The Lamborghini Gallardo GT3R, Test release heading

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The Lamborghini Gallardo GT3R, Test release - the STORY

'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.