KANGAS AND NEMOTO CLAIM FIRST WIN IN SHORTENED LAMBORGHINI SUPER TROFEO EUROPE RACE 2 AT SPA

Yuki Nemoto and Olli Kangas (#6 VS Racing) claimed their first Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe victory in the second race at Spa-Francorchamps, a race red-flagged following a crash for Raul Guzman (#41 Target Racing) in the closing stages. Nemoto and Kangas profited from an earlier safety car intervention, to retrieve the #29 Konrad Motorsport car of Emir Keserovic which crashed at Les Combes, to make their mandatory pit-stop just as the pit window opened and a full lap before the leading runners. That enabled the duo to leapfrog the second VS Racing Lamborghini Huracán ST Evo of pole-sitters Karol Basz and Andrzej Lewandowski after the stops to claim the victory.

Basz had started the 50-minute race after setting the fastest time in qualifying and opened up a lead of almost 12 seconds before the pit-stops as the field jostled for position behind the #16 machine.

Of the chasing group, Dean Stoneman (#33 Bonaldi Motorsport) was the closest contender, having passed the #61 Johan Kraan Motorsport car of Max Weering for second place. Stoneman had earlier staved off an attack from Patrick Liddy (#7 GSM Racing) for third after the American out-braked himself at the final chicane amid still greasy track conditions.

Liddy, who finished second in Race 1 alongside team-mate Jonathan Cecotto, also fell behind Target Racing’s Miloš Pavlović for fourth and then new points leader Kevin Gilardoni (#11 Oregon Team).

Near the front, Stoneman found the drying track conditions more to his liking than the wet opening race and closed in on Weering for second, passing the Dutchman on the inside of La Source.

A lengthy safety car period then followed after Keserovic lost control of his Lamborghini Cup class Konrad Motorsport car under braking for the Les Combes chicane. The car snapped to the left-hand side, impacting the barriers before coming to a halt in the escape road. Keserovic emerged from the car unharmed.

With the safety car deployed for the duration of the pit window, VS Racing made an early call to bring Kangas into the pits to swap with former Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia driver Nemoto. It paid off handsomely as the Japanese driver rejoined in front of Basz’s team-mate Lewandowkski.

Nemoto led away at the restart, but the race was soon neutralised again following a very nasty crash involving Cecotto, Gilardoni and Guzman on the straight between La Source and Eau Rouge.

All three cars were side-by-side, with the slightest contact pitching Guzman’s Target Racing car into the barriers. Following a red flag, Guzman was immediately transferred to the medical centre for checks and subsequently to the nearby hospital in Liège, with a suspected broken left tibia.

Due to the extensive barrier damage caused by the accident, the race result was declared 15 minutes early, thus giving Kangas and Nemoto a rather subdued maiden race victory. Stoneman picked up 7.5 points – as cars have covered less than 75 per cent of the distance – with third place to close the gap to Gilardoni in the standings to 7.5 points heading into the final round of the season.

Second for Basz and Lewandowski was enough for them to wrap up the Pro-Am title a round early, with their points margin over Leipert Motorsport’s Elias Niskanen and Mikko Eskelinen more than the available 32 points in the remaining two races of the season.

There was also a class title for Imperiale Racing’s Hans Fabri, who claimed his fifth Lamborghini Cup class win of the season. Ray Calvin (#27 Konrad Motorsport) claimed his second successive LB Cup win.

Despite suffering a broken rear wing on their #21 Leipert Motorsport car, Yury Wagner and Fidel Leib closed the gap to Am class points leader Massimo Mantovani with victory over Boutsen Ginion’s Giuseppe Fascicolo and Marc Rostan.

After the race, Cecotto and Liddy were disqualified from the results, while Guzman and Pavlović received a 10-second penalty for their part in the incident, dropping Guzman and Pavlović out of the top 10.

The 2020 Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe season concludes in the south of France next month, with the final two races being held at the Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet on the weekend of 13-15 November.

Olli Kangas (#6 VS Racing): “I started the race, so the conditions were very tricky, the braking points were damp, and it was really slippery. So, I was just trying to survive until the driver-change, and we had some very good luck with the timing of the safety car so that is a key part of why we won today.”

Yuki Nemoto (#6 VS Racing): “It was a very good race for us after the challenge of yesterday, we had a lot of good luck and the team made the perfect decision at that moment, because [the safety car] was quite close to the pit window opening. And then after that, I just tried to push to the limit. I am a bit worried about the other drivers who were in the big crash but in the end, we are happy with the result.”

Lamborghini Super Trofeo – 2020 Calendar

Round 1: Misano Adriatico, 7-9th August

Round 2: Nürburgring, 4-5th September

Round 3: Barcelona, 9-11th October

Round 4: Spa-Francorchamps, 20-24th October

Round 5: Circuit Paul Ricard, 13-15th November

Source. Lamborghini