Lamborghini's new Lamborghini Huracán STO has been given its first UK public showing at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Said to draw inspiration and technical learnings from the Huracán Super Trofeo Evo and successful GT3 racing models, it is the most track-focused version yet of the Italian brand's smallest model.
The STO (which stands from Super Trofeo Omologata) is effectively a road-homologated version of the racer that won the 24 Hours of Daytona three times.
"The concept of the project was in what way can we capitalise on all this [racing] know-how, all this experience, and create something that is missing in the portfolio of the Huracán family," Lamborghini's head of R&D, Maurizio Reggiani, told Autocar. "It is a car that can be dedicated to track activity in a puristic way."
Sitting above the Huracán Performante, the STO has power from its naturally aspirated V10 pegged at 631bhp - exactly the same as its sibling. However, it's 43kg lighter than the Performante, thanks mostly to the removal of the four-wheel drive system, but also due to the use of carbonfibre for 75% of the car's body panels.
Notably, the rear wings use a carbon 'sandwich' formation, using 25% less carbon material while maintaining the same rigidity. There are magnesium wheels, too, and even the windscreen is 20% lighter than the Performante's.
But there's far more to the STO than just lighter weight. As its race-bred bodywork suggests, aerodynamics play a core role. Reggiani said "extensive" wind tunnel work has helped the car "have the right balance in terms of outstanding downforce but with reduced drag over the race car".
To that end, new downforce- and cooling-boosting bonnet ducts and a splitter are added at the front and, as with the racer, the bonnet, wings and front bumper are all linked as one body piece. A redesigned underbody and rear diffuser feature, while race-derived NACA intakes at the sides improve cooling.
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