Championship leaders break Pro class win record to maintain unbeaten run in Italy
Sant’Agata Bolognese/Misano Adriatico, 3 July 2022 – Bonaldi Motorsport’s Max Weering and Loris Spinelli made Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe history at Misano Adriatico, by becoming the first crew to win six consecutive races in the Pro class, beating Patrick Kujula’s previous record from 2015. The duo, in the #61 Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2, won from pole position in the opening race before having to work their way through from fifth on the grid in the second.
Exceedingly warm ambient temperatures made life difficult for the cars and drivers, but the action was just as hot across the weekend, with frantic battles in all classes. As a result of their two victories, Spinelli and Weering continue to surge clear in the points standings, while the Pro-Am title race took another interesting turn as Oregon Team’s Lewis Williamson and Massimo Ciglia took a win and a second place.
Race 1
After taking pole position in the morning’s opening qualifying session, Spinelli led the #61 Huracán away from the rolling start, comfortably ahead of BDR Competition’s Amaury Bonduel, with Arkadia Racing’s Pierre-Louis Chovet in third. Spinelli’s lead during the first stint grew to over 12 seconds before handing over to Weering as the mandatory pit-stop window opened. Further back, the best battle came in the Pro-Am class, as Oregon Team’s Lewis Williamson made two quick-fire passes on Rexal FFF Racing Team’s Dan Wells and the Bonaldi Motorsport car of Pietro Perolini to run second behind VS Racing’s Emanuele Zonzini.
Such was Spinelli’s early pace that by the time he handed over to Weering, the #61 had a lead of over 20 seconds, but that was soon reduced by a safety car intervention as Perolini’s team-mate Paolo Biglieri – who was earlier involved in an incident with Dani Pedrosa’s team-mate Antonin Borga – was hit by David Serban’s Leipert Motorsport car at Turn 3. However, Weering maintained his advantage at the top and came home to beat Bonduel to the line by just over a second, with Target Racing’s Marzio Moretti and Milan Teekens third. Micanek Motorsport’s Bromek Formanek and Karol Basz took the Pro-Am win, while Zonzini and Emanuel Colombini lost a potential overall top five after a crash with GT3 Poland’s Grzegorz Moczulski at Turn 13.
The Am class had plenty of action, with VS Racing’s Andrzej Lewandowski beating Stéphan Guerin. Early leader Raffaele Giannoni saw his chances disappear after contact with Leipert Motorsport’s Gabriel Rindone; the latter was handed a 10-second penalty as a result. Gerard van der Horst took the win in Lamborghini Cup; five seconds clear of Alfredo Hernandes Ortega.
Race winner Max Weering (#61 Bonaldi Motorsport) said: “It’s been such a strong start to the season, and we want to continue in the same way. My driving has really improved since I joined Loris and he has helped me so much to be faster in the car, so I really have to thank him for that. The last two years I have driven by myself and, although I have had a lot more time in the car, my level was always staying the same. Now I can learn a lot from Loris, who has so much experience, it has been so good for my career.”
Team-mate Loris Spinelli (#61 Bonaldi Motorsport) added: “To get the record, it is a great achievement for me and for Max, it shows that we are a good team with a strong car and we really worked hard for this. As for the races, it was quite tough with the temperatures and, especially in Race 2, it was important to make the overtake for the lead before the safety car because without that, we would not have won. I’m really proud of our season so far, to have six wins from six races, it’s a dream.”
Race 2
While the start of Race 1 was clean throughout the field, the same could not be said about Sunday’s second encounter as Moretti tagged the back of Basz at Turn 1, spinning the Micanek Motorsport car. Behind, Pedrosa hit the rear of Basz, which forced both out of the race. The incident also accounted for the Rexal FFF Racing Team of Luciano Privitelio, Jürgen Krebs’ Leipert Motorsport Huracán and severely delayed the #2 Boutsen Racing machine of Pierre Feligioni who had contact with Privitelio.
Polesitter Martin Kodric, therefore, led the restart from Jean-Luc D’Auria and Bonduel, with Race 1 winner Weering only seventh after dropping two places at the start. Kodric, in the #32 Bonaldi Motorsport car built a three-second margin at the front, as Weering was the first of the leading group to pit, swapping with Spinelli at the earliest opportunity.
Kodric pitted at the end of the window and his team-mate Sandro Mur was quickly overtaken for the overall lead by Stéphane Tribaudini at Turn 14 as Mur suffered a snap of oversteer. Crucially, Spinelli had made significant progress after taking over from Weering and was just five seconds adrift of Tribaudini entering the final 18 minutes. Once into second, Spinelli closed on Tribaudini; his cause helped by Manuel Bejarano bringing out the safety car with 12 minutes to go after spinning at Turn 14. At the restart, Tribaudini, Spinelli and Bonduel engaged in a frenetic three-way battle for the lead, but Spinelli eventually made it past Tribaudini to seize the lead at Turn 4 with seven minutes remaining. Bonduel also got ahead of Tribaudini to clinch second as two separate incidents – for Bejarano and Gerhard Watzinger, and Mur and Moczulski – meant the race wad red flagged late on.
Lewandowski and Van der Horst made it a clean sweep of Am and Lamborghini Cup wins respectively, while Oregon Team’s Lewis Williamson and Massimo Ciglia made a late pass on Rexal FFF Racing Team’s Dan Wells and Oscar Lee to claim the Pro-Am class victory.
Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe – 2022 Calendar
Round 1: Imola (Italy), 1-3 April
Round 2: Le Castellet (France), 3-5 June
Round 3: Misano (Italy), 1-3 July
Round 4: Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium) 29-30 July
Round 5: Barcellona (Spain) 30 September-2 October
Round 6: Portimão (Portugal), 3-4 November
Finals: Portimão (Portugal), 5-6 November