The Lamborghini Huracan made landfall in the U.S. back in 2014 and with it came the winds of change for the Italian brand. Not only did it churn up sales records, but it brought on a flood of motorsport success, including three straight wins at the Daytona 24 Hours, which has led to this 2021 Huracan STO.

STO stands for Super Trofeo Omologata. Before you go digging for your Italian-to-English dictionary, Omologata means homologation. So, this STO is a street-legal Huracan heavily inspired by the Huracan Super Trofeo and GT3 EVO race cars. And that’s evident even at first glance.

The front bonnet, fenders and bumper are all one single piece, while these new ducts direct airflow for cooling and downforce. Speaking of downforce, this fixed rear wing has three manual settings and, when set to its most aggressive position, can create over 900 pounds of downforce. This shark fin and air scoop are just two more of the many air manipulating features sprinkled all over the body, which itself is 75% carbon fiber.

And there’s more of it inside the cabin, which has been thoroughly stripped of excess weight. I mean we’re talking “pull straps instead of door handles” type weight-savings. 

The engine is still a 5.2-liter naturally aspirated V10 with 631 horsepower going to the rear wheels by way of a 7-speed dual clutch transmission. It’s no more powerful than the Huracan Performante, but quicker gear changes, stickier Bridgestone rubber, and rear-wheel steering make it considerably faster on a road course. Which is why Lamborghini brought MotorWeek to the harrowingly fast desert oasis known as Willow Springs.

GREG CARLOSS: "The cornering grip in this thing is absolutely insane. I’m taking this corner at 111 mph. Just when I think I should probably let off because I’m gonna run out of grip, it’s just still there. It never relents."

With a price tag of over $328,000, Lamborghini admits most buyers won’t ever take the Huracan STO to a racetrack and if that is the case, well, that’s just a depressing waste of a great track car.