From 15 to 18 November, the Vallelunga Circuit (Rome) will host the World Final, the pinnacle of the Lamborghini racing season, which will not only proclaim the continental champions of the Super Trofeo Europe, North America and Asia, but will also crown the 2018 world champions.
This is a return to the original venue: in 2013, the Piero Taruffi circuit hosted the first World Final, which has now reached its sixth edition. The event will be held for the first time with the Huracán Super Trofeo Evo, with an expected grid of over 60 cars and teams from all over the world.
LAMBORGHINI SUPER TROFEO EUROPE
All the titles are still to be awarded in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe, which recorded an average of 44 cars on the grid in the first five double rounds, with a peak of 48 crews entered in the opening round at Monza.
In the PRO class, only ten points separate the leaders Karol Basz and Vito Postiglione from Giacomo Altoé, who will alternate at the wheel of the Huracán Super Trofeo Evo of the Antonelli Motorsport team with Daniel Zampieri. Zampieri, together with Altoé, only a few weeks ago earned the title of the Italian Gran Turismo championship with a Lamborghini. Altoé has scored three victories so far, one of which – the first of the season – was taken with Dutch driver Job Van Uitert. The duo of Imperiale Racing has achieved four wins. The other pair of the Antonelli Motorsport team, formed by Joffrey De Narda and Kikko Galbiati, is already out of the game. Despite always being among the protagonists, they didn’t gain the top step of the podium during the season. Also out of the running are James Pull and Kelvin Snoeks (Bonaldi Motorsport), who won the Spa round where they alternated on the top step of the podium with their teammates Fredrik Blomstedt and Patrick Kujala, as well as with Felipe Ortiz and Tuomas Tujula (VS Racing), who were first at Misano.
In the PRO-AM category, there will be a four-team challenge, which sees the other duo of Antonelli Motorsport, formed by Juan Perez and Loris Spinelli, at the top of the standings. The two drivers, who have already won the North American series, have scored five class victories and only boast nine points more than Lorenzo Bontempelli and Emanuele Zonzini, first at Misano with Iron Lynx. In third position, 18 points from the leaders and with 32 points still up for grabs, there are the Japanese driver of VS Racing, Takashi Kasi and the all-Scandinavian pair of the Target Racing team formed by 2016 PRO champion Dennis Lind and Simon Larsson: the latter in his first year in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo.
The situation in the AM class is more definitive: the Polish driver Andrej Lewandowski (VS Racing) leads the standings with six race wins to his credit and the last four scored consecutively. At 24 points behind, in second position, is the crew of the Dörr Motorsport team composed by Germans Manuel Lauck and Florian Scholze.
The Lamborghini Cup will see a two-driver battle, with Gerard Van der Horst trying to defend his record for the third year in a row. But this record can still be undermined by the French driver Joseph Collado (AGS Event), who has so far conquered the top step of the podium four times: one more than the Dutchman.
LAMBORGHINI SUPER TROFEO ASIA
After ten races, FFF Racing Team by ACM’s Andrea Amici and Artur Janosz lead the PRO drivers’ classification having taken five victories, most recently at the final Asian stop in Shanghai in September. However, all season they have been pushed by the sister car of Jack Bartholomew and James Pull and, since Round 3 in Suzuka, by 2017 champions Kei Cozzolino and Afiq Yazid who have taken three victories for Clazzio Racing.
In the PRO-AM class, Leipert Motorsport’s Mikko Eskelinen and Juuso Puhakka and Gama Racing’s Evan Chen and Akihiro Asai are tied on 120 points, while True Visions Motorsports Thailand’s Suttiluck Buncharoen has earned four class victories this season to lead the AM category.
A season-long battle between 852 Challengers’ Paul Wong and Clement Li and GDL Racing’s Gabriele Murroni will come down to the wire in Vallelunga in the Lamborghini Cup.
LAMBORGHINI SUPER TROFEO NORTH AMERICA
The first ten rounds of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America series are already written, but there is still plenty to race for as the series heads to Italy and the final rounds at Vallelunga in the days leading up to the 2018 World Final.
Two of the classes were decided with the results of Rounds 9 and 10 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca a few weeks ago, but the fight for the other two will perhaps come down to the last lap at Vallelunga on November 15 and 16.
The PRO-AM class title was secured by the drivers of the No. 71 P1 Motorsports, Lamborghini Broward – JC Perez and Loris Spinelli, while Mark Proto and Parris Mullins (No. 88 US RaceTronics, Lamborghini La Jolla) secured the LB Cup class after the racing was concluded in California.
The PRO and AM classes are the ones that will be determined in Round 11 and 12 at the 2.538-mile (4.085 km) nine-turn circuit in central Italy.
Corey Lewis and Madison Snow in the No. 29 Change Racing, Lamborghini Charlotte lead the PRO class by a mere seven points over the No. 50 US RaceTronics, Lamborghini Beverly Hills team of Taylor Proto and Edoardo Piscopo and Brandon Gdovic and Shinya Michimi in the No. 46 PPM, Lamborghini Palm Beach.
Ryan Hardwick (No. 2 Dream Racing Motorsport, Lamborghini Atlanta) has a six-point advantage in the AM class heading to Italy. He leads the class with four wins (Rounds 2, 3, 4 and 8) and has had a podium finish nine times.
Canadian Damon Ockey in the No. 09 US RaceTronics, Lamborghini Calgary is looking to chase down Hardwick in the next two rounds. He will need to finish at least two places higher than Hardwick in minimum one race to have a chance to overtake him – something he has accomplished twice this season.
Brian Thienes has made a late-season push with two wins in the last four races in his No. 17, US RaceTronics, Lamborghini Beverly Hills machine but enters the final weekend 21 points behind Hardwick.
The team championship will also come down to the final two rounds. Change Racing is atop the standings with 108 points and holds only a one-point advantage over US RaceTronics. P1 Motorsports is in third with 104 so all three teams have a chance to bring home the championship.
In the race for the Dealer Championship, Beverly Hills holds a five-point lead (105-100) over Broward with Paramus in third with 86. Last year Beverly Hills finished fifth while Broward raced in only the final two races of the year. Beverly Hills has the most wins in 2018 with three while Broward, Paramus and Charlotte each have two.
Following rounds 11 and 12 the US contingent will take part in the 2018 World Finals, also at Vallelunga circuit. The North American teams will be looking to defend their PRO and PRO-AM 2017 World Titles as well as, of course, fight for the AM and LB Cup titles.
The event will come alive on Thursday, when the free practice and qualifying sessions of the Asian and North American series (grouped in a single session) and those of the Super Trofeo Europe will take place. On Friday, the two races of the Asian and North American series will kick off respectively at 9:00 AM CET and 1:00 p.m. CET. Race 1 and 2 of the AM and Lamborghini Cup classes of the European series will start respectively at 10:20 a.m. CET and 2:20 p.m. CET; the races of the PRO and PRO-AM categories will instead begin at 11:40 a.m. CET and 3:40 p.m. CET.
On Saturday, the World Final challenge will kick off with the warm-up and qualifying sessions. Race 1 for the AM and Lamborghini Cup classes will start at 1:30 p.m. CET, while the PRO and PRO-AM categories are scheduled for 3:10 p.m. CET. Race 2 for the AM and Lamborghini Cup classes will begin at 10:00 a.m. CET and the one for the PRO and PRO-AM categories will instead kick off at 2:25 p.m. CET.
All the races (each lasting 50 minutes) can be watched in live streaming on the website squadracorse.lamborghini.com/live-streaming and on the Lamborghini Squadra Corse Facebook page www.facebook.com/LamborghiniSquadraCorse.
Source. Lamborghini
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