Lamborghini Considers New Hypercar To Fight The Aston Martin Valkyrie

If it gets the green light, it will be “in the same vein” of the Centenario and Veneno.

Last year at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September, Lamborghini’s Chief Technical Officer Maurizio Reggiani announced plans to launch a new limited-run model showcasing new technology. No more details were revealed at the time, but company boss Stefano Domenicali has confirmed to Autocar a new exclusive model is still being considered with “extreme aero” to compete with other limited-run hypercars like the Aston Martin Valkyrie, Mercedes-AMG Project One and McLaren Senna. Domenicali described the model as being “in the same vein” of the Centenario and Veneno.

Presumably, this means the car will be based on the V12-powered Aventador since both the Centenario and Veneno were based on Lamborghini’s flagship supercar. It’s probably also safe to assume the ultra-exclusive Lambo will command a seven-figure price tag and be produced in extremely limited numbers. The Centenario, for example, was limited to just 40 examples and had an asking price of $1.9 million, while only five examples of the Veneno were built to celebrate Lamborghini’s 50th anniversary. Only three of them were sold, each costing a whopping $4.5 million.

Don’t expect Lamborghini’s Aston Martin Valkyrie fighter to arrive any time soon, though, as Domenicali admitted the Huracan, Aventador and Urus series production cars are “the main priority [for Lamborghini] right now."

For now, the recently unveiled SVJ represents the lightest and most powerful Aventador Lamborghini has ever produced. The car’s 6.5-liter V12 has been tuned to produce 770 horsepower and 531 lb-ft of torque, while a dry weight of 3,362 pounds gives it a weight-to-power ratio of 1.98 kg/hp. Combine these specs with the car’s incredibly advanced active aerodynamics, and it’s no wonder the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ is the new king of the Nurburgring.

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New Aston Martin Vanquish Will Fight The Ferrari 812 Superfast Next Year

Aston Martin's boss says the new Vanquish will be "bloody good." It better be if it's competing against the 812 Superfast.

Just this week, Aston Martin made a final farewell to the current-generation Vanquish. The stunning S Ultimate Coupe and Volante, limited to just 175 examples, is likely to be the last model to be powered by a 595-horsepower naturally aspirated 6.0-liter V12. It is of course paving the way for the all-new flagship model, which company boss Andy Palmer has confirmed to Autocar will be revealed and go on sale next year to compete with the Ferrari 812 Superfast.

It marks a different direction for Aston Martin, which previously used the Vanquish to compete with luxury grand-tourers like the Bentley Continental GT rather than performance supercars like the Ferrari 812 Superfast. Development of the new Vanquish is nearing completion according to Palmer, who described the flagship as “bloody good” when discussing the car with Autocar. “The majority of product investment [for Vanquish] is finished,” he added. “What’s left is preparation of manufacturing the car rather than preparation of the car itself. We are making more prototypes to make sure we’ve got production ready to go.” Palmer also confirmed that a convertible Vanquish Volante will follow.

Powering the flagship grand tourer will be a turbocharged 5.2-liter V12 taken from the DB11, but the 600-hp unit will need to be considerably more powerful to compete with the 789-hp Ferrari 812 Superfast. While the new Vanquish will be underpinned by the same platform as the DB11, recent sightings at the Nurburgring showed the car wearing new bodywork featuring a lip spoiler, suggesting that the new Vanquish will produce more downforce than the DB11. The prototype also sits lower and corners with less body roll than the DB11. Before the new Vanquish is revealed next year, Aston Martin is planning to unveil the new Vantage later this month.

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Racing Driver Tased After Intense Fight Breaks Out On Track Following Crash

Fans got a 2 for 1 deal: A good race and a mixed martial arts bout to top it all off.

Engines aren’t the only things stressed during a race. The intense pressure on a driver and their team as well as a yearning to be the first past the finish line when the checkered flag is waving can cause emotions to run high. In some cases, the tension gets so high it spurs a fight. Like a fire on the race track, those get contained pretty quickly but in some cases, they become so dramatic that extreme measures are required. That’s the scene that took place at Anderson Speedway when two stock car racers got into a fight after colliding with each other on the track.

After big retaliatory hit is delivered, driver Jeffrey Swinford plows his car into opponent Shawn Cullen’s car and ends up on his hood.

Angry, Cullen gets out of his car and proceeds to deck Swinford, who is still sitting in his car, in the face. With the trackside helpers unable (or unwilling) to stop the fight, a police officer gets onto the race track and proceeds to use a taser on Cullen, which brings him to the floor pretty quickly. According to Indianapolis news source WISH, both drivers were taken away in handcuffs. Swinford was charged with a Class A misdemeanor for criminal recklessness and Cullen got a charge for disorderly conduct. Of the two, Swinford was banned from the track indefinitely. Out of the many forms of racing, Figure 8 is one of the more entertaining. Seems these two thought they could find a way to improve on it. Good job for making that happen.

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