Team JLOC have taken delivery of two Lamborghini Gallardo machines which they are running alongside the Murciélago RG-1 in the Japanese Super GT series this year. Like the Murciélago, the new Gallardos are built in Germany by Reiter Engineering and are close to the Gallardo GT3 specification, although adapted to Japanese regulations. Last year the Murciélago R-GT (which is known as the R-G1 in Japan) was moved from the GT500 to the GT300 class where it instantly proved to be a more competitive proposition, the car claiming its first worldwide pole and first race win during the season.

European racing cars have usually struggled to adapt to the Japanese Super GT championship's requirements, in recent years a Prodrive-developed Ferrari 550 Maranello failed to make any impact, while an attempt to introduce the Maserati MC12 to the series was quickly scuppered. The new Gallardos, which are designated in Japan as the R-G3, are also running in the GT300 class alongside their bigger sister. They also feature a much bigger rear wing, a new front spoiler and other aerodynamic changes allowed by the rules.

The 2007 Japanese Super GT season started with the Suzuka 300 km on 18th March and Team JLOC (Japanese Lamborghini Owners Club) turned up with no less than four cars: two Murciélago R-G1s and two Gallardo R-G3s, all in the GT300 class. The Gallardos are being sponsored by publishing company 'triple a' this year with the #66 entry scheduled to be driven by Naohiro Furuya and Muneyuki Kurihara, while the similar #67 car was in the hands of Tsubasa Kurosawa and Hisashi Wada. The #87 Maruhon-sponsored Murciélago R-G1 was to be driven by Yasutaka Hinoi and Atsushi Yogo while the very similar Akito-sponsored #88 machine was in the hands of Marco Apicella, the only non-Japanese driver on the team, alongside Koji Yamanishi. Apicella, who contested one Grand Prix with Jordan in 1993 has been racing in Japan almost ever since and he piloted the Murciélago to its first ever race win last year. All four cars are running on Yokohama tyres this season.

While neither of the Gallardos managed to make it out onto the unusual 'figure of 8' shaped track during practice and qualifying sessions and thus missed the cut, Yamanishi set the 7th fastest GT300 time (2:04.257) in the 'Super Lap' shootout in the #88 Murciélago while Hinoi lined the #87 machine up 10th (2:06.221). Pole position went to the Nissan Z of Masami Kageyama and Tomonobu Fujii who set an unbeaten lap of 2:02.254 round the 5.807 km Suzuka circuit, the long-time home of the Japanese F1 Grand Prix.

In the 300 km long race itself Apicella and Yamanishi brought the #88 car home in a strong 4th place, 28.066 seconds behind the GT300 winning Nissan Z (which finished in 1 hour 43:45.767) while the #88 Team JLOC entry finished in 12th place, 1 lap down.
 

The Japanese Super GT action then moved onto the Okayama International circuit for round two 6-8 April. The 3.703 km Okayama track near Aida in the Okayama prefecture is the former "TI" circuit which hosted the Pacific Grand Prix in 1994 and 1995 but was renamed after a change of ownership in 2004.

The driver line ups for the four Team JLOC entries were unchanged with Apicella and Yamanishi setting the second fastest practice time in the #88 Murciélago on the tight and twisty circuit, offering promise of a strong event. The two Gallardos both got on the track during the practice sessions, albeit running more than seven seconds off the pace. In qualifying both Murciélagos made the top ten to reach the "Super Lap" run off, Apicella though unable to repeat his third fastest qualifying time (1:30.799), winding up finishing seventh in the shootout (1:31.048) while the #88 machine was 10th. Only the #66 Gallardo made the qualifying cut (1:37.669). In the race the #88 machine, with Apicella at the wheel, retired after 18 laps with steering problems; however the #87 car was able to take advantage of the decimated field to climb up to fourth, one lap down, and record the teams second consecutive fourth place finish. Furuya and Kurihara were able to bring the #66 Gallardo to the finish line in its first ever start in Japan, having completed 72 laps, 5 adrift of the GT300 winners.

Round three of the series takes place from 3-5 May at Fuji and is 500 km in duration (instead of the usual 300 km). During the recent official test session at the circuit Team JLOC brought one Murciélago as they concentrated on getting valuable track time on the new Gallardo. The #87 Murciélago, shared by Hinoi, Yogo and Yamanishi over the two days posted the fastest time on both days, while the Gallardos both got some running under their belt, albeit being limited in duration.