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Lamborghini Oh the humanity

The hide and seek we play with facts

Lamborghini Aventador

It’s no use pretending, that I undertsand why Lamborghini Australia asked journos not to report on a flaming Aventador at a recent event held at Phillip Island.

According to Drive.com.au the LP700-4 had completed many laps of the picturesque circuit as part of a media demonstration, which was not attended by Drive. Late in the day smoke bellowed from the engine bay and flames soon emerged as people scrambled out on track with fire extinguishers to try and minimise the damage.

Fairfax Media alleges Lamborghini Australia “forced” at least one media organisation to delete footage of the flaming Aventador.

In a prepared statement, Sebastien Henry, Lamborghini’s head of south-east Asia and Pacific, explained: “We certainly did not ‘force’ any of our guests to delete any imagery obtained on the day.

“We did however, kindly request that our guests refrain from making any assumptions through the media—particularly when, at the time, the cause of the incident had not yet been adequately investigated.”

Henry’s statement went on to add: “Automobili Lamborghini has confirmed that the issue was accidental due to the vehicle’s extended track use in a high-temperature environment. The investigation has also confirmed that the issue was not due to any fault in the design or construction of the vehicle.”

Unofficial eyewitness reports suggest the fire was caused by a small oil leak which ignited after it made contact with the exhaust system. A theory which was later confirmed by Lamborghini.

This story is embarrassing for Lamborghini, yes, but we wonder if trying to suppress the facts is cause for more embarrassment?

Despite Lamborghini playing coy, this isn’t the first time an Aventador has said light me and I’ll burn for you.

[Source: Drive.com.au]

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Lamborghini Oh the humanity Video

Lamborghini Aventador no match for a Mazda2

Lamborghini Aventador crash

Here’s a video to make your eyes bleed. It involves a Lamborghini Aventador, a Mazda2 and an intersection on a London street. The end result could have been worse, but it’s still a shame to see.

[Source: Road & Track]

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2014 Geneva Motor Show in pictures – part 1

2014 Geneva Motor Show

Like us you probably haven’t had a chance to duck over to Europe to check out the Geneva Motor Show. So here’s the first of a two part series bringing you a selection of the cars on show. Here we start with Alfa Romeo and go through to Lexus.

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Lamborghini Video

Lamborghini Huracan ready to march forth

Lamborghini Huracan

We already know what the new 610hp Lamborghini Huracan looks like, but in case we’ve forgotten Sant’Agata’s latest hypercar hasn’t actually made its public debut yet this video teaser has been sent to remind us.

The good news is you only have to wait until 4 March before you can shake the trees and earth and start dancing in the storm!

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Audi Bathurst 12 Hour Ferrari Fiat Ford Lamborghini McLaren Mercedes-Benz Nissan Porsche

2014 Bathurst 12 Hour photo gallery: Qualifying

2014 Bathurst 12 Hour

Here’s your pick of photos from today’s qualifying for the 2014 Bathurst 12 Hour race. We start with this great image above of the MARC Focus GTC. What the hell is a Focus GTC you ask?

There’s three of them entered in the race and they’re a purpose-built creations powered by a 500hp 5.0 litre V8 sending power to the rear wheels. Weighing in at 1250kg their best lap times during quali have been in the 2:15 bracket. You can learn more about them HERE and HERE.

Of course, we’ve got more for you than Frankenstein Focuses, so check ’em all out after the break.

[Pics: Joel Strickland Photographics]

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Audi Bathurst 12 Hour Lamborghini Video

More onboard action from the Bathurst 12 Hour

David Russell, Lamborghini Gallardo GT3

Keen for some more onboard action to get you ready for tomorrow’s Bathurst 12 Hour race. Here’s a couple of laps from inside the #23 Lamborghini Gallardo with David Russell posting what was a GT lap record (2:05.9s) and also Laurens Vanthoor driving the #3 Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS.

Factory Porsche driver Patrick Long, who is racing in the Class B entered #12 911 Carrera Cup car, drops in to give his impressions after his first visit to Bathurst.

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Audi Bathurst 12 Hour Ferrari Fiat Ford Lamborghini Lotus McLaren Mercedes-Benz Nissan Porsche Subaru

2014 Bathurst 12 Hour photo gallery: Friday practice

2014 Bathurst 12 Hour

Defending champions Erebus Motorsport have signaled their intentions with the #1 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 setting the fastest time in practice at the 2014 Bathurst 12 Hour today. With Maro Engel behind the wheel his time of 2:04.4533 established a new lap record for a tintop car around Mount Panorama.

Conditions were hot late in the afternoon but as Practice 4 drew to a close the temperature dropped a few degrees and with more rubber on the resurfaced circuit times began to tumble. Engel posted his time with 10 minutes remaining in Practice 4. Around the same time the second Erebus car also bettered the old record when the #63 SLS AMG GT3 lapped in 2:05.3339.

Earlier in the day the Class B #23 Lamborghini Gallardo showed a clean pair of heels with David Russell setting a new GT benchmark of 2:05.9397. Of course, Russell’s record didn’t last the day and with more hot weather forecast for the rest of the weekend we expect tomorrow morning’s open qualifying session could yet see the fastest time of the day, traffic permitting.

There will be two open quali sessions tomorrow with a final 15 minute session immediately after Quali 2 open to Class A cars only.

After the break you can see a gallery of images from today and yesterday’s pre-race preparations with thanks to Joel Strickland Photographics. Use the links below to check out the official lap times from all four practice sessions.

2014 Bathurst 12 Hour – Friday practice lap times
Practice 1 | Practice 2 | Practice 3 | Practice 4

[Pics: Joel Strickland Photographics]

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Audi Bathurst 12 Hour BMW Ferrari Fiat Ford Lamborghini Lotus McLaren Mercedes-Benz Porsche Seat Subaru

Best ever field to take on 2014 Bathurst 12 Hour

2014 Bathurst 12 hour

Just a a couple of days from this weekend’s 2014 Bathurst 12 Hour race now is a good time to cast an eye over the official entry list. And what an entry list it is too!

There’s six classes in all, with the overall race winner expected to come from the 14-strong field of Class A (GT3 Outright) competitors. The #1 Erebus Motorsport Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 is back to defend its 2013 crown. Only Bernd Schneider returns for driving duties with Erebus, he will be joined by Maro Engel and Nico Bastian. Erebus will run a second SLS AMG GT3 (#63) to be crewed by Will Davison, Jack LeBrocq and Greg Crick.

Audi will have four representatives in Class A headlined by the #3 Phoenix Racing entry of Rahel Frey, René Rast and Laurens Vanthoor. Former winner Christopher Mies joins Marc Cini in his #9 R8 LMS Ultra along with Mark Eddy. The #5 Audi will be shared among a strong local crew of Jason Bright, Warren Luff, Rod Salmon and Liam Talbot. United Autosport rounds out Audi’s GT3 entrants in the #25 car driven by Marcus Winkelhock, Mark Patterson and Eric Lux.

Ferrari will be represented for the third year in a row by the #33 Clearwater Racing entry of Mok Weng Sun, Craig Baird and Matt Griffin. They’ve finished the race in third (2012) and second (2013) so will be hoping for another year of progression up the podium. The #88 Maranello Motorsport 458 GT3 will again attract attention with this year’s line up consisting of Craig Lowndes, John Bowe, Mika Salo and Peter Edwards.

Tony Quinn’s diversity in exotic racing ownership has extended to a McLaren 12C GT3 (#37) and he’ll be making that car’s debut in the Bathurst 12 hour with his son Klark and Andrew Kirkaldy.

Also making its B12hr debut is the #32 Nismo-backed Nissan GTR to be driven by Rick Kelly, Katsumasa Cyio, Alex Buncombe and Wolfgang Reip.

Class B (GT3) is dominated by Porsche 911s, with 10 of the 14 entries coming from Stuttgart. These cars are older-spec GT3 machines and two Audi R8s and a pair of Lamborghini Gallardos round out the category.

The stand out crew here is the #12 McElrea Racing 997 GT3 Cup (2012) driven by well-established racers Patrick Long, Alex Davison and David Calvert-Jones. A touch of Hollywood is represented by Eric Bana who is sharing the #99 Gallardo with mates Peter Hill and Simon Middleton.

A small field of three forms the Class C (GT4) field, including a Ginetta G50, a Lotus Exige Cup R and a Lotus Exige S.

Class D (Invitational 3001cc+) is headlined by the #7 Dean Herridge Subaru WRX STi, which will face stiff competition from a mixed bag of makes and models including a BMW 335i, a BMW E46 GTR, a BMW E92 M3, a Daytona Coupe and a pair of Seat Leon Supercopas.

Class E (Invitational up to 3000cc) consists of three Fiat Abarths, so if nothing else the Italian manufacturer is assured of a class win! Similarly, Class I (Invitational, non-production) is made of up of three Ford Focus GTCs and will see Grant Denyer at the wheel of the #70 entry.

All going well there’ll be 54 cars on the starting grid on Sunday morning, with the late withdrawal of the Vita4One Racing BMW team being the only downer, in what shapes as the most exciting and competitive Bathurst 12 Hour race yet.

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Lamborghini

Lamborghini Huracán LP 610-4 revealed

Lamborghini Huracan

Lamborghini has taken the wraps off its Gallardo replacement, the Cabrera. Except it’s not called the Cabrera at all, it’s been named the Huracan.

As is customary, Huracan is named after a bull, this one fought in Spain back in 1879 and apparently he took no crap from those poncey guys waving capes. And with 448kW (610hp) at 8250rpm and 560Nm at 6500rpm you won’t be easily pushed around either.

Coupled to a new 7-speed dual clutch transmission (Lamborghini Doppia Frizione or LDF) and an all-wheel drive system the Huracan brushes off 100km/h in only 3.2 seconds. The double century is knocked off in 9.9 seconds and it has a top speed of 325km/h.

A combination of carbon fibre and aluminium has been used to form the Huracan’s “hybrid chassis” helping to keep the its dry weight to 1422kg. Not superlight by any means, but a power-to-weight ratio of 2.33kg/hp is pretty handy.

The look of the latest beast from Sant’Agata is very much inspired by the outgoing Gallardo. That’s no bad thing as the Gallardo not only looked fantastic—it still looks great today in fact—but it is also Lambo’s highest ever selling model, with more than 14,000 finding homes.

The Huracan will make its full public debut at the Geneva Motorshow in March. Before then, though, it will be shown to select clientele at a series of invite-only preview events.

When the Huracan comes to Australia in the second half of next year it’s expected to be priced from around $430,000. That’s a drop in price of over $100,000 compared with the top-selling Gallardo.

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Lamborghini

Lamborghini Veneno Roadster wins at irrelevance

Lamborghini Veneno Roadster

Lamborghini’s pointless supercar, the Veneno Roadster, has plummeted to new depths of irrelevance with its public launch taking place on an aircraft carrier in Abu Dhabi. You think that’s strange enough, then what do you make of Fabio Cannavaro, a vital part of Italy’s 2006 World Cup winning squad, being there to lend his cheesy smile for publicity shots?

Why did you make this car so ugly? Why did you take it to the middle of nowhere to launch it on an aircraft carrier? Why is a retired footballer needed to complete this remarkable achievement in pointlessness? Why Lamborghini, why?

Lambo’s boss Stephan Winkelmann has a crack at answering a few of our questions: “We are honored that Lamborghini was chosen to represent the Italian car industry in the UAE, as a perfect example of iconic Italian super sports cars, and that we have the opportunity to show the Veneno Roadster for the first time in Abu Dhabi. Lamborghini has an extremely strong following in the region for its super sports cars, with the Middle East one of our largest markets in the world.”

Did you see how he artfully avoided answering the question asking why they made the Veneno so ugly? And let’s not forget it costs €3.3 million!

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Lamborghini

Listen to your heart

Hexagon project

Lamborghini has launched a new website called the Hexagon Project. It looks to be the go to place for the latest official teasers on the new V10-powered Cabrera supercar. Having the mighty task of filling the impressive boots left by the Gallardo, we’re expecting the Cabrera to be very special indeed.

For now the new website doesn’t offer much more than a starter button and a very nice sounding engine. When that changes we’ll be sure to let you know.

Categories
Lamborghini

Another Lamborghini Cabrera rendering

Lamborghini Cabrera rendering

Lamborghini may have just sent the last Gallardo down the line, but it’s full steam ahead for its replacement, the Cabrera. If this rendering from Italian magazine Quattroroute is anything close to accurate then we’re going to be drooling over the Cabrera for many years to come.

The translation for the heading above is “Ready for take off”, which seems very fitting for Lamborghini newest supercar.

[Source: Zero2Turbo via Jalopnik]