Lamborghini Super Trofeo: Jerez de la Frontera kicks off World Finals weekend

Spanish venue crowns champions in all three continental championships

The 2024 Lamborghini Super Trofeo regular season came to a spectacular conclusion at Jerez de la Frontera as the Asian, European and North American class titles were decided. The Spanish circuit hosted eight races and produced 31 different winners across the four classes reserved for the Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2, the perfect prequel ahead of the traditional season-closing Lamborghini World Finals this weekend.

Amaury Bonduel (BDR Competition by Grupo Prom) came out on top in the Pro class, while Bronislav Formánek and Štefan Rosina (Mičánek Motorsport) won the Pro-Am title. In Am, Stéphane Tribaudini and Piergiacomo Randazzo (VSR) won the title with a race to spare, as Shota Abkhazava (Art-Line) prevailed in Lamborghini Cup.

In the North American series, Ernie Francis Jr and Giano Taurino (TR3 Racing) were crowned champions in Pro, as AJ Muss and Joel Miller (Forty7 Motorsports) clinched the Pro-Am championship. Anthony McIntosh and Glenn McGee (Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti) made it two Am titles in a row as Nick Groat (One Motorsports) won the LB Cup title.

Meanwhile in the Asian championship, it was a first Pro title for Dan Wells (DW Evans GT) as André Couto and Fangping Chen (Arrows Racing) won the Pro-Am championship. Changwoo Lee (SQDA – GRIT Motorsport) won in Am while Hairie and Haziq Zairel Oh (HZO Fortis Racing Team) picked up the LB Cup title.

Super Trofeo Asia 
Race 1
Early morning rain meant the penultimate race of the year took place on a greasy track, leaving the majority of the field starting on slick tyres. Pole-sitter Jazeman Jaafar (#208 Arrows Racing) dropped to third at the start as Dan Wells (#265 DW Evans GT) took the lead ahead of Charles Leong (#232 SJM Iron Lynx Theodore Racing) at turn one. Leong then got past Wells for the lead after the safety car restart on the inside of turn five and pulled away before the pit window opened. Having run further down the order early on, Gavin Huang (#211 Arrows Racing) was the first of the Pro cars to pit, with team-mate Jonathan Cecotto producing a mesmerising second stint, aided slightly by a well-timed second safety car intervention. Cecotto took the restart fifth overall but caught Emilien Carde and Miki Koyama – in place of Wells and Leong respectively – passing both on the same lap. Cecotto then showcased his brilliance by leaping away to victory by over 20 seconds at the finish, with Wells and Carde second ahead of newly crowned Am class champion Changwoo Lee who finished a sensational third overall. Jaafar and team-mate Selim Rafique fended off the stern challenge of André Couto and Fangping Chen (#288 Madness Racing Team) to win in Pro-Am, while Malaysia siblings Hairie and Haziq Zairel Oh (#205 HZO Fortis Racing Team) claimed the Lamborghini Cup title with victory ahead of Kumar Prabakaran (#233 SJM Iron Lynx Theodore Racing) and Supachai (#271 Siamgas Corse.)

Race 2
Cecotto started Friday’s second race from pole position, on an almost dry track, and fended off Koyama at the first corner to maintain his lead. The fast-starting Changwoo Lee leapt a place to third ahead of Carde, and then passed Koyama for second before the safety car came out after Tan Weiron got stuck in the turn 15 gravel trap. Despite seeing his early five-second lead evaporate, Cecotto established a healthy lead at the front of the field, staying out until the end of the 10-minute pit window, as Koyama and Carde came in early. Huang took over from Cecotto but saw his 14-second lead reduced to nothing as Leong closed rapidly. The pair came to blows at turn eight, making contact which sent Huang across the grass with broken suspension and Leong spinning. Wells then took the lead and held on to claim victory alongside Carde and the title, while Jaafar and Rafique won in Pro-Am as Couto and Chen were crowned class champions. Having won the Am title the day before, Changwoo Lee again finished third overall despite a spin following minor contact with the LB Cup champions and race two winners Hairie and Haziq Zairel Oh. In LB Cup, Supachai and Prabakaran rounded out the podium places.

Dan Wells (#265 DW Evans GT): “This is only my third title in cars, I’m mega happy for the DW Evans GT team for their third championship in two years. What a nailbiter of a finale here in Jerez, it was a tricky race but to be able to stand here as champions is amazing. The hard work that the team and my team-mate Emilien did all week has been incredible and I couldn’t have done it without him, he’s done a super job all season.”

Super Trofeo North America
Race 1
Danny Formal (#101 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti) led the field into the first corner as fellow front-row starter Nico Jamin (#104 Ansa Motorsports) slipped to third behind the sister #30 Ansa car of Loris Cabirou. Jamin then dropped to seventh after a trip through the gravel following contact on the exit of turn six with Giano Taurino (#188 TR3 Racing); meanwhile Cabirou wrestled the lead from Formal at the turn 12 chicane despite also jumping over the gravel. The Frenchman built a lead of nearly eight seconds as Taurino moved into second ahead of the pit window. Morris took over from Cabirou and maintained the lead either side of the second of three safety car periods. The final restart provided drama as Porto, keen to make ground, got alongside the #188 of Ernie Francis Jr approaching turn four, but contact forced the #104 out of the race and elevated Jake Walker (#177 Forty7 Motorsports) to the final step on the podium. In Pro-Am, former Olympic snowboarder AJ Muss and Joel Miller (#166 Forty7 Motorsports) took victory ahead of title rivals Nick Persing and Nate Stacy (#108 WTRAndretti) as early race leader Paul Nemschoff (#141 Flying Lizard Motorsports) spun out at turn five. Dominic Starkweather (#147 Precision Performance Motorsports) profited from a rare off-day for Anthony McIntosh and Glenn McGee (#169 WTRAndretti) to close to within six points of the Am standings ahead of the finale, while Nick Groat (#157 One Motorsports) wrapped up the LB Cup class title with victory.

Race 2
Liberati took pole for the second race but was beaten to the first corner by Porto who got the superior getaway off the rolling start and the inside line. Unfortunately for the Brazilian, he was tagged by Liberati under braking for turn two, dropping the #104 to seventh. Liberati continued to lead throughout the opening stint, which was briefly interrupted by two short safety car periods – for Kevin Madsen (#142 MLT Motorsports) and Anthony Bullock (#12 One Motorsports). All of the leading Pro cars decided to make their stop as the pit window opened. Taurino took over from Francis Jr, who had run second to Liberati in the early stages – while Norman handed over to Formal. The latter chased down Taurino and made a bold overtake for the lead of the race at turn two and was rarely troubled thereafter en route to victory. Taurino let TR3 Racing team-mate Elias De la Torre – who similarly out-braked Jamin for third at turn two – into second place, making it two TR3 cars on the podium. In Pro-Am, Muss and Miller claimed their first Super Trofeo North America title with fifth in class, as Pisano and Liberati took victory from Paul Nemschoff and Marc Miller (#141 Flying Lizard Motorsports). McIntosh and McGee came through the field to win not only the race but also a second Am class title for WTRAndretti, who were denied two cars on the podium after a late incident forced Ashton Harrison and Graham Doyle (#110 WTRAndretti) out on the last lap. Nick Groat took another victory in LB Cup.

Ernie Francis Jr (#188 TR3 Racing) said: “We’ve been the dream team all year long, I’ve loved racing with Giano, with TR3 Racing and I have to thank all of our partners for their effort this year. They put their heart and soul into this season, we came into it knowing we wanted to win the championship and we have approached it trying to win the championship, by being consistent and always being on our A game.”

Giano Taurino (#188 TR3 Racing) added: “We started this season with the same goal, which was to go and win a championship together and every race we did, it seemed like that dream was getting closer and closer and more possible. When we won Sebring, that gave us a lot of hope and faith and Ernie kept on getting faster too.”

Super Trofeo Europe – AM/LB CUP 
Race 1
Stéphane Tribaudini and Piergiacomo Randazzo (#66 VSR) started the opening Am/Lamborghini Cup race from pole and, despite dropping behind front-row starter Stéphane Lemeret (#27 CMR), Tribaudini quickly built a healthy lead after an early safety car intervention for Alfredo Hernandez Ortega (#77 BDR Competition by Grupo Prom). Randazzo maintained a steady 13-second margin after the stops over the chasing Adrian Lewandowski (#3 ASR) who had taken over from his father, Andrzej, and knew that he and Tribaudini needed only to finish ahead of rival Stéphan Guerin (#13 Schumacher CLRT) to take the title. Tribaudini and Randazzo were untroubled en route to victory, despite a heavy rain shower that hit the track in the closing stages. In Lamborghini Cup, Shota Abkhazava (#75 Art-Line) put one hand on the title with another dominant display to take victory, mastering the wet conditions late in the race. Holger Harmsen (#90 GT3 Poland) was second ahead of Donovan and Luciano Privitelio (#8 Rexal Villorba Corse). Abkhazava’s class rivals Paolo Biglieri and Petar Matić (#32 ASR) saw their hopes take a significant knock after twice being involved in contact with newcomer, Seweryn Mazur (#79 GT3 Poland).

Race 2
Huilin Han started race two from pole position but was passed on the approach to turn one by Lukas Valkre (#72 DL Racing) who grabbed the lead despite slight contact. Am champion Randazzo moved up a position to run third while Abkhazava maintained his LB Cup lead in third overall. Valkre established a solid gap at the head of the field, opening up a margin of nearly five seconds during the first stint, as Randazzo caught and passed Han on the inside of turn 10 to seize second place. In LB Cup, Abkhazava was untroubled in the lead and took his mandatory pit-stop in the middle of the window, easily rejoining the circuit ahead of nearest rival Biglieri – who took over from Matić. Biglieri needed to make ground and finish ahead of Abkhazava if he was to snatch the title, but his cause was hurt after contact with Am newcomer Mazur once more at turn 10. That meant Abkhazava only had to finish to wrap up the title, which the Art-Line driver duly did. Overall, Tribaudini took over from Randazzo and ensured the #66 VSR pair celebrated a clean sweep of victories in the final round, crossing the line 5.323s ahead of Andrzej and Adrian Lewandowski, with Han completed the Am podium.

Super Trofeo Europe – PRO/PRO-AM
Race 1
With the rain now settling in at the end of the day’s action, the opening Pro/Pro-Am race began behind the safety car. Frederik Schandorff (#81 Target Racing) headed both the Pro-Am class and overall, with Egor Orudzhev (#57 Art-Line) leading the way in Pro. Amaury Bonduel (BDR Competition by Grupo Prom) held second in Pro early on but was passed at the final corner by Mattia Michelotto (#6 VSR) before coming under threat from Enzo Geraci (#61 Oregon Team). Both Bonduel and Michelotto pitted early while Schandorff and Orudzhev waited until the end of the window before making their stops. As the rain intensified, Pietro Perolini brought out the safety car following an incident at turn two. The impact heavily damaged the barriers, forcing a red flag which made Schandorff and Alex Au the surprise overall winners. Orudzhev won in Pro, ahead of Michelotto and Bonduel, who closed the gap to Ali and Oliver Söderström to just 2.5-points ahead of the final race of the season. Andrea Frassineti and Ignazio Zanon (#16 VSR) were third overall and second in Pro-Am, as Brendon Leitch and Anthony McIntosh (#99 Leipert Motorsport) backed up their Barcelona performance with another podium finish in class. 

Race 2
On a completely dry track, Orudzhev led off the rolling start and staved off an attack in turn one from Söderström to maintain his lead. Behind, Leonardo Caglioni (#61 Oregon Team) held onto third ahead Bonduel, who got the better of Ericsson for fourth on the opening lap. The Pro-Am title battle took a turn early on, as Roee Meyuhas (#2 Boutsen VDS) had his race impacted as he spun into the gravel trap at turn eight, giving Bronislav Formánek and Štefan Rosina (#11 Mičánek Motorsport) the upper hand. As Orudzhev continued to edge away from Söderström at the front, Bonduel was becoming frustrated behind Caglioni in his quest for third but was handed a reprieve when the safety car was deployed after Jerzy Spinkiewicz (#25 UNIQ Racing) was tagged by Pavel Lefterov (#41 Iron Lynx) at turn two. A strategic confusion for Target Racing had significant consequences as Söderström was called into the pits before the window officially opened, meaning the Swede had to go through the pits and dropped to ninth before coming in the next lap to serve his mandatory stop. That now gave Bonduel the advantage as he moved up to fourth after the restart, which became third after getting ahead of Laszló Tóth. Ali, now at the wheel of the #9, made progress in the second half of the race but could only finish seventh as Bonduel secured the Pro title in third. Orudzhev, therefore ended the year with a double victory in Jerez, ahead of Caglioni/Geraci. Formánek and Rosina wrapped up the Pro-Am crown off the podium as Frassineti and Zanon beat guest starters Edoardo Liberati and Alberto Clementi Pisano (#172 Forte Racing) in a drag finish. 

Amaury Bonduel (#28 BDR Competition by Grupo Prom), said: “I’m super happy to win the championship today, it has been an incredible season with 10 poles from 12 races, five victories, amazing. The team did an amazing job with the car, despite a lot of bad luck this season at Imola, the puncture at Le Mans and a bad weekend in Barcelona, but we made it in the end.”

Attention now shifts to the weekend and the season-ending Lamborghini World Finals, which will take place between Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 November. A pair of combined Pro/Pro-Am and Am/LB Cup races will be disputed, with the best aggregate score deciding the winners on Sunday evening. Qualifying begins on Saturday morning with the first Am/LB Cup race taking place at 13:55, with the Pro/Pro-Am race following at 16:15. Race two for Am/LB Cup will start at 11:50 and Pro/Pro-Am taking place t 14:40.