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"The best thing about dawn is that it is full of ideas. Oddly enough, people sleep at that hour. So if you wake up early there's a good chance that best ideas could be yours. One thing I love to do when I first wake up every morning is walking surrounded by nature. Because in nature there is everything and it is vast source of inspiration. Here all the senses turn on, the sense of sight, of smell, of touch. Nature is something incredible.We have to love it, to respect it, to enjoy it. Nature is also synonymous for freedom.
In 2008 we were working on the Huayra a very challenging project from every point of view especially for its engineering and its design. On Huayra we had been working since 2003 but after many years I felt and incredible need for freedom. That's how the Zonda R came to life. I thought about this car for the track freed from constraints and regulations. Beautiful, high performing and very safe.
Today race cars are offspring of the wind tunnel in that they are devoted to aerodynamics only whereas in the '60s-'70s cars were really fast maybe dangerous, yet absolutely stunning. The sports prototypes such as the Ferrari P4, the Porsche 917, the Ford GT40 and all the Le Mans cars, all had the most fascinating design, which has been a huge source of inspiration for our cars. The Porsche 917 was my favorite, and still is my favourite car. It has romantic shape yet, at the same time, it makes you realize that it can go extremely fast. It's beautiful. It's elegant. It's timeless.
From the experience of the Zonda R, from the cars of old and from a new need for freedom the idea of the Huayra R was born. Like a breath of fresh air. We immediately launched ourselves into the project to give it a shape. The first aerodynamic tests instantly showed good results, though its style didn't really convince us. The car was too technical. We wanted more passion. We started working to combine the technical features with the elegance of shapes and form. Suddenly, something curious happened. As the car became more appealing it also became more aerodynamically efficient. When I think of Huayra R, I see the infinite meanings that the R reflects. Courage. Respect. Speed. Performance. Freedom. Racing."
Horacio Pagani