title in 2009 and 2011 and the European Le Mans Series GTC crown in 2013.
28-year-old South African Zaugg was a Red Bull Junior during his time in single-seaters which included wins in A1 Grand Prix and podiums in Formula Renault 3.5 and GP2.
Bortolotti had spells on the books of Red Bull and Ferrari after winning the Italian F3 title in 2008 and also went on to claim the FIA Formula Two Championship and Eurocup Megane Trophy in 2011 and 2013 respectively. The 25-year-old’s Lamborghini deal comes off the back of wins in the Super Trofeo last year.
The second Huracan GT3 will feature three racers picked from the marque’s Young Drivers Program – Giovanni Venturini, Jeroen Mul and Andrew Palmer.
Italian Venturini, 23, won in Auto GP and took podiums in GP3 while 24-year-old Dutchman Mul spent two years in the Porsche Supercup after racing in German F3 in 2011. 20-year-old American Palmer won the Super Trofeo World Final in 2013, just weeks after stepping up to car racing from karts.
Meanwhile, 2014 Super Trofeo European and World champions and ex-single-seater racers Milos Pavlovic and Edoardo Piscopo have been official test drivers for Lamborghini.
Unlike the Gallardo, which was developed by Reiter Engineering, the Huracan is an in-house project for Lamborghini.
“With the Huracan GT3, Lamborghini Squadra Corse takes a further step forward in the development and production of a race car for this category, which is among the most prestigious and challenging in international motorsport,” said Stephan Winkelmann, President and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini.
“Lamborghini is thus for the first time directly involved in GT motorsport activities with the in-house development of this new model.”
Racer and Lamborghini’s head of motorsport Giorgio Sanna has overseen the development of the car.
“The first GT3 car from Lamborghini will allow talented young drivers the opportunity to contest a Lamborghini in competitions such as the challenging 2015 Blancpain Endurance Series,” said Sanna.
“This season will be an important one for us to gather experience from a category as demanding as GT3, but at the same time we are offering a competitive product to our customers. It will be a busy year, as the Huracan LP 620-2 Super Trofeo will also debut in our Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo series in Europe, USA and Asia.”
Lamborghini has welcomed Indonesian energy firm Pertamina – a sponsor of Venturini in GP3 – as a partner of its motorsport activities.
