12.04.2004 THE LAMBORGHINI MURCIELAGO R-GT RACER WILL MAKE ITS 2004 RACING DEBUT THIS COMING WEEKEND IN VALENCIA

The Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT racer will make its first appearance of 2004 when Reiter Engineering enter round two of the FIA GT series this coming weekend in Valencia with Oliver Gavin and Peter Kox undertaking driving duties.

Since its debut at the final round of the FIA GT series last year, where it took part in practice sessions before it was withdrawn, the R-GT has undergone substantial revisions, and the 'mark 2' version is believe to have posted highly competitive lap times during recent private test sessions.

The first car will be delivered to French team DAMS, who will be assisting the car's builder, Reiter Engineering, during the Spanish race. British pilot Oliver Gavin is to drive the Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT and will share the driving with Dutchman Peter Kox.

This will not be the first time Gavin has driven a Lamborghini with Kox, the pair having raced a Diablo before for the Reiter Engineering team. Gavin's relationship with Reiter goes back many years, in fact back to his season in 1996 with Opel Team Joest in the ITC.

'Hans Reiter phoned me a couple of weeks ago and asked whether I could help them out. I cleared it with GM and said I would be delighted. Peter and I were due to race the Murcielago together at the end of last season but it didn't work out,' said Oliver Gavin.

'Valencia should suit the car and, whilst this is only really a test before they deliver customer cars, we'll just have to wait and see what happens. I'm sure Peter and I will enjoy it. It will be nice to do something different and experience another championship.'

'Hans and his team have worked really hard on this project and it will be good to see it all come to fruition. I can't really compare the car with my normal racing for Corvette as the ALMS and FIA GT specifications are very different," concluded Gavin.