'Highest top speed and easy to drive.' These two comments about the performance of the Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 were music to the ears of Hans Reiter and his German engineering company at the end of a comprehensive two-day test at the Paul Ricard HTTT test track. They should also be music to the ears of prospective competitors in the new FIA GT3 European Championship.

Present at the official session in the south of France were most of the proposed competitors for the 2006 season, with only Ferrari missing from the test. The purpose of the test was to assess and, if necessary, equalise the performance of cars including the Maserati GT3, the Chrysler Viper, the Lamborghini Gallardo, Corvette C6, Porsche 997 and the Aston Martin DBRS9. French sportscar drivers Christophe Bouchut and Jean-Marc Gounon were on hand in addition to each of the teams' own designated drivers to drive and collect data on all the cars for the FIA.

The German engineering specialists were especially pleased with the performance of the Lamborghini, which set a fastest time of 2m12.077 leaving it just behind the Viper in the timings. It tested both with and without ballast, as did the Viper and the Corvette (the three fastest cars from the first day). Having worked hard over the winter period to develop a 2006 version of the Gallardo model, this brand new car had its first outing last Wednesday at the Adria test track in Italy at which it immediately showed its speed by setting a new lap record for GT3 cars of 1m18.28.

Hans Reiter was very upbeat about the outcome of the Paul Ricard test. 'It was a good two days and I think we have proved the worth of the Lamborghini here. One of the most important features of a car to be driven by gentlemen drivers is that it is easy to handle, and this was one of the main comments about the Gallardo. The racing ABS system makes it very suitable for this purpose. I am also very happy with the top speed of the car - it is definitely a potential winner.'

Peter Kox was on hand to drive the Reiter-run Lamborghini Gallardo, together with a number of potential clients who had the possibility to do a few laps of the Paul Ricard test track. Several cars have already been sold by Reiter for use in the Italian GT Championship, with further interest in both the British and French GT series.

Also present at Paul Ricard was collector Bernhard Müller with his Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT. Herr Müller took delivery of the Reiter-built car six months ago and was making the most of the first opportunity he'd had to put some mileage on his car. Müller has no intentions to enter his car into racing events; the testing was purely for fun.

9th March 2006

For further information on Reiter Engineering, call Hans Reiter on +49 8685 77920 or visit the website at www.reiter-engineering.com.

Paul Ricard HTTT
FIA GT3 Test Session

Date : 07/03/2006 17:04:40

Pos	Nr	Alias	Team	Laps	Time
1	804962	Dodge Viper	Dodge	39	02:09.703
2	914040	Corvette	Carsport	63	02:11.208
3	812100	Gallardo GT3	Reiter Engineering	45	02:12.111
4	1195508	Aston Martin	Aston Martin	67	02:12.554
5	433923	Porsche 997	Porsche Oreca	29	02:13.272
6	1567875	Ascari	Ascari	73	02:13.831
7	1995812	Porsche 977	Tech9	107	02:14.289
8	1293598	Maserati	AF Corse	32	02:15.126
9	933687	Maserati	AF Corse	67	02:15.588
10	1779005	Lotus	Lotus	65	02:18.296
11	771666	Venturi	Venturi	9	---

Date : 08/03/2006 17:03:43

Pos	Nr	Alias	Team	Laps	Time
1	804962	Dodge Viper	Dodge	48	02:10.909
2	812100	Gallardo GT3	Reiter Engineering	73	02:12.077
3	1195508	Aston Martin	Aston Martin	71	02:12.450
4	914040	Corvette	Carsport	43	02:12.708
5	881560	Porsche 977	Tech9	117	02:13.850
6	1995812	Porsche 977	Tech9	31	02:15.084
7	1567875	Ascari	Ascari	46	02:15.310
8	933687	Maserati	AF Corse	91	02:16.648
9	1779005	Lotus	Lotus	67	02:18.550
10	771666	Venturi	Venturi	24	02:19.577
11	1293598	Maserati	AF Corse	13	02:22.558
12	433923	Porsche 997	Porsche Oreca	2	---