BLANCPAIN GALLARDO SUPER TROFEO GOES FROM 2012 TO 2013 SPECS

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When the final styling evolution of the Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 was unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in late 2012 it showed some very special, triangular styled front and rear sections to distinguish it from the ‘basic’ LP550-2 and the more elaborate LP570-4 Superleggera models … a way to make sure people would recognize the V10 model from afar, however the Blancpain Lamborghini Super Trofeo race car for the 2012 season was based on the Superleggera edition, still they modified it for the 2013 season creating a hybrid between the Nouva Gallardo LP560-4 and the LP570-4 Superleggera.

In October 2012 the new evolution of the Super Trofeo car was unveiled, showing the new triangular intakes on the front bumper and at the rear, additional massive fender flares at the rear and a magnificent ‘hanging’ rear wing … while the chassis and engine remains the same as the 2012 edition the new 2013 receives a completely redesigned aerodynamic package that increases efficiency by 120% compared to the 2012 model.

In fact the ‘down force trim’ can be adjusted to 128kg in ‘low down force mode’ and up to 160kg in ‘high down force mode’ while the additional air intakes and outlets provide a 50% increase in cooling capacity, in fact Mr Reggiani made it perfectly clear it wasn’t the intention to cause a revolution for the 2013 Super Trofeo season … but more an evolution of an already perfect race car.

For the 2014 Blancpain Super Trofeo season the same car based on the Gallardo is still being used … the real revolution will arrive in 2015 when the Huracan base will be used for racing … until that time I’m sure the 2014 Specs Super Trofeo race car will be more than enough to keep the action alive in Europe, North America and Asia for the new Super Trofeo season that kicked-off in mid March on the Sebring track in Florida, USA.

But lets take a trip back into time, the start of the 2013 Super Trofeo season in Asia when teams acquired the 2012 specs model and had to convert it into the new and improved 2013 evolution at the Shanghai circuit … in a matter of days in fact.

We take a look at Team FXPrimus Aylezo while they prepare their car for the 2013 Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia Series, with the first race well behind the Bamboo Curtains of Shanghai International Circuit … their car arrived at the track after being ‘in storage’ for a while, so a complete check and overhaul was required before it could compete in the race that weekend.

First point of action would be to remove all the decals and sponsors from last year’s team, and then the big transformation was started … the front bumper, front hood, engine cover, rear wing, rear bumper, rear diffuser and even the ‘undertray’ had to be removed so the new for 2013 units could be installed instead … the 2013 aerodynamic kit was delivered with a bit of a delay in fact … so in the first race of the 2013 Super Trofeo Asia Series some of the cars were still wearing their 2012 dress as some teams ran out of time.

Next step was to create the seat for the pilot … these seats are ‘tailor made’ to fit each specific driver by mixing two compounds together that will harden out into a foam shape that allows different drivers to pilot the car during the race … just by leaving the basic seat in place and just replacing the foam during the required pit stop.

Installing the new aerodynamic kit on the second day wasn’t as easy as you might imagine, a lot of parts wouldn’t just bolt onto the 2012 chassis as several air ducts required removing parts of the remaining bodywork … after some careful sawing, grinding it became obvious the numerous screws and rivets could only be mounted in a very specific way … time to consult the installation manual.

In the end it would take a little more than one day to install the entire 2013 aerodynamic kit onto the Gallardo, just in time for the practice sessions on day 3 so the final adjustments on the rear wing and canards could be performed to have the exact amount of down force required during the race … naturally by now all the new sponsor decals went onto the Racing Bull too.

On day four of the ‘transformation’ this 2013 specs Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo race car number 69 went into the qualifying rounds to set a fourth and seventh time for Round 1 and Round 2 respectively … it would reach 16th place overall after the Shanghai race. Results for the #69 car would be 2nd place in Sepang, 7th in Inje, 4th in Fiji, 4th when the Super Trofeo returned to Shanghai for Round 5 and 9th in Macau.

So in the end it would take about three days to ‘evolve’ a 2012 specs Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo race car into the much improved 2013 FL2 edition … the basics remained the same, but the special aerodynamic package, increased down force and cooling performance together with a 25kg weight loss did turn this ‘new’ race car into a totally different driving machine.

Photos and information courtesy of ZEROTOHUNDRED.COM