Reiter Engineering - Lamborghini's factory support competition outfit - are preparing to unleash the Gallardo in anger onto the race tracks in the FIA's proposed new GT3 class. Autosport magazine reports that Reiter are building a Gallardo racer for a private customer, while at the same time are keeping a very close eye on the unfolding GT3 regulations debate.

Under recent proposals divulged by the SRO (who promote the International FIA GT Championship) and the FIA, the existing GT2 category - on which Porsche now have a total stranglehold - will become a 'ProAm' category next year, while a new low-cost GT3 category - open to cars such as the new Aston Martin DBRS9 and the Ferrari 360 Challenge - will support the main 3-hour FIA GT races with their own dedicated pair of 1-hour events.

Reiter are currently preparing a racing Gallardo for a private customer to use to compete in the Nürburgring-based Langstreckenmeisterschaft series, and Hans Reiter told Autosport magazine that, "the new GT3 category sounds interesting, I believe at the Gallardo will be competitive."

The BF Goodrich-sponsored Langstreckenmeisterschaft series is based entirely at the legendary, daunting, Nürburgring race track in the German Eiffel mountains. The 11 endurance races that make up the 2005 series - run over a course which incorporates the 'old' 24 km circuit as well as the modern F1 track - generally last for four hours, with the seasons 'blue riband' event - the Ruhr Cup - taking place over six hours. As is usual with German endurance racing, huge entries and many classes, see cars such as the Porsche 911 GT3, V8 Star Jaguar, the DTM look-alike Audi and the venerable Chrysler Viper, battling it out at the front, with the smallest capacity cars including the Ford Fiesta, Peugeot 306, Honda Civic and VW Golf.

Lamborghini are expected to be keen to support a race programme for the Gallardo, as the mid-size V10 sportcar is the Bologna-based marque's biggest selling model, and as yet lacks the track pedigree embedded in its rivals from Ferrari and Porsche.
 

The Gallardo has in fact appeared in a competitive situation this year, with Lamborghini Australia (who have a long-running and highly successful national GT racing programme with the Diablo GTR) entering two of the cars in the all-tarmac Targa Tasmania earlier this year, a rally it dominated until the lead car driven by Paul Stokell crashed out.

REITER SELL A MURCIELAGO R-GT

Long time privateer Porsche racer, Bernard Muller has bought one of Reiter's stock of Murcielago R-GT racers. Muller, who has raced for many years in championships such as the FIA GT and ALMS, has not yet revealed his programme for the V12 sportscar.

The German engineering concern - headed by Hans Reiter - built the Murcielago R-GT racer for FIA GT1 class use, but the car endured a torrid time on the tracks last year. A much vaunted American Le Mans Series programme, run under the Krohn-Barbour banner, collapsed in public acrimony mid way through last year, while an FIA GT series challenge in the hands of respected French team DAMS was also quietly discontinued at the end of last year.

The Murcielago R-GT sportscar - which at times has shown a very promising turn of speed - has continued to be developed by Reiter, and as well as sporadic FIA GT outings this year using a 'development' car, last month two Reiter-supported R-GTs entered the most recent Le Mans Endurance Series round, the Monza 1000kms, under the Team JLOC banner, proving there is still life to be has out of this project.