Twenty-eight years: almost three decades have linked theEng. Maurizio Reggiani at the Lamborghinia historic car manufacturer from Sant’Agata Bolognese where he held roles that contributed to the growth of the Bull. A renewal not only in the automotive field, but also in the Motorsport sector, up to the international successes and this year’s debut in the WEC in Hypercar with the SC63. An experience officially ended at the end of 2023, but with one circle that closes another one opens.
Engineer, how did your story in the world of motors begin?
“I started in 1982 doing a test to go to work in the mechanical design technical office without knowing it was Maserati. I took this test, passed it and found myself in the engine technical office at Maserati at the time of Biturbo. I started there, and then moved on to Bugatti and Lamborghini”.
How was your arrival at Lamborghini and the continuation of your history in Sant’Agata Bolognese?
“I was at Bugatti, there were several requests from Lamborghini who needed a person for the role of head of the technical office at the design level of all the mechanics, so not just the powertrain. We discussed for 5-6 months, and in the end I decided to accept that challenge and I moved to Sant’Agata, and it was 1995. I started as Mechanical Design Managera year later I became Murcielago project manager and in 2006 Chief Technical Officer (CTO), then technical director and member of the board of Lamborghini, holding the position until very recently”.
He was also Vice President of the Racing Team
“Let’s say that at the level of technical responsibility design, the Racing Team has always been under the technical direction. In the last two years I had the more representative role of vice-president of motorsports of Lamborghini also because it was the moment in which I was preparing to leave the company, so I carried out this role of representation, strategy and communication”.
What has been the evolution of Lamborghini in the field of motorsport?
“For a certain period nothing, then in 2009 we founded the Super Trofeo with the Gallardo and from that day on a small opportunity to measure ourselves with motorsport began. We started and did motorsport for several years first with the Gallardo, which was a transposition of a road car brought back to a context similar to a racing car, but without being one. Then with the passing of time and with the credibility of the numbers we managed to convince both the board of Lamborghini and Audi to have us have a greater presence in the motorsport field with the GT3. It was already the time of the Huracan, and then we reaped a series of successes that were mainly the three 24 Hours of Daytona, one after the other, and in two years also the 12 Hours of Sebring. We were the only brand in the world to win Daytona and Sebring for two years, as well as the 24 Hours of Daytona for three consecutive years. This is what gave us credibility, and then we won championships in Blancpain Europe and achieved several successes around the world. Finally, three years ago the company was given the opportunity to start the LMDH project who took to the track this year, where I hope he can collect the best possible successes, even in a much more difficult context, where the bar is set higher”.
Was this the project that gave you the most satisfaction, or was there another one in the motorsport field?
“In the field of LMDH I led the company to undertake this project, which however I did not follow up, so I cannot take on the paternity of LMDH. There have been other satisfactions: the most important was that of Huracan GT3 with three victories at Daytonawith the worldwide recognition of the goodness of the project. 24 hours is a lot and when you win them for three consecutive years it really means that the gap you have created between you and the others is important and is perceptible by everyone. These were the main ones, then there were many others, but this is certainly the pinnacle at least of what has been my experience. It is clear that now Lamborghini is living the experience of the LMDH and I hope that they will be able to repeat the same successes that we have had in the past”.
Knowing the reality of the company, can this project reach important goals in your opinion?
“I hope so because I know how much Lamborghini has invested in this project and how important a showcase it is, with the awareness that it is played in a league where there are many who want to win and who have invested a lot. This is certainly a championship that today, on a global level, represents excellence. It is clear that it is a problem of budget and resources, but it is not always Goliath who wins. Every now and then even Davide manages to pull something out, and I hope, given the love I have for Lamborghini, that there is the possibility of seeing it on the top step one day. It is difficult and it is a challenge, but they are certainly working towards that”.
Instead, outside of the motorsport context, what was the project that gave you the most satisfaction overall?
“Having been in Lamborghini for 30 years there are many, however The most iconic one of all was definitely the Aventador. We managed to convince the shareholder to give us the freedom to create a completely new project with technologies that the automotive world at that time did not use so frequently. We took a huge risk, but with the awareness that we could play a game that was truly outside the box, and in the end the world proved us right because the Aventador was a tremendous success. It went into production, launching it in 2011 and remained active until last year, and in terms of volumes it sold double what had been expected with technologies that we launched at the time; we are talking about the carbon monocoque, the front and rear push rod suspension, the ISR gearbox and a completely new engine that represented a risk that had truly never been faced before. The team that managed the project at the time had done a great job and the successes ultimately gave us the credibility within the group that allowed us to then develop the Huracan, the Urus and many other cars with the awareness that we were capable of doing this job”.
Staying in this case on the present and the future, can you explain the Eccentrica project?
“On January 1st of this year I retired, and more than forty years of experience in the automotive and super sports car sectors have been a wealth of experience that I can make available to anyone who wants to hear from me and to anyone who wants advice on certain topics. The founder of Eccentrica, Emanuel Colombini, is a person I know well because he worked for Lamborghini for many years, and is still a customer. He is a person who raced in the Super Trofeo, so I also knew him as a driver and as the owner of a team, so there is a certain type of relationship. When I left the company he contacted me asking if I was interested in providing certain support. I was clear in saying that I could not design a car, but that I could collaborate as a advisor and provide advice on what choices I might like. It was a startup with a lot of enthusiasm and the need for some guidance: I felt I could offer a contribution, and that it would also allow me to close a circle. When I arrived at Lamborghini it was 1995, and at that time we were in the middle of the life cycle of the Devilso I started working on the Diablo, the SV, the GT and so on, but without ever intervening on the original Diablos that had been launched in 1990 or 1991. Today the Eccentrica project allows me to work on this type of car because it is based on the first years of production of the Diablo, therefore on cars that I had never seen and on which I had not worked. So it was a sort of closing of the circle of my career at Lamborghini, going to work on that fragment that was missing in the period that I lived at Lamborghini. There is a lot of enthusiasm and I am sure that there will be satisfaction, because giving new life to iconic models by updating them from the point of view of design, but also with technical solutions that represent normal standards today, being able to put them on cars and products of those years generates new life, a new enthusiasm. We will be at Pebble Beach for the Monterey Car Weekand there you will also see what the reaction of the public, of enthusiasts and of a very particular world that lives off these emotions will be. The restomod allows you to recover that way of feeling and driving the cars that current models cannot give due to homologation issues, noise limits and so on. The restomod relies on the homologations that were valid when the cars were launched from the point of view of sound, the aggressiveness of an engine and many other things. Eccentrica can offer a product that is very ‘pleasing’ from the point of view of typical 90s emotionality”.
Eccentrica is a startup from San Marino that focuses on redesigning the 1990 Diablo but with current technologies.
“By implementing certain technologies. For example, the engine speed has been increased to have around 50-55 more horsepower, the gearbox is completely new with six gears to give the car a progressiveness of use that is much more in line with today’s standards. The steering system is new, power-assisted, which was not present in the original Diablo, giving greater comfort and driving pleasure. The brakes are much more powerful, with a new front and rear Brembo system, a structurally stiffened chassis and completely new suspensions to have dynamics that are more suited to everything. A traction control has been implemented to have a greater ability to manage the car, and the style is totally new, inside and out. For the interior, obviously the retro appearance of the 90s has been left a little, but it is all in digital format, so certainly with something much more current today. The base is a Diablo, but seeing it you perceive the DNA of the car with a design updated to today”.
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