Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe: Spinelli and Weering recover to take eighth win of the season

After winning the title on Saturday, Bonaldi Motorsport crew complete a clean sweep at Barcelona

Loris Spinelli and Max Weering produced a sensational fightback from sixth on the grid to take their eighth Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe race victory of the season in the second 50-minute encounter at Barcelona. Having won the Pro title after race one, the #61 Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2 made the most of a slow pit-stop for the leading Target Racing entry of Marzio Moretti and Milan Teekens to take another win.

From his first-ever Super Trofeo pole position, Moretti led away from the rolling start as BDR Competition’s Amaury Bonduel dived to the inside of the Brutal Fish Racing Huracán of Edoardo Liberati at turn one. Behind, Lamborghini Stuttgart by Target’s Lennart Marioneck initially grabbed third from the Leipert Motorsport car of Brendon Leitch before Leitch reclaimed the position on the exit of the corner. Liberati and Bonduel went toe-to-toe at turn four, with Bonduel just hanging on to second, but Libertati eventually got ahead for second at turn four on the next lap.

Two safety car interventions affected the opening stages, with a number of cars suffering misfortune on the first lap. Rexal FFF Racing Team’s Marc Rostan spun at turn four while the Leipert Motorsport car of David-Mihai Serban was spun around at turn 10 by the newcomer Arturs Batraks (RD Signs Racing). The Latvian driver received a 10-second post-race time penalty as a result. Grzegorz Moczulski also hit strife with a left-rear puncture before Rostan caused the second safety car after hitting the barrier at turn five.

The order at the front remained the same until the pit window opened, which is where the race turned decidedly against the #54 of Moretti and Teekens. As Moretti came in for his pit-stop at the end of the window, a slower Am car at pit entry cost the leader up to five seconds. This left Spinelli, who had taken over from Weering in the pound seat to grab an unexpected lead.

Teekens fended off the attentions of Daniel Keilwitz to consolidate a second place which left a sour taste in the mouth for the Dutchman. Keilwitz, alongside Marioneck claimed his second podium of his debut weekend after a superb move on Bonduel under braking for turn one after a full course yellow restart. Fourth in the Pro class was Bonduel, who faded to fifth overall in the closing stages, while the Rexal FFF Racing Team car of Rodrigo Testa de Sousa was sixth ahead of Oregon Team’s Alessandro Tarabini and Filippo Berto.

In Pro-Am, it was a race of two halves as Brutal Fish Racing’s Liberati led the way early on from Leitch and Dan Wells (Rexal FFF Racing Team), with Magnus Gustavsen fourth for Lamborghini Roma. The Pro drivers held on until the very end of the pit window before swapping with their Am team-mates. Chasing them in the second stint were Karol Basz (Micanek Motorsport), Emanuele Zonzini (VS Racing) and Martin Kodric (Bonaldi Motorsport) who took over from Bromek Formanek, Emanuel Colombini and Sandro Mur respectively.

After the pit-stops Liberati’s team-mate Martin Ryba continued to lead but came under pressure from Basz, who passed Watzinger for second in class. Basz then used his superior speed and experience to take the lead from Ryba, whose race unfortunately ended after contact with the #51 Rexal FFF Racing Team car of Oscar Lee at turn eight. 

Target Racing’s Milan Petelet and Philippe Chatelet claimed second ahead of Kodric and Watzinger, while Zonzini dropped to sixth after receiving a 30-second penalty post-race. Elsewhere, it was a disappointing race for the Oregon Team duo of Massimo Ciglia and Lewis Williamson, who failed to finish after a technical issue afflicted the #27 car.

The Am battle went right down to the wire as Yury Wagner and Louis Wagner clinched their first class victory, beating points leader Andrzej Lewandowski on the final lap. Leipert Motorsport’s Gabriel Rindone led the early stages from Antonios Vossos, with the Autovitesse of Cedric Leimer next up. All three would lead the race at some point; Vossos moved to the front after the pit-stop window closed but threw away the lead with an error exiting the final corner. That gave Vossos the lead, but he too lost ground after a spin at turn 10, with Lewandowski – who was sixth in the first stint – at the top. 

Victory looked assured for the VS Racing driver entering the closing laps, but Wagner was catching the Pole as they encountered traffic on the final lap. Wagner seized his chance on the inside of turn four to take the lead and with it, the class win. Lewandowski later received a 10-second time penalty and dropped to fourth.

François Grimm (Boutsen Racing) took his second Lamborghini Cup win of the weekend, having got the better of early leaders Donovan and Luciano Privitelio (Rexal FFF Racing Team) after the stops. Donovan held onto the lead either side of the two safety car periods, with Daniel Waszczinski second ahead of Grimm and Libor Dvoracek.

Luciano maintained the lead after his pit-stop but was caught by Kurt Wagner – in place of Dvoracek – and Grimm. After the final restart, Grimm had made it into second and then into the lead, which he held until the end. Waszczinski also made it ahead of Privitelio, who finished third, while Wagner slipped to fourth at the finish.

Race winner Loris Spinelli (#61 Bonaldi Motorsport) said: “Even though we won the championship yesterday, today the goal was the same, to win the race and to fight our best. It was another good step for us today, I did my best lap, so I am really happy with that. And then we just used the rest of the race as a test, so we could try more things on the car.”

Team-mate Max Weering (#61 Bonaldi Motorsport) added: “I was not so happy with my stint because I was stuck in a lot of traffic and there were the two safety cars too which made it a little bit difficult. That’s why we made the pit-stop at the first opportunity, to get out of traffic and put Loris in. But we did an okay race and Loris was able to go from six to first by passing only one car on track! It has been a great weekend and we can be very proud of our performances.”

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: Barcelona (Spain) 30 September-2 October
Round 6: Portimão (Portugal), 3-4 November

Finals: Portimão (Portugal), 5-6 November