MONTEREY, Calif. – If the tone of Saturday’s Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca resembled the fast and the furious, Sunday’s theme was geared toward precision and excellence.
In the second of two 50-minute sprint races that took place on the iconic undulating road course along the central coast of California in Monterey this weekend, drivers and teams coaxed the most out of their Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo entries on the 2.238-mile, 11-turn race complex.
It was Austin Versteeg in the No. 7 entry for DXDT Racing and Lamborghini Dallas who had the fortitude and skill to sweep the weekend with two overall and Pro-Am class victories, to keep his championship hopes very much alive and kicking.
“Crazy weekend,” said Versteeg. “This track is crazy to drive on. It throws something different at you every time you are out on the track. But I can’t thank the DXDT crew enough for giving me a wicked car all weekend and allowing me to push how I do.”
Divided into separate podiums, the series recognizes the breadth of talent in the Super Trofeo field by classifying the drivers into several divisions: Pro, Pro-Am, Amateur (Am) and Lamborghini Cup divisions.
While Versteeg’s dominance in the Pro-Am category was uncontested this weekend, he was heavily challenged Sunday by the Pro entry of Riccardo Agostini and Trent Hindman in the No. 1 Prestige Performance entry for Lamborghini Paramus.
The duo faltered in Saturday’s race and conceded the victory on the last lap to Versteeg. Sunday’s race was an entirely different matter. Starting third on the grid just behind the No. 30 of Brandon Gdovic for DAC Motorsports and Lamborghini Palm Beach, Agostini locked in and maintained a consistent pace and managed tire wear to keep the car in an optimal position as the mandatory pit stop window opened.
The teammates switched places and it was Hindman that capitalized on strategy and moved the No. 1 into second-place by Lap 19. Hindman continued to push the pace and began reeling in Versteeg, but just didn’t quite have enough to catch the red No. 7, and had to settle for second overall and take the victory in the Pro division. Their win continues to expand their ever-growing points lead for the category championship.
“We just didn’t quite have the pace today,” said Hindman. “Congratulations to Austin [Versteeg]. He drove a hell of a race. For us, the more important thing is the championship. The No. 16 [Richard Antinucci, Change Racing, Lamborghini Carolinas] had some trouble today and we had some trouble yesterday, which took us out of a potential win so I guess the law of averages comes into play. We capitalized on what we had. I think we are in a good position now, as long as we keep it clean at Imola, hopefully we will have the North American championship.”
Gdovic followed Hindman’s lead and drove his Huracán Super Trofeo entry across the finish line in third-place overall, and second in Pro.
The No. 55 of Yuki Harata for Dream Racing Motorsports and Lamborghini Las Vegas continued this charge toward the Amateur division championship, starting in fourth on the grid, but running as high as first due to pit stop strategy. He finished fourth overall and captured his fifth win for the season. He has only finished off the podium once in 10 rounds of competition.
“It’s amazing really,” said Harata. “It was a new experience for me starting from the second row. It’s the first time I have started there and I pushed hard in the first stint. Our pit stop was perfect and I could maintain the pace and the last lap I saw I had [Edoardo] Piscopo behind me and I was nervous, he is a Pro. But I was so happy to finish in fourth overall.”
The combination of Edoardo Piscopo and Taylor Proto rounded out the top five for US RaceTronics, running the No. 50 for Lamborghini Beverly Hills. The duo gained five positions throughout the course of the race, and took home second-place honors in Pro-Am competition.
It was déjà vu all over again for driver J.C. Perez in his No. 71 entry for P1 Motorsports and Lamborghini Palm Beach. Perez recently returned from running LB Cup competition in the European Super Trofeo series and was pleased to back up his European victories with his third consecutive victory, and his sixth for the season.
“I pushed when I had to push at the beginning and then at the end I just didn’t want to risk the car,” said Perez. “My guys have been really good with the car and I didn’t want to do anything at the last race, especially with such a commanding lead. It just wasn’t worth it for me. So, I just toned it down a bit and kept pace with the car in front of me.”
Source : speedsport.com
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