How the Huracán GT3's Debut Monza Win Proved Lamborghini Could Build Its Own Race Car
On April 12, 2015, the green #19 car won on its very first outing — 37 seconds clear of a Rinaldi Racing Ferrari 458 Italia.
The green #19 Huracán GT3, fielded by GRT Grasser Racing Team with drivers Fabio Babini, Andrew Palmer, and Jeroen Mul, crossed the line at Monza 37 seconds ahead of the nearest competitor.
The first GT3 car Lamborghini built in-house
The Huracán GT3 was the first GT3 car Lamborghini claimed to have fully engineered, developed, and assembled internally through Squadra Corse, ending the company's reliance on external constructors.
Stripped for the grid: 2,731 pounds
Lamborghini says the Huracán GT3 tipped the scales at 2,731 pounds, roughly 400 pounds lighter than the standard Huracán, thanks to carbon fiber bodywork, a stripped interior, and the switch from all-wheel drive to a rear-wheel-drive layout with a six-speed sequential gearbox.
The green #19 car leads the field at Monza
Babini, Palmer, and Mul qualified third, seized the lead around the 20-minute mark, and never relinquished it against a 60-car field stacked with established GT3 machinery and professional international teams.
From external constructors to factory control
Before the Huracán GT3, Lamborghini's customer racing efforts relied more heavily on third-party specialists, but bringing the program inside Squadra Corse gave the company direct control over chassis architecture, powertrain calibration, and racing-system integration.
Dallara helped with aero; the core was Lamborghini's
Dallara Engineering contributed aerodynamic bodywork optimized for maximum traction, but the aluminum-carbon chassis, FIA-compliant roll cage, modified subframes, and racing-specific wiring harness all originated inside Lamborghini.
The road car's naturally aspirated 5.2-liter V10, preserved
The car kept the road car's naturally aspirated 5.2-liter V10, preserving the engine character Lamborghini owners know while giving customer teams a powerplant with a proven reliability baseline.
A turnkey race car built for privateer trust
Every detail, from the fast-release bodywork to the consolidated Bosch Motorsport electronics, reflected a company that understood the difference between building a showpiece and building a tool privateer teams could trust weekend after weekend.
A debut win that launched a GT3 dynasty
Finishing 37 seconds ahead of a Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 on the car's very first race weekend sent a message no amount of marketing spend could replicate, and the evolved GT3 Evo later secured the 2019 overall Blancpain championship.
Permanent infrastructure born at Monza
Squadra Corse grew from a small operation into a genuine factory racing division, and the in-house aerodynamic integration, chassis expertise, and electronics calibration capability built through the Huracán GT3 program became permanent infrastructure at Sant'Agata Bolognese.