Look up ansa in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Ansa or ANSA can refer to any of the following:

• Ansa, Queen of the Lombards, 8th century, wife of Desiderius, king of the Lombards
• Ansa (moth), genus of moth
• Ansa (Hinduism) or Aṃśa in Hinduism, a solar deity and one of the Adityas.
• ansa as part of Arabic words means "constant"

As the acronym ANSA:

• Agence nouvelle des solidarités actives, association créée en janvier 2006 par Martin Hirsch
• Afghan National Standards Association, the ISO representative organization for Afghanistan.
• Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata, Italian news agency
  • Ansa Mediterranean or ANSAmed, section of the above
• Association of Norwegian Students Abroad
• Applied Neuroscience Society of Australasia
• Australian Network of Student Anthropologists, student-run arm of the Australian Anthropological Society.
• ANSA, an Italian manufacturer of OEM exhaust systems for automobiles.
• ANSA Pre-processor, commercial pre-processing software (Automatic Net-generation for Structural Analysis).
• The Planet of the Apes equivalent of NASA; it is never made clear in the movies what the letters actually stand for.
• ANSA Business, watch retailer based in The Netherlands

ansa is Latin for "handle". It has several uses derived from this meaning:

• In anatomy, the word is applied to nervous structures which resemble loops (for example the ansa lenticularis, ansa cervicalis, Loop of Henle (ansa nephroni) or the ansa of the tympanal organ).
• In archaeology it is used for the engraved and ornamented handle of a vase, which has often survived when the vase itself, being less durable, has disappeared.
• In astronomy, one of the apparent ends of the rings of Saturn as seen in perspective from the earth: so-called because, in the earlier telescopes, they looked like handles projecting from the planet.
• In chemistry, it is used to describe a bridge between two functional groups/ligands.
• In the plural ansae, in astronomy, compact nebulosities such as can be found in protoplanetary nebulae.

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Valentino Balboni is the former chief test driver of Lamborghini, a manufacturer of sports cars in Italy. He retired in October 2008 due to Italian government work regulations, after having served the company for 40 years.^[1] To pay tribute to him in occasion of his retirement, Lamborghini has labeled a 2009 addition to the Gallardo line-up, the LP550-2 Valentino Balboni.^[2][3]

Biography[link]

Balboni started working for Lamborghini on April 21, 1968 as a mechanic apprentice in the company.^[1][4] Eventually he was personally asked by the founder of the company, Ferruccio Lamborghini, to test-drive the newly built cars. Together with Bob Wallace, they became the test-driving team of Lamborghini. Valentino Balboni has reportedly driven about 80% of all Lamborghinis ever built. Among the marque aficionados, Balboni has risen to cult status. In 2008, Balboni was still active for the company as the chief test-driver and ambassador. Fluent in English and German, he often appeared at different Lamborghini-related events, such as the unveiling of new models.

In July 2009, Lamborghini announced a special edition run of 250 Gallardo LP550-2 "Valentino Balboni edition" supercars; the company stated that the new car was to be rear-wheel driven in accordance with Balboni's preference for the thrill of cornering a rear-wheel driven vehicle. These vehicles were also made special with a white and gold stripe that runs the center of the car, inspired by sports cars of the 1970's.

Balboni, even though officially retired as chief test driver, has signed a two year contract with Lamborghini as a consultant through 2010 that can be renewed multiple times.^[1]

Media[link]

Valentino Balboni has made several appearances on television in different documentaries related to Lamborghini such as Top Gear and Rides.

References[link]