Lamborghini on track

Lamborghini engines will appear in two racing formulae next year.

The Larrousse-Calmels Lola team will race with the new 48-valve 80° V12 Formula One engine, which Technical Director Mauro Forghieri predicts will have “close to 600 bhp” at the beginning of the season. At the moment the factory has no plans to use the engine in Group C sports-car racing, but a competition development of the 60deg V12 Countach road-car unit may be seen in next year’s IMSA Championship in America.

A new team led by Jeremy Nightingale plans to have a chassis built to accept a 600 bhp 5-litre version of the 48-valve road engine, though the builder has yet to be decided. The team inspected the Tiga chassis which Portman Garages raced once only in 1986, with a similar engine, but discounted its use. A new power-unit has already been delivered to the British importer’s workshop from Lamborghini Engineering, the Modena based competitions department.