Zhuhai: Andrea Piccini race report

The Lamborghini is Making Progress But it isn't Reliable Yet.

The final round of the FI GT championship ended sooner than expected for Andrea Piccini. On the Zhuhai track in China, the Tuscan driver together with his team- mate Jean Denis Deletraz , had to retire after 34 laps due to a transmission problem.

It's a real shame because the weekend started off well. During the free practice session, Andrea was able to run with continuity and had no technical problems. He fought against the Ferrari 575 cars and accumulated positive information that will help with the car's development.

The qualifying session was positive as well with Andrea conquering the flattering 11th place on the grid. During this session, the Lamborghini make enormous progress by overtaking the Ferrari 575, the Ferrari 550 world champion, a Saleen and the Chrysler Viper. The Lamborghini which is a brand new race car has already started to show its virtues. This progress repeated itself during the warm up lap. Andrea Piccini's Lamborghini was fast again even with the race set up. (The Tuscan driver had the 8th best time.)

The race was instead ruined by a gearbox problem right from the start. At the 10th lap, Andrea had no choice but to make a Pitstop. The car was pushed into the box so the mechanics could fix the problem with the transmission. The Pitstop was long but it allowed Andrea to get back on track at the 27th lap. The race was already on the line but summing up km is positive for the car's development. After a few laps, it was obvious that the car would not be able to finish the race.

A real pity because the car's progress during the weekend was all the more evident. Now that the season is over, the technicians have to work hard to develop a car that will make the Lamborghini Murcilego one of the main protagonists of the next season.

-gp group-