Lamborghini’s director of research and development has hit back at sceptics, who have claimed that the Nürburgring lap record set by the new Huracan Performante supercar was faked.
Speaking to Roadshow, Maurizio Reggiani aimed to set the record straight and confirm that the Performante’s 6:52.01 time around the Nordschleife circuit was legitimate.
On March 1st, Lamborghini officially announced that it had beaten the long-reigning Porsche 918 Spyder hypercar around the ‘Ring, besting it by a near-five second margin.
Along with the claim, it provided an in-car video from test driver Marco Mapelli’s point of view, plus telemetry data which showed information on the car’s speed, position and gearing.
However, a torrent of critics immediately piped up to claim foul play, citing things like inaccurate telemetry readings, dodgy video framerates and the car’s tyres as evidence the time had been faked.
Naturally it seems incredible that the Huracan Performante, a car far less powerful than the 918 and with a lower top speed than its Aventador bigger brother, could have defeated the Porsche so decisively.
But Reggiani hit back at the critics, explaining that while people would understandably be sceptical the Performante’s hot lap and subsequent time was accurate.
He conceded that the car was run on special Pirelli Trofeo R tyres, while the 918 ran on its standard Michelin tyres, but said that the Pirellis were an option available to all buyers and not custom racing tyres.
Likewise, he acknowledged the glitchiness and sometimes inconsistent speed readings on the video, claiming that the speeds shown came from GPS data, which can tend to give inconsistent results.
Finally, Reggiani noted that while the Huracan Performante is slower in terms of top speed than the 918 and the Aventador SV, it can carry more speed through the corners than both thanks to its new Aerodynamica Lamborghini Attiva active aero system.
If that wasn’t enough to quell the disquiet, he also provided Roadshow with the car’s full VBox GPS log from the record lap (pictured above), plus information on the vehicle’s elevation to chart its progress around the circuit.
The new Lamborghini Huracan Performante was unveiled to the public at this year’s Geneva Motor Show, and comes powered by a 631bhp version of the standard Huracan’s 5.2-litre V10 engine.
Able to sprint from 0-62mph in just 2.9 seconds and with a top speed of more than 202mph, the Huracan Performante will go on sale in the UK this summer, with prices estimated to start from around £210,000.
