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Lamborghini: We did not cheat on Nurburgring record

"Why would we [cheat]? We have all the data, all the GPS data. It's verified. It's already verified." – Lamborghini CEO Stefano Domenicali Lamborghini is doubling-down on the legitimacy of the Huracan Performante's production-car record at the Nurburgring. The Italian supercar maker should have been on a high when it launched its Huracan Performante at the Geneva Motor Show, but it was instead forced to defend the 6:52.01 lap time on the Nurburgring's Nordschleife circuit in the wake of criticism. Skeptics suggested the footage had been sped up from a rate of 24 frames per second to 25, arguing the 'authentic' lap time would have been closer to 7:08. James Glickenhaus, the owner of ultra-low volume supercar maker Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus, even called for the circuit to hold a special day to verify production car lap times. View 12 Photos "Why would we [cheat]?" Lamborghini CEO Stefano Domenicali asked incredulously. "We have all the data, all the GPS data. It's verified. It's already verified. "The simulation we did before we did the lap was already better than the previous time [set by Porsche's hybrid supercar, the 918 Spyder]. "What we saw was the great potential of active aerodynamics. The Nurburgring is a lot of partial throttle and long corners. The SV [Aventador] was for sure faster on the straight, but the lap [by the Performante] was all recorded." A Lamborghini spokesman suggested the entire controversy was rooted in "one blogger's business model [of] paying for clicks." Audi Sport development head, Stephan Reil, also weighed in during last week's Audi RS3 launch, insisting Lamborghini would have had no reason to cheat at anything and that its active aerodynamics would have more than made up for any power shortfalls. Audi is a sister brand of Lamborghini under the ownership of Volkswagen Group. "We also know that architecture well [the Huracan shares its architecture with Reil's R8]. We know what it's capable of," Reil said. "The Performante 'Ring time is absolutely credible. Active aero makes a huge difference. "We did a TT production racer for the 'Ring with about 380 horsepower and gave it maximum wing. It was so slow down the straight that everybody passed it, but the overall lap time was very, very fast. Much faster than without the aero downforce.

Lamborghini Huracan STO SC 10 Anniversario won't race, but should

Lamborghini's one-make Super Trofeo racing series waved its first green flag in 2009. Installing the season-ending World Finals as a cap to the series didn't start until 2013, the same year the Italian automaker created its Squadra Corse motorsports division, making this year the 10th anniversary of both. In honor of that, and perhaps to the benefit of a client or clients, Lamborghini's Ad Personam custom division created the Huracan STO SC 10 Anniversario, a roadgoing Huracan with a special livery and aero package tweaked by the Squadra Corse racing division. And since the Huracan is also headed into retirement after 10 years on sale, this racing-themed special model repeats history: Lamborghini sold a run of 50 Gallardo LP-570 Squadra Corse coupes for the 2014 model year on the eve of that model concluding its 10-year production run.     The Verde Mantis and Nero Noctis livery shouts out to the SC63 hybrid endurance racer that will compete in the IMSA's Le Mans Daytona Hybrid class starting next year. The Huracan's flourished in the lower classes, having won the GTD class at the Rolex 24 at Daytona three years in a row. Unique touches include the Tricolore band running down the center, "Squadra Corse 10° Anniversario" logos on the sides and rear fin, plus Rosso Mars accents along the carbon fiber package pieces. Inside, a Nero Ade seats are contrasted by Verde Fauns stitching, four-point seat belts, a roll bar, and a carbon fiber floor.  The company says this is the first time the Squadra Corse division has fiddled with a road car. The performance and aero changes count four-way adjustable racing-derived dampers replacing the adaptive shocks, specially developed Bridgestone tires, an Akrapovic titanium exhaust, new carbon fiber flics at the leading edges of the front cover vents, and a rear wing canted an additional three degrees for more rear downforce. The Gallardo Squadra Corse coupes got more downforce from a special rear wing, too, but the racing arm wasn't in charge of that back then. Chief technical officer Rouven Mohr described this as "a concrete demonstration of how experience gained in motorsport can be effectively transferred to the road product, enhancing performance and driving pleasure.

Why Italians are no longer buying supercars

Italy is the wound that continues to drain blood from the body financial of Italian supercar and sports car makers. The wound was opened by the country's various financial police who decided to get serious about superyacht-owning and supercar-driving tax cheats a few years ago, by noting their registrations and checking their incomes. When it was found that a rather high percentage of exotic toy owners had claimed a rather low annual income - certain business owners were found to be declaring less income than their employees - the owners began dumping their cars and prospective buyers declined to buy.
Car and Driver has a piece on how the initiative is hitting the home market the hardest. Lamborghini sold 1,302 cars worldwide in 2010, 1,602 cars in 2011 and 2,083 cars in 2012 - an excellent surge in just two years. In Italy, however, it's all about the ebb: in 2010, the year that Italian police began scouring harbors, Lamborghini sold 96 cars in Italy, the next year it sold 72, last year it sold just 60. The declines for Maserati and Ferrari are even more pronounced.
Head over to CD for the full story and the numbers. What might be most incredible isn't the cause and effect, but where the blame is being placed. A year ago the chairman of Italy's Federauto accused the government of "terrorizing potential clients," this year Luca di Montezemolo says what's happening has created "a hostile environment for ­luxury goods." Life at the top, it ain't easy.