Lamborghini gets to work on Huracán LP610-4 Super Trofeo

We all know the story of how Automobili Lamborghini got its start. The short of it is that Ferruccio, who had already started a successful tractor business, wanted to stick it to Enzo Ferrari, so he started making sports cars of his own. Lamborghini, however, never embraced motorsports to the same degree that Ferrari has â€" dabbling in Formula One engines in the early '90s and the occasional foray into GT racing â€" but these days the Raging Bull marque is getting more serious about racing. It partners with Reiter Engineering to field competition versions of its road-going supercars, and organizes its own one-make series with individual championships around the world.

That's where the new Huracán comes in. While the Ferrari Challenge has progressed from the 348 to the 355, 360, 430 and now the 458, the Lamborghini Super Trofeo has always been centered around the Gallardo. That's because the series only kicked off in 2009, and the Gallardo had been in production since 2003. But now that the Gallardo has been replaced by the Huracán, the Squadra Corse team is hard at work on their new Super Trofeo racer.

To that end, Lamborghini has recruited racing drivers Fabio Babini and Adrian Zaugg to conduct development work on the Huracán LP 610-4 Super Trofeo. Babini is a GT racing veteran who took a class win at Le Mans in 2001, while Zaugg came up the formula racing ladder, competing on A1GP and GP2 before signing on as a Lamborghini factory driver.

They car they'll be working on will be a stripped-out, track-tuned racing version of the new Huracán, retaining its 5.2-liter V10 to drive the same 602 horsepower to all four wheels. It could ditch the heavy dual-clutch gearbox in favor of a lighter, more hardcore sequential gearbox, and will likely pack a tighter, lower suspension, upgraded brakes, more extreme aero and other competition-spec goodies. The resulting racer will serve as the backbone for individual championships in Europe, Asia and North America. In the meantime, Lambo has taken the Huracán to the track for the Lamborghini Accademia, pictured above.

28-May-2014
The Lamborghini Huracán LP 610-4 takes to the track with Lamborghini Accademia 2014

After its official unveiling at the Geneva Motor Show in March, and having garnered more than 1500 orders from all over the world, the new supercar from the House of the Raging Bull is playing the starring role in Lamborghini Accademia 2014, which takes to the grid on 2 June in Imola.

Lamborghini Accademia is holding its first 2014 session on June 2 to 4 at Imola Racetrack. The lead role is awarded to the Lamborghini Huracán LP 610-4, the new luxury super sports car unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March.

The Lamborghini Accademia program, by Lamborghini Squadra Corse, provides Lamborghini customers with intensive driving courses on the track, so they can take their first steps into the world of motor racing. "Learning by doing is best" is the philosophy behind the Accademia, which offers two programs - one intensive and one advanced - with a team of professional instructors who have extensive experience in the racing world.

The Accademia provides the remarkable opportunity to fully experience the potential of Lamborghini super sports cars on both track and ice (Winter Accademia). It's a captivating combination of high performance vehicles on some of the world's legendary race tracks.

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29-May-2014
Automobili Lamborghini appoints Fabio Babini and Adrian Zaugg as Squadra Corse test drivers, and announces the selected drivers to Young Drivers Program

Lamborghini Squadra Corse has announced Fabio Babini and Adrian Zaugg as test drivers to develop the new Lamborghini Huracán LP 610-4 Super Trofeo race car, to be adopted in the three Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo series (Europe, Asia, North America).

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Hindustan Ambassador production ceases after 56 years

The automotive industry moves at a pretty brisk pace. Old models are replaced by new ones, and new ones are replaced by even newer ones. But things don't always move so quickly in developing countries. In Brazil, for example, Volkswagen continued to produce the old Kombi van for 56 years with little modification until recently. And in India, the 1948 Morris Oxford has been in production as the Hindustan Ambassador since 1958. But that now looks to be drawing to a close as well.

The Ambassador is built in Kolkata by Hindustan Motors, the four-wheeled equivalent of Royal Enfield: an Indian company making old British vehicles pretty much the way they were designed decades ago. As its name suggests, it became a favorite of senior diplomats and government ministers, and also sees widespread use as a taxi cab. But though the Ambassador may have become an icon in India, sales have dropped dramatically over the years.

In the 1980s, Hindustan was reportedly selling around 24,000 Ambassadors each year, but last year it only sold 2,214 of them as state officials switched to more secure vehicles and private customers opted for more maneuverable, fuel-efficient and altogether more modern options â€" particularly as the government opened up the market to imports and foreign-supported joint ventures. Couple that with dropping discipline on part of Hindustan factory workers and growing debt, and it's little wonder that the company has shut down production.

For its part, Hindustan Motors hopes to get a handle on its debt and restart production at the factory in West Bengal, but as India modernizes and mobilizes at a rapid rate, it could be looking at the end of the long-lived Ambassador once and for all.

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Real-life Bravado Banshee from Grand Theft Auto up for sale

Remember the Bravado Banshee that West Coast Customs built last year to promote Grand Theft Auto V? Given away by GameStop, the woman who won it says she's better off with money to send her two kids to college than with a race car, so now you can steal buy it on eBay.

Based on a 2006 Dodge Viper SRT-10, every exterior panel was redesigned to match the Banshee, and the red embroidered badging inside won't let you forget it. There's still that V10 up front that can make some kind of racket, and a SEMA-worthy stereo filling the entire trunk to make a different kind of racket. Oh, it's also got hood struts that have crapped out, so you'll notice the hood is held up with a wooden rod.

The auction ends on June 5, and you can make an offer or hit the Buy It Now button and hand over $170,000. Might be time to change the outfit and run a few jobs for some quick cash.

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Three spectatos killed, six injured at Jim Clark Rally in Scotland [w/video]

If you've ever watched an off-road rally and wondered how the spectators are allowed to get so close to the cars traveling at high speeds over loose and often unpredictable surfaces, we're afraid to report that your suspicions have tragically been confirmed as news comes in of two separate crashes during the Jim Clark Rally in Scotland on Saturday.

The first of the two incidents occurred near Crosshall Farm on the Eccles stage, where a car left the road and struck five spectators â€" one woman and four men â€" who were evacuated to Borders General Hospital, after which one was moved to intensive care in Edinburgh.

That stage was closed down following the collision, but the rest of the rally carried on. Two hours later another car left the road at Little Swinton near Coldstream and hit four spectators, three of which we're bereaved to report were pronounced dead at the scene. The fourth victim was taken to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary in critical condition.

The Jim Clark Rally takes place over the course of three days in the Scottish Borders region. The event named, of course, after legendary Scottish driver Jim Clark, who himself was killed in a racing accident at Hockenheim in 1968. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of this most tragic incident. Scroll down below for the official announcement from Scotland Police Superintendent Phil O'Kane.

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Jaguar designs Tour de France racing bike [w/video]

Jaguar is known for designing luxury sedans, and it's known for designing GTs. But once in a while it dabbles in a new area of transportation design. It's working on its first crossover at the moment, and even did a speedboat concept a couple of years ago. Now it's turned its attention to bicycles.

While many automakers have designed bikes in the past, Jaguar's project has a bit more of a direct correlation. It's been working with Team Sky â€" the outfit that has won the Tour de France two years running now â€" since 2010, furnishing the team with support vehicles for bicycle races around the world. But now it's stepping its collaboration up a notch by redesigning the team's bike.

Working with frame manufacturer Pinarello, Jaguar took the existing Dogma 65.1 racing bike design back to the drawing board. Jaguar's designers and engineers reshaped the frame tubes, seat post, front fork, derailleur and all the components attached to the frame, each part streamlined for aerodynamic efficiency. They ran it through Jaguar's Computational Fluid Dynamics processor 300 times then verified the results in the wind tunnel.

The resulting Pinarello Dogma F8 is an impressive 26.1 percent more aerodynamic than the 65.1. Which couldn't have been an easy feat to accomplish, but ought to put Team Sky in an even better position to defend its title this season. Scope out the details and the video below.

Jaguar Partners with Team Sky and Pinarello to Engineer New Tour de France Racing Bike

28 May 2014

Jaguar has deepened its partnership with Team Sky, one of the world's leading professional road cycling teams, and built a new relationship with Pinarello, the highly regarded Italian bike manufacturer, by helping them develop the team's latest race bike.

The car maker, renowned for some of the world's finest luxury saloons and sports cars, has used its advanced aerodynamic knowledge and facilities to help in the creation of the new Pinarello Dogma F8 bicycle, to be raced by Team Sky during the remainder of the 2014 season.

This is the first time Jaguar's comprehensive technical capability has been used by the team, and marks the beginning of a new collaborative relationship between Jaguar, Team Sky and its family of partners and suppliers, including legendary frame manufacturer Pinarello. Jaguar is now an official 'innovation partner' with Team Sky.

The Dogma F8's first race will be the Critérium du Dauphiné, which starts on June 8. Its major test this year will be on the Tour de France, which starts in Leeds on July 5. Team Sky and Chris Froome are the defending champions. Team Sky also won in 2012, with Sir Bradley Wiggins.

'Jaguar has supplied support vehicles to Team Sky since its first season in 2010,' says Mark Cameron, Global Brand Experience Director for Jaguar Land Rover, 'Our partnership is based on shared values of performance, innovation and technology. We are delighted to develop the relationship, and become an innovation partner. This should be the first of many opportunities to support Team Sky technologically in the future.'

Sir Dave Brailsford, Team Principal of Team Sky, fresh from overseeing Sir Bradley Wiggins' victory in the Tour of California, says access to Jaguar Land Rover's technical resources would help Team Sky to be even more competitive in future.

'Cycling is a very competitive sport where every fraction of a second matters. With the experience and knowledge of Jaguar's performance engineers, combined with Pinarello's world class reputation in frame building and Team Sky's elite level expertise, we have created an excellent bike. Jaguar has utilised their advanced CFD [computational fluid dynamics] facility and skills to help make the Pinarello Dogma 65.1 even better. I'm confident our riders will start the Tour de France on the fastest bike we've ever used.'

Jaguar's role was to help give Pinarello's top-end bicycle frame even better aerodynamic performance. Working to fixed 'hard points' - such as wheelbase and geometry determined by Pinarello's designers - Jaguar's engineers developed the frame to improve the aerodynamics of the tube profiles, and reduced the drag of components mounted to the frame. More than 300 CFD 'virtual' runs were done between October and January, using the same methods to optimise the aerodynamics of new Jaguar Land Rover road cars. The drag of every single component was measured, and single modifications could be analysed and compared. Wind tunnel work was then used to verify the CFD tests.

Aero-led changes include aerofoil-shaped tubing optimised within UCI regulations, and a new aero seat post. The Dogma F8's front forks have been developed to minimise drag and ensure seamless airflow on to the down tube. The rear derailleur wire/cable exits the frame at the back of the drop out, again to reduce turbulence. Three holes on the seat tube allow for a lower position for a second drink bottle, to further reduce drag.

In certain areas, Jaguar accentuated the famous asymmetric design of the Dogma 65.1 to improve aerodynamic performance. The seat mono stay around the rear brake is now asymmetric to guide airflow cleanly around the brake calliper, while using the minimal amount of material. The upper section of the rear chain stay is also heavily asymmetric.

The wind tunnel tests show the new Dogma F8 is 26.1 per cent more aerodynamic (complete bike) than the outgoing Dogma 65.1 and 6.4 per cent more aerodynamic including a rider. The frame set alone is 40% more aerodynamic ally efficient.

'Jaguar has very advanced CFD capability and we have a great deal of computational power, so we can turn around a lot of different configurations in high resolution very quickly,' says Jaguar Land Rover head of aerodynamics Jon Darlington. 'The skills needed are also fundamentally the same as for a car. We have a talented team with a great depth of aerodynamic knowledge. Applying this level of engineering capability and analysis to the development of a bike probably has not been done before.'

Pinarello's priorities, for the new Dogma F8, were to maintain handling, reduce weight, and improve the stiffness and aerodynamics. Handling had to be at least as good as the acclaimed Dogma 65.1. Weight should be reduced (it was - by just over nine per cent) and stiffness further improved (achieved partly thanks to an even better grade of Torayca T11001K carbon fibre from supplier Toray). Aerodynamics had the potential for significant improvement.

'Pinarello was very keen to protect their handling, as it's fundamental to their bike design, and it's one of the areas Team Sky love with the Dogma 65.1,' says Jon Darlington. 'So we kept the "hard points" of the frame design and then joined the dots with enhanced tube profiles - using aerodynamic principles and CFD to define the best overall design. We minimised the frontal area of the bike for aerodynamic gain, which also reduced the amount of material used. Combined with the advanced materials used by Pinarello, this resulted in a reduction in weight and an increase in stiffness.'

'I'm a keen cyclist - at an amateur level - so it was really interesting to apply our aerodynamic knowledge to bikes. We loved the short time between testing and production - much faster than for cars - and also the desire by Team Sky and Pinarello to have everything functionally led. They are so clearly determined to win.'

Pinarello CEO Fausto Pinarello insisted the new Dogma F8 must have the legendary Pinarello DNA including the best possible performance. He is confident the new Dogma F8, flagship of the Pinarello range, is the fastest frame Pinarello has ever designed. 'The best bike in the world, I think, has got even better, and Jaguar helped us to deliver that.

'We always look for new technology that improves our bikes' performance,' says Fausto Pinarello. 'It was a pleasure working with Jaguar on the aerodynamics. They bought a great deal of cutting-edge aerodynamic expertise which increases Team Sky's chance of winning the Tour de France and means all Dogma F8 customers will get a superior bicycle.

'The best test however is the feedback from the riders. Chris Froome was very enthusiastic when he first rode the Dogma F8. He knows this a bike capable of winning the Tour de France.'

'The difference was obvious when I first rode the Dogma F8,' says 2013 Tour de France champion Froome. 'It is obviously lighter and feels more rigid, so that all the power from your legs is transferred to the road without any flex or movement. This is a bike on which I know I can win another Tour de France. I am going to be doing everything possible to make that happen.'

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