Padel rackets: Babolat and Lamborghini revamp the BL.001, the iconic collector’s item

BL.001 2026 more visual than ever

Two years after setting a highly acclaimed milestone in premium padel, Babolat and Automobili Lamborghini put the BL.001 back at the heart of the game. The founding model of their collaboration returns in a new series that doesn’t seek to broaden its audience, but to reinforce its status: only 50 units have been announced worldwide.

This time, the message goes first to the eye. The new BL.001 comes in five new colors, with a palette directly in tune with the Lamborghini imagination: green, orange, blue, yellow and violet, according to our information around the launch. These bold, highly identifiable hues give the racket an almost automotive presence, as if the covering of a supercar had been transposed onto a padel court.

An official return to Imola

The announcement came on May 5, 2026, following on from Babolat’s teaser on its networks: a few seconds, a minimalist message, and the idea that the BL.001 was not just returning, but reinterpreted. The official confirmation came from Lamborghini, which presented this evolution as a work on colors and finishes, two essential markers of its visual identity.

The racket will be presented and tested at the Lamborghini Arena 2026, held on May 9 and 10 on the Imola circuit. The setting counts as much as the product: the BL.001 is not being launched as a simple material novelty, but as a branded piece, exhibited in the middle of an event where performance, design and automotive culture speak the same language.

The BL.001, the origin of a collaboration that became a range

The first BL.001, unveiled in 2024, laid the foundations: a padel racket developed with Babolat expertise, manufactured in the Lamborghini environment at Sant’Agata Bolognese, and conceived as an ultra-limited series. The project surprised not only by its positioning, but also by its industrial ambition: it wasn’t just a question of affixing two logos to a pala.

Since then, the collaboration has become more structured. The BL.002 opened up a more accessible avenue, while retaining the aesthetics and some of the technology of the initial project. The BL.003, unveiled in 2026, continued this logic with a 3K carbon construction, KORIDION reinforcement and manufacturing in the Babolat Padel Studio. We detailed this third act in our analysis of the BL003.

The return of the BL.001 in new designs therefore has a special significance. It brings the collaboration back to its starting point, but with a more mature interpretation: the range exists, the codes are established, and this 2026 edition is a reminder that the original model remains the most exclusive showcase of the partnership.

Colors and finishes, the BL.001’s true field of expression

Technically, Babolat and Lamborghini are not starting from scratch. The BL.001 2026 retains the main pillars announced for this model: a 3K carbon surface, a carbon frame reinforced with KORIDION, and a more direct energy transfer at impact. The promise remains that of a highly responsive racquet, designed for players who like to feel a clean response to the ball.

So the change is elsewhere. Colors and finishes become the central subject, almost the narrative engine of this new edition. This choice is consistent with Lamborghini, a brand where the hue of a body, the contrast of a detail or the depth of a varnish are all part of the product experience. Applied to padel, the result is a racket that stands out even before the first exchange.

However, it’s important to keep a cool head: this BL.001 does not claim to be the universal club racket. Its rarity, its production method and its story place it in a territory of its own. The real question is not just “how does it play?”, but “what role do we want it to play?”. Some buyers will see it as an exceptional game tool. Others, probably, as a piece to be kept.

Manufacturing remains at the heart of the story

One of the BL.001’s strongest points remains its place of birth. The racket is advertised as being manufactured at Automobili Lamborghini’s Sant’Agata Bolognese facility, where the Italian brand cultivates its expertise in composite materials. For a padel product, the symbolism is powerful: the racket leaves the classic sports workshop to enter an industrial environment shaped by top-flight automobiles.

This approach also explains why Babolat and Lamborghini communicate so much about the structure. KORIDION, a patented rigid foam, is presented as a reinforcement designed to improve frame stiffness and energy transfer. This vocabulary may sound abstract, but it says one simple thing: the BL.001 is designed to give the impression of a stable, precise object, designed not to deform unnecessarily when the tempo is promoted.

Padel has become a highly coveted court for premium brands. Shoes, bags, signing rackets, limited editions: the market has become denser. In this context, the BL.001 plays a different game. It doesn’t just aim to perform on the court; it also serves as a manifesto for how far collaboration can go when sport and luxury agree to share the same manufacturing constraints.

BL.001 2026: a racket associated with a brand, not a player

A model without a single ambassador

Unlike some ranges built around a professional player, this new BL.001 is not, at this stage, accompanied by a single ambassador presented as the face of the model. In other words, no signing player has been announced for this series. The center of gravity is not a touring personality, but the Babolat-Lamborghini duo itself.

This choice changes the way we read the product. A signing racket is often told through a style of game, a gesture, a track record. The BL.001 2026 tells its own story through a universe: performance, carbon, rarity, color, an object that is immediately recognizable. It’s less an extension of a player than an extension of a brand identity.

Known features

• World edition announced at 50 copies.
• Five color variants inspired by Lamborghini codes.
• 3K carbon surface.
• Frame reinforced with stiff KORIDION foam.
• Production announced at Lamborghini’s Sant’Agata Bolognese facility.

Pricing of this new BL.001: no clear official statement was found in the ads consulted at the time of writing. This caution is important, as the model’s rarity could quickly fuel estimates and resales. For readers, the correct benchmark remains the following: the announced worldwide availability is 50 units, which is already enough to place the racket in the collectible category.

A launch in Imola, between circuit and padel court

The Lamborghini Arena 2026 offers a very calculated setting for this BL.001. The event brings together owners, enthusiasts, partners and the curious around the world of Lamborghini, with Imola as the main stage. Presenting a padel racket in such a frame may seem out of place, but it’s precisely this discrepancy that gives the launch its strength.

Padel is a sport of proximity, of glass, of short footwork, of duels that are easy for the public to understand. Lamborghini comes from a world of speed, sculpted design and industrial exclusivity. The BL.001 occupies the space between the two: its vocation is not to democratize the equipment, but to shift the codes of the racket towards a broader imaginary.

An interesting question remains for the future. After BL.002 and BL.003, could this return of the BL.001 remain a mere collector’s item, or herald a more regular cadence of very limited series? Neither brand has detailed a roadmap beyond this announcement. But one thing is already certain: in padel, Babolat and Lamborghini have found a court of expression where rarity is as much the talk of the town as technical specifications.

Key takeaway

• Babolat and Automobili Lamborghini relaunch the BL.001 with five new designs inspired by the world of supercars.
• The announced worldwide production run remains limited to 50 units, confirming its collector positioning.
• The racquet retains a 3K carbon surface and a frame reinforced with KORIDION.
• The official presentation and test runs are scheduled to take place at the Lamborghini Arena 2026, on May 9 and 10 in Imola.