2008 Lamborghini Gallardo GT3

This Gallardo LP520 5.0-litre V10 was manufactured by Lamborghini at Sant'Agata Bolognese in 2007 before being sent to Reiter Engineering for conversion to GT3 race specification, ready for the 2008 season.

Each Gallardo GT3 is built with minor modifications to go along with the lower cost model of GT3 regulations. The Reiter body kit is therefore relatively simple with all the carbon fibre body elements, including the huge rear wing, being just bolted on. In terms of the mechanicals, they added Brembo disc brakes, adjustable dampers, OZ racing wheels and a free-flow exhaust. See “Underneath” section for more details of the car’s technical specifications.

This Gallardo GT3 was first owned by Tech 9 Motorsport, who previously had won the British GT Championship 3 years in a row running Porsche 996 GT3s. In 2008 they switched to the Lamborghini and competed in the FIA European GT3 and British GT3 Championships. However, they couldn’t match their earlier success with Porsche; only winning the second race of the latter series at Oulton Park. After a couple of outings for Tech 9 in early 2009, the next year or so of history is currently unknown.

We understand it was operated by Backdraft Motorsport on behalf of its owner and driver, Simon Atkinson, from at least 2011 onwards in a number of race series - see History Highlights for what we’ve pieced together. Other notable drivers have included Fiona James, founder of Walero Racewear and Joe Macari, the supercar dealer.

The current owner, boss of Dragon Performance in Devon, bought the car in 2016 with a view to either putting it on the road or using it for a record attempt. Instead he has kept it largely unmodified (updated front splitter aside) and had it wrapped for promotional use. It has not been raced since 2015.

Like most racing cars, the exterior aluminium and thermoplastic body of this Gallardo GT3 is in plain white with an exposed carbon fibre front splitter, bonnet and rear bumper/diffuser section. Also as required of a race car, there are hard points front and rear for towing, electrical cut out, fire extinguisher activation and a connector at the rear for the in-built air jacks deployed in a pit stop.

In late 2017, the car was wrapped in the stunning blue chrome vinyl that you now see. It was done as a promotional collaboration between the owners, Dragon Performance, and Wrap Capital. It was applied very well and still looks amazing over three years later.

The enormous rear wing has a skull motif pattern across it and there is a custom Dragon Performance branded aluminium rear panel fitted. Above the front splitter a similar Dragon motif panel has been given a carbon wrap to match the splitter.

There is a little damage on the car, the sill trim on the driver side has been repaired and the polycarbonate window on the other side is cracked, although still held in place with the retaining screws. The left rear light cluster also has a small crack in the lens.

The Gallardo sits on centre-lock 18-inch OZ Racing 15-spoke forged alloys, which are in a fair condition and fitted with 315/40 Nitto NT05R tyres at the rear and 285/30 Toyo Proxes at the front - all dating from 2011.

The interior of the car is trimmed with… nothing, it’s a racing car! The majority of what you see besides the necessary fittings and equipment is either the bare white metal of the body or the carbon fibre panels added either for strengthening or just decoration.

Pretty much the only elements of the donor car’s interior that remain are the dash top, centre console and steering column, although all but the air vents have been stripped out and replaced with more functional instruments and controls. Mounted in the binnacle is a 2D Big Dash data logger unit.

The steering wheel is a quick release race wheel with Hollinger paddle shifters and the comms and control buttons mounted for easy thumb operation. In the centre console are other suitably practical controls for engine start/stop, traction control and lights as well as fuel and electrical cut outs and for fire extinguisher activation.

The Reiter Engineering bucket seat (only one, there’s no accommodation for passengers) appears in good order (although possibly no longer race compliant) and is fitted with a Schroth six-point race harness (again, subject to inspection)

Around everything sits the safety roll cage, although it appears that one of the struts on the driver’s side has been cut out for easier access, presumably negating its race compliance but restorable.

Whilst fundamentally this is a 2007 Lamborghini Gallardo with the earlier 5.0-litre engine, there were numerous modifications and additions required to convert it to meet FIA GT3 specification, including the following.

V10 Engine:-

Forged Arrow connecting rods

Forged Pistons

Capricorn coated bores

Lightweight valves with titanium retainers

Reiter engine ecu upgrade to 520PS

Primary designs equal length ceramic coated exhaust manifolds

Additional front radiator

Uprated 14 litre dry sump oil system

Transmission and drivetrain:-

Reiter Lightweight flywheel and clutch kit

Hollinger super-fast air operated gearbox

Auto blip clutch free up and down shifts

Rear wheel drive only

ABS and adjustable traction control

Limited slip differential

Safety:-

FIA GT3 safety roll cage

FEV plumbed in electronically operated extinguisher system

Carbon fibre FIA spec race seat

Schroth 6 point drivers harness

Fuel cooler with twin supply pump system

Reiter 110 litre fuel cell

Chassis and Handling:-

KW 4 way adjustable motorsport dampers

Blade adjustable front and rear Anti roll bars

2 piece floating brake discs front and rear

ATEC dry brake fuel couplings

OZ centre-lock lightweight magnesium wheels

Electric pump operated hydraulic steering system

Wider front track with Reiter bumper including front and rear arch vents

Wider rear track including flared rear arches

Miscellaneous:-

Carbon fibre one-piece rear bumper

Carbon fibre GT3 rear wing

Composite flat floor

Polycarbonate front windscreen and side windows

Krontec air jack quick lift system

Under the front bonnet panel, the aluminium space frame has been bent or dented on both sides, possibly from a frontal impact. We know that the car had a pretty serious shunt at Oschersleben in July 2008, but it was repaired sufficiently to race many times after that.

The car comes with a handful of paperwork including the original homologation test report for the roll cage from the Deutsche Motor Sport Bund (DMSB) - which is Germany’s motor sport federation. This is notwithstanding the section that has been removed since. There are also hand-written maintenance and race logs.

At some point in the past, the car is understood to have gone back to Reiter Engineering for around £80k worth of upgrades including a widened rear track.

In 2012, the engine was worked on and race-tuned by Backdraft Motorsport. Unexpectedly, there’s also an MOT certificate from September 2016 - odd given that it wasn’t road legal at the time - and a wheel alignment report from a similar period.

Also with the car are two further sets of wheels and a spare front bumper and splitter assembly, as those currently fitted to the car were upgraded to later versions.

In terms of the car’s race history and results, we have managed to piece together the following, but it may well not be exhaustive.

2008 British GT Championship:-

Oulton Park 20th & 1st

Knockhill DNF & 4th

Rockingham 10th & 21st

Snetterton 13th & 13th

Thruxton DNF & DNS

2008 European GT3 Championship:-

Silverstone 6th & 11th

Monza DNS

Oschersleben DNS & DNS - crashed

Brno 30th & 25th

Nogaro DNS & 21st (Joe Macari driving)

Dubai 28th & DNS

2011 Britcar GT

Silverstone 4th

Rockingham 6th

Donington 7th

Spa DNF

2011 British GT Championship:-

Silverstone 1st in class

2011 GT Trophy

1 race - 4th

2011 Supercar Challenge:-

2 races

2011 24H Barcelona

2nd in class

2012 Supercar Challenge:-

10 races - 6th overall

2014 Supercar Challenge:-

4 races - 1 win

2015 Supercar Challenge:-

14 races - 1 win - 4th overall

The car was wrapped in late 2017 - you can see a video of the project by copying and pasting the following URL. https://youtu.be/cUSyBiXtly8

Whilst you won’t be able to prowl the King’s Road in this Gallardo GT3, it is eminently suitable for track day use or as a promotional vehicle - which it has been for the last few years. We understand that the car is still in good mechanical condition and visually, the wrap is still in good order if the new owner wished to keep it.

Lamborghini Gallardo GT3s are still eligible for a number of race series including the GT Cup in the UK, although if it is up against later GT3 cars you’re unlikely to be challenging for a podium. In any case, we understand that the car’s FIA papers have expired and will need to be renewed once the car has been thoroughly inspected and all the safety equipment and fittings have been updated or checked for validity.

It is hard to put a precise value on a racing car like this as the customer base is understandably quite narrow but, with a premium over road-going Gallardo equivalents, we think it will sell for between £96,000 and £140,000.

Whatever your intended use for this race-winning car, it is one helluva toy and with only 49 ever built, there won’t be many opportunities to get your hands on one.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with the vendor near Honiton, Devon; to arrange an appointment please use the ‘Contact Seller’ button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.