Brandon Gdovic certainly enjoys some home cooking. For the second straight year, the Virginian won a Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America race on his home track, taking overall and Pro class honors Sunday in the second race of the VIRginia International Raceway weekend.
The victory by more than 12 seconds was the first in 2020 for Gdovic, solo driver of the No. 46 Precision Performance Motorsports, Lamborghini Palm Beach Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO. The 28-year-old won four races last season, when he came within two points of the driving championship.
“Definitely happy to come home with a win at a home track,” Gdovic said. “Growing up in Virginia and this was the first road course I was ever on and what got me interested in the road-course side of racing. I love coming to this place and love winning here even more.”
Gdovic started the 50-minute race third but lost three spots in a chaotic beginning that saw contact between polesitter Jacob Eidson (No. 6 US RaceTronics, Lamborghini Beverly Hills Huracán) and Leo Lamelas (No. 24 US RaceTronics, Lamborghini Westlake Huracán), sending both drivers off course and Lamelas out of the race.
Series newcomer Sergio Jimenez, in the No. 13 Ansa Motorsports, Lamborghini Broward Huracán, jumped from sixth to first in the bedlam and stayed out front until he was bumped from behind by Madison Snow (No. 16 Change Racing, Lamborghini Charlotte Huracán) going through the hairpin in Turns 11 and 12. Snow was assessed a drive-through penalty for incident responsibility.
From there, Gdovic worked his way to the front, making his mandatory pit stop from the lead with 26 minutes remaining. He was atop the scoring pylon again when the pit cycle completed, leading Stevan McAleer in the No. 1 Prestige Performance with Wayne Taylor Racing, Lamborghini Paramus Huracán by nearly two seconds.
With a flawless-running Huracán Super Trofeo, Gdovic pulled consistently away over the last 20 minutes to cross the finish line 12.238 seconds ahead of McAleer and co-driver Stuart Middleton in the No. 1. Even with a post-race penalty of 0.912 seconds for being short on his pit stop time minimum, Gdovic won handily.
“Especially driving solo, it’s kind of hard to get a win with that three-second-longer pit stop (that solo drivers must make),” Gdovic said. “The car was super, super fast today. It was a shame we fell back there (at the start), but the car was so good I was able to work my way up. We had a really good pit stop strategy, which helped me jump the (No.) 1 car. That was probably the race-winning strategy there.”
Despite the drive-through penalty, Snow recovered to finish third overall and in Pro. Eidson fell to last in the 13-car field as a result of the opening-lap contact, but he and Steven Aghakhani persevered and came back to finish fourth overall in the No. 6 and retain the points lead in the Pro class by four over Madison Snow.
In ProAm, the No. 63 Change Racing, Lamborghini Charlotte Huracán shared by McKay Snow and Corey Lewis led every lap to claim their third win of the season. Danny Formal, making his debut this weekend in the No. 99 Ansa Motorsports, Lamborghini Broward Huracán, took second in class. Ashton Harrison and Andrea Amici, in the No. 25 Prestige Performance with Wayne Taylor Racing, Lamborghini Paramus Huracán, placed third for their third podium in four races.
Lewis and McKay Snow lead the ProAm standings by 12 points over Lamelas.
“The beginning of this race was quite wild, the caution at the beginning,” Lewis said. “Fortunately, it kind of helped us in terms of track position. McKay did an awesome job on the first stint getting the car exactly where we needed it to be. Toward the end it was just kind of managing the gap, leading our class and bringing it home. It’s big for the championship and that’s our main focus right now.”
LB Cup saw a new winner for the first time in 2020, with Matt Dicken placing first in the No. 36 Change Racing, Lamborghini Charlotte Huracán. Teammate Randy Sellari, in the No. 03 Lamborghini Charlotte Huracán, finished second after being assessed a drive-through penalty for a pit-speed violation. Tom Kerr finished third for the second straight day in LB Cup driving the No 74 TPC Racing, Lamborghini Sterling Huracán. After four races, Sellari leads Dicken by 11 points atop the LB Cup standings.
“It feels great,” Dicken said of his first win. “Change Racing gave us a great car. It’s great to finally stand there on the top step. It’s something we’ve all been working really hard for, for a long time. I’m feeling more and more comfortable. Hopefully, success breeds success and we can continue this through the year.”
The third of five doubleheader rounds on the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America schedule takes place Sept. 4-6 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
Source. IMSA
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