Murcielago R-SV GT1 chassis #1066

As very little has been posted on the GT1 adventure Lamborghini embarked on from 2003 to 2011, I thought I would take advantage of the opportunity to present to the community our Murcielago R-SV chassis #1066, which is the very last Lamborghini GT1 built.

As you know, Lamborghini, although one of the most prominent Italian sports cars manufacturer, never intended to go racing with his cars. Unlike Ferrari, that placed racing above everything else, Lamborghini never saw in motorsport a way to promote his street cars.

Things changed once Audi stepped in, and few attempts were made to bring the brand on the racing tracks, or more precisely on the international racing scene. Few years before, Stephane Ratel would successfully run the Lamborghini Super Trophy with the Diablo SVR and GTR, but it was a monotype racing series.

In 1995, Lamborghini commissioned a UK company to build a GT1 version of the Diablo for the 24 hours of Le Mans. The car never made it to La Sarthe and ended up in South Africa (currently being restored in Europe). A sole Diablo GT2 was built in 1998 by the factory but raced very little. There also was the project of a Diablo Jota built by the Japan Lamborghini Owners Club (more on the JLOC later) that raced in the JGTC from 1995 to 1999, and its successor, a Diablo GT1 that was built in 2001 but never raced.

Now fast forward to 2003. At Lamborghini, decision was made to build a proper race car, based on the new Murcielago. It would be a great way to promote the new bull by going racing with it, and would finally put Lamborghini on the international racing scene.

A prototype of the Murcielago R-GT was launched at the 2003 Frankfurt auto show. Lamborghini contracted Reiter Engineering in Germany to build the 11 Murcielago R-GT and the 5 Murcielago R-SV GT1 over a 7 year period.
Few pictures of the R-GT prototype unveiled at the 2003 IAA show.
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The Murcielago R-GT first saw action in 2004, in the FIA GT championship, the American Le Mans Series and All Japan GT championship. It raced in these series plus the European Le Mans Series, Asian Le Mans series, and others all over the world until 2009. Contrary to popular belief, the Murcielago R-GT was not a complete failure and scored very interesting results in international championships :

3rd O.A at the 2004 FIA GT Valencia round, 1st in the GT1 class at the 2006 Okayama 1000 Km, 1st at the 2007 FIA GT round of Zuhai, 2nd at Bucharest, …

The strong results came with the R-SV in the FIA GT1 World championship, the R-SV scoring 4 outright victories against the likes of Aston Martin DBR9, Maserati MC12, Corvette C6-R, …
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Simultaneously, the JLOC probably became the largest Reiter customer worldwide, owning no less than 4 Murcielago R-GT, and one Murcielago R-SV (chassis #1066 subject of this post). They would also be the only team to enter the Murcielago R-GT in the legendary 24 hours of Le Mans three times in 2006, 2007, and 2009. JLOC learned the most difficult race in the world the hard way, including the infamous one lap race in 2007.

They would nevertheless see in the launch of the ultimate GT1 evolution of the Murcielago, the R-SV, a way to finally reach their goal of finishing the 24 hours of Le Mans with a Lamborghini. So in 2010, JLOC ordered a brand new Murcielago R-SV to Reiter. The car was pretty rare, as only 5 would be built. 3 were converted from previous R-GTs, and two were built from scratch, chassis #1065 and #1066.

Out of the 5 existing R-SVs, 4 were built for the GT1 world championship, and one for the Le Mans 24 hours.

The R-SV was the final development of the Murcielago GT1. Compared to its forerunner, the new Lamborghini Murcielago R-SV GT1 had new suspension geometry with modified roll-centre height and improved steering geometry, modified track width and re-engineered suspension components. The car benefitted from better aero and the race braking system, comprised of carbon discs and pads, was also re-engineered with superior cooling.

Finally, the engine was based on the LP670 SV, with 6.5L of displacement, instead of 6L for the R-GT. It was good for 600 HP @6000 rpm (with FIA air restrictor, over 750 HP without), and 735 Nm (542 Ft/Lbs) @5500 rpm. The gearbox was the Holinger 6 speed sequential and the all carbon bodywork helped reduced the weight to 1150 Kg.

The Murcielago R-SV GT1 is probably the best sounding race car ever (ok one of the best), with that unique V12 that sounds like a big Formula 1 of the glory days (think Ferrari 643 for instance).

 

So chassis #1066, what’s the story ?

First off, and as planned, the JLOC purchased the car from Reiter to compete one last time in the 24 hours of Le Mans. That would be the 2010 edition with an all Japanese driver lineup.

The R-SV was the fastest Murcielago JLOC ever had, but their goal was to finish Le Mans for their fourth and last attempt, and the strategy would be to save the car as much as they could. The drivers were instructed to qualify the car but not push too much. For the race itself, it was the same, the drivers had to save the car to avoid any mechanical problem.

Unfortunately, #1066 first suffered a puncture which cost a lot of time to the team. Then around the 10th hour, they lost a gear. That was the start of a series of gearbox issues that would finally lead to a retirement in the 19th hour.

After Le Mans, #1066 was sent back to Japan, and prepared for the Zhuhai 1000 Km, which was the first round of the Asian Le Mans Series in November. #1066 did very well in qualifying with the fastest time of the GT class, in front of the Larbre competition GT1 Saleen S7-R and the new Porsche GT3-R hybrid. Unfortunately during the race the team faced technical problems and retired.

That was the end of #1066 racing career, the only R-SV to ever enter the 24 hour of Le Mans, and the last Lamborghini to do so.

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Murcielago R-SV #1066 stayed with Mr.Noritake (from JLOC) until 2015 when it was sold to a private collector in Japan. The new owner was a genuine enthusiast and managed to get the car road registered !! Although driving a purebred ex.Le Mans racing car on the streets of Japan might sound crazy, this wouldn’t stop the brave owner of #1066 to do so in some rare occasions. What’s even crazier, is that the car was nearly untouched from its racing days, the only modification done was the addition of cooling fans. Other than that, #1066 remained in GT1 specification which made of this Murcielago one of the most extreme street car ever. Even the straight pipe exhaust was still in place !

When we found the car in Japan in 2019, #1066 remained in perfect original condition. The bodywork and interior were flawless and fully original. The car had barely been used on the road which was not very surprising for a GT1 racer not very suited for the streets of Japan.

It also retained its original black wrap over the bare carbon body and all components from his racing career: engine, gearbox, carbon brakes, …


Few pictures of the car as found in Japan and arriving in Paris.

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Our goal was to take #1066 back where it belonged: the racing track.

We thus embarked on a full preparation in order to make it race ready again. We found the original builder of the Murcielago GT1 engines in Belgium. The CEO of that company was the man who built the very engine for #1066 back in 2010. But as it wasn’t already great, he was also hired by JLOC during the 2010 Le Mans 24 hours as track engineer! He can be seen in several period pictures in the JLOC pits. This came full circle with him rebuilding #1066 engine again in 2020. No one could have been better for the job.

We sent the gearbox to Holinger for a full rebuild, had a new fuel tank built, new Reiter bucket seat, etc …

It took time and effort to do the job right and find the right people to work on such a car, but after a long frustrating period of time (Covid didn’t help), the beast was ready to scream again.

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March 2021, a full black Murcielago R-SV GT1 was loaded in our trailer, heading out to Magny-Cours, a formula 1 track which hosted the French GP for years. It was freezing cold, but the weather was clear when we left Paris. Arriving in Magny-Cours, it was another story. The sky was overcast with heavy dark clouds and yes, it was still freezing. At that point, the excitement of taking back #1066 on the track after ten years of retirement was slowly replaced by a bit of anxiety. What’s more, it could be that we had forgotten something.

Time to unload the car. It was a private track day and Lamborghini Paris had come with few cars that could be tested on track. Needless to say the Murcielago drew attention. It’s basically a spaceship on wheels with an all solid black stealth livery. Starting the engine would not disappoint either and a growing crowd was surrounding the car, big smiles on their faces, while the 12 cylinder warmed up. Oh, by the way, it started to rain.

To make a long story short, it would rain all day. And yes, we had forgotten something. The rain tires.

The idea of first driving a 600 HP GT1 beast on a slippery track with cold slick tires was not very promising. So we waited all day for a clear sky and a bit of Sun. It never happened. Our friend Sebastien, an ex.pro driver and avid historic racer, accepted our invite to do few laps with the R-SV, just to make sure everything was fine. Few laps, engine screamed, but he got back to the pits quickly. It was impossible to warm the tires and the brakes, too much water on the track, too dangerous. Ok we didn’t want to break it. Packed our bags and off we go. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Next outing was at a private track day on a smaller (and slower) track. This nevertheless offered a descent straight to exercise the 6.5 L and a twisty part to test the handling. And yes oh yes, the sun was shining and the sky was blue. We had rain tires this time but of course it wouldn’t rain.

The R-SV performed faultlessly all day, offering the few spectators a visual and auditive show they certainly won’t forget soon. It was great to finally be able to get used to the car, with warm tires and carbon brakes. The great photographer CM Arte (@CM-ARTE on IG) was there and shot some great pictures. I post few of them here under.
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In May we received a phone call from master photographer Kevin Van Campenhout (@kevinanc on IG) who offered us to do a photo shoot for Octane magazine France. That was an offer we couldn't refuse, even more as his idea was to shoot the car at night in the heart of Paris.
That would lead us to bring the car at 3 am on the Bir-Hakeim bridge, all the way to 6 am, bringing the car to the Champs-Elysées, Place de la Concorde and near Hotel Crillon. If seeing the beautiful Champs-Elysées nearly empty in the middle of the night was not enough, the Murcielago casually parked on that legendary avenue was just amazing. An ex.Le Mans racer in the streets of Paris is very unlikely, but that's what made this photo shoot so amazing.
Here are some of the pictures (not all by Kevin, the worst ones ar mine )
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The next step was to put the Le Mans livery back on and ... race at Le Mans !
Yes, we simply took the only Murcielago R-SV GT1 that raced the 24 hours of Le Mans, back to the Le Mans. Unfortunately it was on the short circuit not the full length one that is only accessible during Le Mans Classic and the real 24 hours race.
It was nevertheless a thrill and a significant addition to the car's history. The Endurance Racing Legends grid was packed with extraordinary machinery such as Aston Martin DBR9, Viper GTS-R, Porsche 993 GT2, ...
We did not win anything nor were we the fastest on track but it was a fantastic experience to race that car in that place. We definitely need much more pratice to perform, but again it wasn't the goal of this first race.
Pictures by Redirection, LeMans_fans, Gbrgdr, theCarspots
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Here is a little onboard video during testing at Le Mans. SOUND ON, VOLUME UP

 

Well, this is it for the this post on the Murcielago R-SV #1066.
We are very proud to have found this car, took it back on the track, and add to its history.

This is a fantastic piece of Lamborghini history. One of only 5 R-SV built, and the very last Lamborghini to have been entered in the 24 hours of Le Mans. The R-SV is really a different car to the early R-GT, much more advanced, and turned into a winner by Reiter Engineering thanks to the 6 years of development in the FIA GT championship. The R-SV did beat the fastest GT1 car in period and can still do today.

#1066 is a potential winner in historic racing in the right hands but it could also grace any major Lamborghini collection.

 

The full VIN is ZA9BC10E04LA01066.

From my understanding, Lamborghini financed the GT1 program and subcontracted Reiter Engineering to do so.
The GT1 Murcielago did not start their lives as road cars but were delivered to Reiter as naked chassis. These were then reinforced and modified by Reiter into the GT1 racer.