Audi 2008 Annual Report Download - page 107

104
Vorsprung Pride
he afternoon sun is casting its long shadows over
the piazza. The most noticeable structure here is
the whitewashed church. Other buildings include
the bar centrale, a bakery and many small shops lined up
side by side. Old men seated under the arcades engage in
heated debate. A waitress crosses the square balancing
five espressos on a tray. Sant’Agata Bolognese seems like
a typical Italian village – until a bright-green Lamborghini
suddenly enters the village’s main road. It growls softly
as it rolls down the street, reaches the end of the village
and accelerates.
Lamborghini sports cars are taken as much for granted here
as is pasta in the ristorante. Sant’Agata is world famous
and it’s all thanks to one man: Ferruccio Lamborghini. The
engineer and car enthusiast brought glamour to this little
town situated between Bologna and Modena. By uncom-
promisingly pursuing an ideal of beauty and perfection,
he created a legend that is the pride of the residents of
Sant’Agata – today more than ever.
“The first Lamborghinis start to drive by on the road up
here at seven in the morning,” relates the farmer, wielding
a wrench as he repairs the tractor in his barnyard. For him,
these streamlined speedsters are just an everyday part of
life. He even knows many of the test drivers by sight and
waves to them as they drive by. Since each of these super-
cars is test driven extensively before being delivered to the
Copy Sandro Mattioli
Photos Giorgio Barrera
T
customer, the people living out here have grown accus-
tomed to seeing the fast, finely sculpted thoroughbreds
zipping past their fields and farms. The pulse of the com-
munity beats with and for Lamborghini. With a passion.
And it’s where the hot-blooded auto brand gets its power.
The rock-solid support from the locals provides a wonder-
ful environment for creating extreme sports cars.
Test driver Mario Fasanetto has the job all the boys in the
region dream of. He and his colleague Moreno Conti spend
every day behind the steering wheel of the power cars from
Sant’Agata. Fasanetto may be cool-headed, but he puts his
heart and soul into his job. And while others might be
tempted to show off a bit, he goes about his work calmly
and professionally. Every year, 43-year-old Fasanetto drives
100,000 kilometers in these supercars to prepare them for
life on the road. During the development phase of new
models, he pushes them to their limits on the racetrack to
see what is possible. “My maximum speed was 340 kilo-
meters per hour,” says the professional driver, whose easy
elegance and penetrating glance could just as easily qualify
him as a James Bond actor. For the endurance tests,
Fasanetto accompanies the engineers as they travel around
the world with the prototypes. At Lamborghini, test drivers
and engineers are always in close contact. “My work carries
a great deal of responsibility. My information and assess-
ment of the vehicle must be reliable, because the
engineers are relying on my input,” he explains.
Fasanetto speaks with the accent typical of the region, which
you hear everywhere as you walk through the factory work-
shops, the cafeteria or anywhere else in the company. That’s
because the Lamborghini workforce, now numbering around
990, has strong ties to this region. Working in the exclusive
sports car factory is the dream of many young people
living in Sant’Agata and its vicinity. That should come as no
surprise: Ever since Ferruccio Lamborghini’s auto plant deliv-
ered the first sports car in 1964, it has shown the auto-
motive world what is possible. Miura, Diablo, Murciélago
and Gallardo – these models are good examples of what sets
the Lamborghini apart: a unique mixture of Italian design,
uncompromising driving performance and extreme luxury.
Which is why Fabio Serra, the owner of the restaurant right
next door to the Lamborghini plant, has had the opportunity
to serve his pumpkin-stuffed tortelloni to many celebrities.
He even remembers the Shah of Iran stopping by person-
ally to take delivery of his new Miura.
Serra’s trattoria is an institution in Sant’Agata. It gets
noisy on Friday nights when the motorsport regulars meet,
but it’s quiet at lunchtime. Time to eat. Basta! Prominent
customers are actually entertained directly at Lamborghini
these days. Even so, the success of the top-tier manufac-
turer has boosted business at the trattoria. “You find many
more suppliers and business people in Sant’Agata these
days. And they all stop here for lunch.”
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