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A real Bull Run: Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT will race Le Mans
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After struggling to be competitive in its first two seasons, the Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT finally delivered this season with a win in the Super GT class at Suzuka. Following up with a pole position in round 5, the car continued the season with several top-10 finishes in the 2006 FIA GT Championship series. Hans Reiter, of Reiter Engineering who fields the cars for Lamborghini, is confident that the new car for '07 is even better and that they are more than ready to take a stab at LeMans.
The car that will compete is known as the "LeMans Edition" and pumps out 520 horsepower from its V12. With the amazing speeds reached at LeMans, aerodynamics have been totally revamped in searching for the delicate balance between downforce and speed. The front bumper has been completely redesigned with an extended splitter and large air intakes as well as driving lights for enhanced night driving. The rear wing has been modified to reduce aerodynamic drag and several of the air intakes in the body have been enclosed to improve not only airflow around them but also through them. The chassis sits considerably lower than the previous model as well, with ground clearance ranging between 4 and 8 centimeters.
Look for the raging bull at LeMans in 2007. Ongoing testing at Salzburgring has been promising and Lamborghini is pulling out all of the stops to firmly implant their name into the LeMans record books.
[Source: Italspeed via Lambocars]
See more pictures after the jump!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
GDUB 9:51AM (12/07/2006)
Oh mama mia. I am in love. I would love a street version of this car.
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TheOne442 11:33AM (12/07/2006)
WOW, that is SEXY!
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epp_b 10:08AM (12/07/2006)
Drrroooooooooooooooooollll...... !!
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Stoneman 10:17AM (12/07/2006)
Now I know why I love Ferrari and hate lambos. There is not one ounce of elegance or style to this car.
Stoneman
http://www.stonemanautoreview.com
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Proud Japanese 10:22AM (12/07/2006)
[ ] Elegance
[x] Sheer Visual Onslaught
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Peter 10:28AM (12/07/2006)
Looking forward to it. There was a Japanese Murcielago in this year's 24. Not really competitive, but I really loved it. Just need to close my eyes and still can hear it wailing into the dark of the night. Beautiful car.
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kanadian 10:31AM (12/07/2006)
can I apply for the job??? pleasssssssse
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Mr_Oak 10:38AM (12/07/2006)
It'll fall into line behind the C6-Rs and the DB9s.
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villainy 11:05AM (12/07/2006)
As much as I dislike Lamborghini styling overall I have to say I really like the front on shot of this car. Definitely looks like its prepared to eat large sections of road in a short period of time.
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d 11:17AM (12/07/2006)
When I was a kid, the Countach was the embodiment of "exotic"
Screw elegance, I'll take the car that screams FANTASY!
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gkz 11:14AM (12/07/2006)
"...and Lamborghini is pulling out all of the stops to firmly implant their name into the LeMans record books."
I don't think so. Audi pulls out all the stops. Corvette pulls out all the stops. Porsche pulls out all the stops. Lamborghini puts forth what can generously be considered a half-assed effort.
I agree with Stoneman. Lamborghini will never be the same as Ferrari. They've been successful thus far building their own identity; why not stick with that? Nobody in their right mind would ever consider Lamborghini equals with the racing "giants".
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Chris Goldrick 11:18AM (12/07/2006)
Looks prepared to eat large sections of road or small children? Yikes!!
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Enbarr 7:22PM (12/07/2006)
Why not modify the LP640 that has 640hp as a street machine?
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Jorge 12:07PM (12/07/2006)
Like that spoiler
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david s 1:32PM (12/07/2006)
How soon we forget: the JLOC Lambo R-GT that competed in this year's Le Mans:
http://www.motorsport.com/photos/lemans/2006/24h/lemans-2006-24h-eg-1878.jpg
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Paul 2:25PM (12/07/2006)
damn that thing looks evil.... I want one
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rrr is a Moron 6:47PM (12/07/2006)
Corvette food.
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tony 7:09PM (12/07/2006)
Hey RRR i think is the other way around. The Lambo will eat up the corvette. What a wicked looking car. BRAVO!!!
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Huecifcer 7:11PM (12/07/2006)
These enhancements only accentuate Lambo's current design direction, and this car looks great. New, mean, technology...so Lamborghini. The colors alone are completely modern, and paired with the rest of the car make it seem like we're looking into the future.
Where other cars are svelte (Aston), or muscular (Porsche, Bugatti), or whatever Ferrari's are supposed to be (bug-eyed? incongruous? baroque flying butresses?), this is Lambo's take on the whole thing. And, as a designer, I personally think it's the most fresh and successful.
PS: #3, Stoneman: You gotta stop linking your stupid site in the text of your messages and just put it in with your name like everyone else. It just makes me hate you even more. That, and your unsupported statements:
"There is not one ounce of elegance or style to this car."
You can call it ugly if you want, that's personal preferrence, but in no way can you back up that Lambos have no style. Lamborghini as a company has more of a stylistic standard than almost any other car company, even your beloved Ferrari. Enzos, 360s, 430s, 575s and 599s barely share any common design traits.
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bruddahmanmatt 9:46PM (12/07/2006)
It doesn't matter that the LP640 makes 640hp because the racecar would end up being restricted anyway. The 520hp the R-GT pumps out is obviously a restricted figure. The R-GT was designed to comply with FIA, ACO and JAF rules hence the reason it uses an air restricted 6.0L V12 that cranks out "only" 520hp whereas street going Murcs run a 580hp 6.2L V12 or in the case of the LP640 a 640hp 6.5L V12. Additionally in order to comply with rules set by the aforementioned sanctioning bodies the R-GT is rear wheel drive and not AWD like its street going counterparts.
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