26.09.2004 "In the cars' performance on track today, the Murcielago R-GT is proving its reliability and endurance abilities" Krohn-Barbour ALMS Petit Le Mans report
The
Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT proved itself in at only its fifth race in the USA
this weekend. Today's Amercian Le Mans Series (ALMS) event saw the two
Murcielago R-GTs of Krohn-Barbour Racing on track in the ten-hour Petit Le Mans
endurance race at Road Atlanta, Georgia.
After consistent performance in practice and qualifying, the number five car of
David Brabham, Peter Kox and Nic Jonsson was holding third place with a 17-lap
lead on the fourth position car when, five hours into the race, oil on track
caused the car to come off into the gravel and resulting damage forced its
retirement.
The number six car of Tracy Krohn, Scott Maxwell and Joe Fox completed the
394-lap, 1000-mile endurance race in which a third of the field failed to
finish.
Krohn-Barbour took delivery of its two cars and raced 'out of the box' for the first time at the Mid-Ohio round of the ALMS earlier this year. The team has fought for podium positions on a number of occasions and was less than a second off third place in its debut race, achieving a second place result on its third outing at Infineon Raceway, Sonoma.
"We have seen significant improvements
to the car throughout the five ALMS races that Krohn-Barbour Racing has
contested this season," commented Lamborghini's marketing manager Manfred
Fitzgerald.
"In tests undertaken by the team the weekend before Petit Le Mans, as well as in
the cars' performance on track today, the Murcielago R-GT is proving its
reliability and endurance abilities. We are seeing a consistent improvement in
the car's overall speed due to new components and specifications provided by our
development partner Reiter Engineering, resulting in the R-GT closing the gap on
the Corvettes.
"The R-GT has proved its ability in its first year of customer racing in a
series where teams have established their success over a number of years. The
results of today prove we are heading in the right direction to achieve our
objective of not only matching, but beating, the competition in series including
the ALMS, FIA-GT Championship and JGTC."
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