Lamborghini

In contrast to his rival Enzo Ferrari, Ferruccio Lamborghini decided early on that there would be no factory-supported racing of Lamborghinis, viewing motorsport as too expensive and too draining on company resources. This was unusual for the time, as many sports car manufacturers sought to demonstrate speed, reliability, and technical superiority through racing; Enzo Ferrari in particular regarded his road-car business mostly as a source of funding for motor racing. Ferruccio's policy created tensions with his engineers, many of whom were racing enthusiasts and some of whom had previously worked at Ferrari.

When Dallara, Stanzani, and Wallace began dedicating their spare time to the development of the P400 prototype, they designed it as a road car with racing potential — one that could win on the track yet also be driven on the road. When Ferruccio discovered the project he allowed it to proceed, seeing it as a potential marketing device, while insisting it would not be raced. The P400 went on to become the Miura. The closest the company came to a true race car under Lamborghini's own supervision were a few highly modified prototypes built by factory test driver Bob Wallace, such as the Miura SV-based "Jota" and the Jarama S-based "Bob Wallace Special".

In the mid-1970s, while Lamborghini was under the management of Georges-Henri Rossetti, the company entered into an agreement with BMW to develop and then manufacture 400 cars to meet Group 4 homologation requirements. BMW lacked experience developing a mid-engined vehicle and believed Lamborghini's expertise in that area made it an ideal partner. Due to Lamborghini's shaky finances, the company fell behind schedule developing the car's structure and running gear. When Lamborghini failed to deliver working prototypes on time, BMW took the programme in house and finished development, contracting Baur to produce the car, which BMW named the M1, delivering the first vehicle in October 1978.

In 1985, Lamborghini's British importer developed the Countach QVX in conjunction with Spice Engineering for the 1986 Group C championship season. One car was built, but a lack of sponsorship caused it to miss the season. The QVX competed in only one race, the non-championship 1986 Southern Suns 500 km race at Kyalami in South Africa, driven by Tiff Needell. Despite the car finishing better than it started, sponsorship could once again not be found and the programme was cancelled.

Lamborghini was an engine supplier in Formula One for the 1989 through 1993 seasons. It supplied engines to Larrousse (1989–1990, 1992–1993), Lotus (1990), Ligier (1991), Minardi (1992), and to the Modena team in 1991. While the Modena team is commonly referred to as a factory team, the company saw itself as a supplier rather than a backer.

The 1992 Larrousse–Lamborghini was largely uncompetitive but noteworthy for its tendency to spew oil from its exhaust system; cars following closely behind were commonly coloured yellowish-brown by the end of the race. Lamborghini's best result was achieved with Larrousse at the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix, where Aguri Suzuki finished third on home soil. In 1991, a Lamborghini Formula One engine was used in the Konrad KM-011 Group C sports car, but the car lasted only a few races before the project was cancelled. The same engine, re-badged a Chrysler (Lamborghini's then-parent company), was tested by McLaren towards the end of the 1993 season with the intent of using it in 1994; although driver Ayrton Senna was reportedly impressed with the engine's performance, McLaren pulled out of negotiations in favour of a Peugeot engine, and Chrysler ended the project.

Two racing versions of the Diablo were built for the Diablo Supertrophy, a single-model racing series held annually from 1996 to 1999. In the first year the series used the Diablo SVR; the Diablo 6.0 GTR was used for the remaining three years.

Lamborghini developed the Murciélago R-GT as a production racing car to compete in the FIA GT Championship, the Super GT Championship, and the American Le Mans Series in 2004. The car's highest placing that year was at the opening round of the FIA GT Championship at Valencia, where the Reiter Engineering entry finished third from a fifth-place start. In 2006, at the opening round of the Super GT championship at Suzuka, a car run by the Japan Lamborghini Owners Club took the first class victory by an R-GT. A GT3 version of the Gallardo was developed by Reiter Engineering, and a Murciélago R-GT entered by All-Inkl.com racing, driven by Christophe Bouchut and Stefan Mücke, won the opening round of the FIA GT Championship at Zhuhai International Circuit — the first major international race victory for Lamborghini.

Lamborghini's Motorsport Division, Squadra Corse, produces GT3 cars and cars for its Super Trofeo events, based on the Gallardo and Huracán. Squadra Corse also builds cars upon customer request, including the Essenza SCV12, the SC18 Alston, and the SC20.

The Lamborghini Super Trofeo is a series of motorsport events held by Squadra Corse using its Super Trofeo model vehicles, which are racing versions of the road-approved Huracán and Gallardo models. The events are held in three series across three continents — America, Asia, and Europe — with many private teams participating. Each series consists of six rounds, each featuring free practice, qualifying, and two 50-minute races, with four driver categories (Pro, Pro-Am, Am, and Lamborghini Cup). The season ends in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo World Final.

The Lamborghini GT3 is a series of events held by Squadra Corse using Huracán GT3 cars that comply with FIA GT3 regulations and is open to any Huracán GT3 customer. Lamborghini currently uses Huracán GT3 Evo 2 cars for these events, with more than 60 private teams participating.

Motori Marini Lamborghini produces a large V12 marine engine block for use in World Offshore Series Class 1 powerboats. A Lamborghini-branded marine engine displaces approximately 8.2 L and outputs approximately 940 hp.

This article is based solely on the supplied corpus, which is a broad marque article; only the motorsport-relevant content has been retained, and general road-car, corporate ownership, branding, and museum history with no racing relevance has been omitted. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.