If you have the opportunity to land at Guglielmo Marconi Airport in Bologna, Italy, you may see a Lamborghini moving around on the tarmac. It’s not there for a ‘Fast & Furious’ shoot but does an important duty daily as a ‘follow-me’ vehicle that guides aircraft, typically after they land or when they are taxiing to take off.
Since 2013 (its 50th anniversary year), Lamborghini has provided its sportscar to the airport which serves Bologna, the home city of Lamborghini. “The presence of Lamborghini in this hub has a two-fold value: it endorses our relationship with the region that is home to us and with which we have strong bonds, but it is also an important ‘business card’ for both Bolognese and international passengers who have the chance to appreciate our brand up close. This is a local link but with a global vision, therefore right in step with Lamborghini philosophy,” said Stephan Winkelmann, Chairman & CEO of Automobili Lamborghini.
Recently, the partnership was extended until 2025, and to start of the renewed association, there is complete restyling of Lamborghini’s exhibition space located in the main entrance of the terminal’s ground floor. Passengers passing through will be able to view a Lamborghini model permanently on display, buy brand accessories and, if they are staying in the city for a while, book factory and museum tours.
The Lamborghini Urus is celebrating 4 years since its launch in December 2017, during which time 16,000 units have been delivered worldwide. With 650 bhp, the Super SUV has supercar performance for the road but it has also shown an ability to face extreme challenges. On Lake Baikal in Russia, the Urus set a speed record on ice with a top speed of 298 km/h and an average speed from a standing start of 114 km/h over 1,000 metres. It also reached the highest motorable road in the world at the top of the Umling La Pass in the Himalayan part of India, more than 5,800 metres above sea level.
The capability of the Urus inspired Lamborghini’s designers to explore new possibilities for off-road super sportscars and in 2019, they came out with the Huracan Sterrato, a concept car based on the V10 Huracan which drew on off-road expertise developed with the Urus.
It was not the first time that Lamborghini’s designers explored high performance and off-road capabilities. In the 1970s, Lamborghini’s test driver Bob Wallace modified two models to create desert-going high performance sportscars – the Jarama Rally and the Urraco Rally.
The Sterrato concept is based on the Huracan EVO with the same 5.2-litre naturally-aspirated engine producing 640 bhp. The Huracan EVO’s LDVI (Lamborghini Dinamica Veicolo Integrata) with predictive logic, controls the Sterrato’s systems including 4-wheel drive, 4-wheel steering, modified suspension and torque vectoring, anticipating the next moves of the driver to ensure perfect driving dynamics.
Calibrated for off-road driving (including low-grip surfaces) and tuned to maximize traction and acceleration, the LDVI system in the Sterrato provides enhanced rear-wheel drive behaviour, producing more torque together with additional stabilization in oversteering manoeuvres.
Huracan EVO
The Sterrato is intended for rough and demanding environments and its appearance illustrates this. More ground clearance is necessary in rough terrain so 47 mm is added, with the car’s front approach sharpened by 1% and the departure angle enhanced by 6.5%.
The wheel track is enhanced front and rear by 30 mm, with 20-inch wheels on balloon tyres set into widebody wheelarches with integrated air intakes. The larger tyres have been specially developed with increased sidewalls to improve the absorption of bumps and also provide good grip. Wide, rugged, open shoulder blocks with self-cleaning qualities provide excellent off-road surface adherence with improved traction and braking and are highly damage-resistant.
When driving over rough terrain with rocks and loose stones, the underside is at risk of being damaged. To prevent this, the Sterrato is fitted with underbody reinforcements and body protection, including a rear skidplate that acts as a diffuser. Aluminium reinforcements are integrated within the front frame and covered with an aluminium skidplate, with aluminium-reinforced sideskirts.
The bodywork’s special protective composite material includes stone-deflecting protection around the engine and air intakes and mud guards in hybrid materials of carbonfibre and elastomeric resin. An off-road LED light package puts a LED light bar on the roof and LED lights with flood function on the bumper.
A specially-designed interior trim reflects the sporty off-road character of the Sterrato, featuring a new lightweight titanium roll-cage, 4-point seatbelts to the new carbonfibre bi-shell sports seats, and aluminium floor panels.
With most countries having movement restrictions of one kind or another over the past year, many driving enthusiasts have taken to racing online – sim racing. It was therefore not surprising that the first edition of Lamborghini eSports ‘The Real Race’ in 2020 was a major success, attracting more than 2,500 drivers from 109 countries.
The competition returns with 10 races for its second year in 2021 with a new and upgraded regional format. Once again, the world’s leading sim racers will compete driving a Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO in the simulation racing game, Assetto Corsa Competizione.
More global approach
Following 2020’s inaugural competition won by German sim racer Nils Naujoks, this year’s event offers a more global approach to ‘The Real Race’. Racers will compete both in traditional Grand Prix and in three Endurance races to earn points within their regional tournaments in Europe, America and Asia.
The competition will take place from June to November in which racers around the world can sign up for the open qualifiers, running weekdays Monday to Friday (to sign up, go to https://esports.lamborghini/). The top 40 players from the open qualifiers go to the closed qualifier hosted every Saturday. Finally, the top 20 participants from the closed qualifiers will enter ‘The Real Race’ on Sunday, competing twice on the same track. The 10 weekly qualifiers for each region will offer participants the chance to earn points for their respective regional ranking and climb the ladder to become the next regional champion.
6 months long
“eSports is a field where we want to play a major role,” said Federico Foschini, Lamborghini Chief Marketing & Sales Officer. “’The Real Race’ is 6 months long, allowing players to live the thrill of true competition through the preparation and participation in races against some of the best sim racers in the world. We’re proud to host this competition and to offer the winner the opportunity to live a real-life immersive experience in the world of Lamborghini and be provided with the prospect of a career in eSports.”
For ‘The Real Race’, the Huracan GT3 EVO, a 3-time winner of the Daytona 24 Hours, has received an exclusive race livery from Lamborghini’s Centro Stile, its in-house design department. The livery is customizable in 12 different versions by competitors, with each car and displaying the trademark logos of partners, Kaspersky and Assetto Corsa Competizione.
Lamborghini Official Sim driver
The winners will enjoy will a track experience with the Lamborghini Squadra Corse and a VIP experience at Lamborghini Headquarters as well as a chance for the TOP 1 player of each regional ranking to become a Lamborghini Official Sim driver.
Assetto Corsa Competizione was developed alongside car manufacturers and provides a dynamic platform for Lamborghini’s latest racing series. The game is also used by official Lamborghini Squadra Corse test and race drivers in their real-world preparations.
This second edition of ‘The Real Race’ strengthens Lamborghini’s support and commitment to the eSports scene. After launching its first digital competition last year, Lamborghini has signed partnerships with major gaming brands on the eSports scene including Rocket League and Asphalt 9: Legends, which now offer players the opportunity to drive Lamborghini models including the Huracan STO and the Essenza SCV12.
Not everyone will be able to own a Lamborghini as it requires a lot of money to acquire one (an understatement, of course). But many should be able to afford €34.99 (about RM170) for the Lamborghini Huracan EVO created through a collaboration between Automobili Lamborghini and Ravensburger.
108 pieces in faithful detail
This supercar comes in the form of a 3D jigsaw puzzle which Lamborghini enthusiasts can assemble into the Huracan EVO car in a 1:18 scale. Ravensburger, a leading games and recreation brand from Germany, has replicated its dynamic lines and sophisticated aerodynamic styling,
Workers at the Lamborghini factory have to assemble thousands of parts to make a Huracan EVO but you just need to put together 108 plastic pieces which are numbered for easier identification.
Every detail is faithful to the real car, from the Y-style front bumper and Y-shape in the headlights, to the hexagonal details found throughout the car and the original Arancio Xanto orange colour of Lamborghini cars. The completed car can be mounted onto a replica chassis.
The finished model, with the distinctive Lamborghini design DNA evident in its low-slung profile, measures 26 cm in length. Distinctive finishing touches are realized by the 32 high-quality feature accessories, such as the axles and four rotating wheels that faithfully replicate the Aesir rims found on the real car, along with front splitter and rear diffuser.
A full-sized Huracan EVO costs around RM1.15 million.
Most successful V10 Lambo
The Huracan line began in 2014 and then became the Huracan EVO from 2019. It is the evolution of the most successful V10-powered Lamborghini ever. Its 5.2-litre naturally-aspirated engine, with titanium intake valves, produces 640 bhp/600 Nm and with a dry weight of 1,422 kgs, the Huracan EVO has a weight‑to‑power ratio of 2.22 kgs/bhp. It is claimed to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 2.9 seconds and can reach a top speed of 325 km/h.
