DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Sept 17, 2018) – The first 10 rounds of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America series are in the books, but there is still plenty to race for as the series heads to Italy for the final rounds taking place 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 Nov. 15-16.
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 located 20 miles north of Rome.
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.
In an interesting turn of events during the season, Lewis and Snow won the first two races of the year but have not revisited the top spot on the podium since then. However, they finished second in four of the last five rounds.
“We are approaching the final race weekend for the US championship, Madison and I will have to have a dominant weekend to grab the championship,” said Lewis. “We are ready, I can't wait to get to Vallelunga and represent the USA.”
Proto and Piscopo, who won the PRO-AM class in 2017, have the most wins on the season from this group with four (Rounds 3, 6, 7, and 9), but were unable to finish the 10th round and hence did not receive any points which dropped them into the tie for second. Gdovic and Michimi have only one win (Round 5), but have scored double digits in points in eight of the 10 rounds.
Jonathan Cecotto and Trent Hindman (No. 1 Wayne Taylor Racing, Lamborghini Paramus) have won three races on the year, but are in fourth place with 95 points.
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 earned 27 points last week to Hardwick’s 24 to close the gap. He will need to finish at least two places higher than Hardwick in at least one of the races to have a chance to overtake him – something he has accomplished twice this season.
“I’m pretty happy," Ockey said following the successful weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. "I started on pole and finished first which helped with the championship points. I think I’m still behind a bit, so now we’ll have to see what happens in Italy.”
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 PRO-AM class title was secured at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca by the drivers of the No. 71 P1 Motorsports, Lamborghini Broward - JC Perez and Loris Spinelli.
The victory for the duo was their eighth of the season. After a third-place finish in the first race of the season at Mid-Ohio, the pair has won all eight of the races they have finished since then.
“This is the second year I’ve clinched the championship,” Perez, who won the LB Cup title last year, said. “We were here to compete overall and just getting on the top step overall means a lot.”
“We wanted to win the championship this week, and we did,” Spinelli added. “We finished the job here, but we will keep working hard for the final two races.”
Mark Proto and Parris Mullins (No. 88 US RaceTronics, Lamborghini La Jolla) has secured the LB Cup class after the racing was concluded in California.
The pair started the season strong with three wins and have won a class-high five times, finishing on the podium in all 10 rounds.
“It couldn’t have been a better place to win (the championship),” Mullins said after they won the championship. “I am looking forward to driving in Italy and the all the competitors out there. It will be nice not to have to concentrate on the championship and just have a nice race over there.”
Sheena Monk (No. 7 Wayne Taylor Racing, Lamborghini Paramus) is in second place with 87 points while Brett Meredith (No. 66 P1 Motorsports, Lamborghini Newport Beach) is one point behind her in third.
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.
“Coming to the home stretch of the 2019 Season, It’s a been a heck of a year for the whole Change Racing and Lamborghini Charlotte organization,” Lewis said of his Change Racing team. “At the beginning of the year we came in with one goal in mind; win 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.
The final two races of the year will take place in November in Vallelunga, Italy on the weekend of Nov. 15-18. Rounds 11 and 12 are scheduled for the 15th and 16th while the World Final will be run on the 17th and 18th. Those races can be streamed on squadracorse.lamborghini.com/super-trofeo/north-america.