In April 2009, in an LMS 1000 km de Catalunya race, a Murcielago R-GT of the Russian IPB Spartak Racing Team won the GT1 class, against a Corvette C6-R and a Saleen S7-R. The drivers of the IPB Spartak Racing car were the Russian Roman Rusinov and the Dutch Peter Kox. They crossed the finish line 2 laps ahead of the first Corvette, in 2nd place.
In a continuation of Lamborghini's tradition of giving its cars names from the world of bullfighting, the Murciélago was named for a fighting bull that survived 28 sword strokes in an 1879 fight against Rafael "El Lagartijo" Molina Sanchez, at the Coso de los califas bullring in Córdoba, Spain. Murciélago fought with such passion and spirit that the matador chose to spare its life, a rare honor. The bull, which came from Joaquin del Val di Navarra's farm, was later presented as a gift to Don Antonio Miura, a noted local breeder; thus began the famed Miura line of fighting bulls, which provided the name for one of Lamborghini's first great cars.
