Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe: Pro victories split between three different crews in Barcelona

Advantage Söderström and Ali as the Pro title fight goes down to the wire in Jerez de la Frontera

The penultimate round of the 2024 Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe season at Barcelona produced three different Pro class winners in three races, with Target Racing’s Oliver Söderström and Largim Ali taking a decisive lead in the standings following a race three retirement for BDR Competition by Grupo Prom’s Amaury Bonduel.

Due to postponed second race from the Le Mans weekend earlier in the year, a third race was added to the timetable at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain, with a total of 42 Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2s taking to the grid. VS Racing’s Mattia Michelotto and Andrea Frassineti came out on top in the opening race on Saturday, before Bonduel won Sunday’s race two. Egor Orudzhev (Art-Line) prevailed in a safety car affected finale.

Returning Pro champion Brendon Leitch teamed up with North America regular Anthony McIntosh and claimed a pair of wins, while Mičánek Motorsport’s Bronislav Formánek and Štefan Rosina won Sunday’s last bout. Adrian Lewandowski (ASR) and Stéphan Guerin (Schumacher CLRT) took a win apiece, with Piergiacomo Randazzo and Stéphane Tribaudini taking race three. In Lamborghini Cup, Shota Abkhazava (Art-Line) took two out of three wins after ASR’s Paolo Biglier and Petar Matić won Saturday’s opener.

Race 1
Pro

Bonduel took his seventh pole of the season and led away off the rolling start in damp conditions but missed his braking for the first corner and had to scamper across the gravel trap. Behind, Ali (Target Racing) and Alberto di Folco (Scuderia Villorba Corse) did likewise which gave VSR’s Michelotto the early lead. Bonduel and Di Folco were later handed 20-second post-race penalties for an incorrect return to the track. This effectively dashed the victory chances of both Bonduel and the #15 car. Michelotto led Di Folco and Bonduel either side of an early safety car intervention and eventually broke clear ahead of the mandatory pit-stops. Frassineti took over and came out just ahead of the #43 Iron Lynx car of Edgar Maloigne, who swapped with Georgi Dimitrov. Bonduel was third but the BDR Competition driver quickly passed both to take the overall lead. Despite coming home first on the road, Bonduel was demoted to 24^th in the end after his penalty. Frassineti had to fend off a charging Söderström in the closing stages to claim his first Pro class win with Maloigne and Amati coming home third.

Pro-Am

On his comeback, Brendon Leitch (Leipert Motorsport) briefly led off the start before contact with another car forced him to drop back, giving Oregon Team’s Kevin Gillardoni the lead. Pegasus Racing’s Dimitri Enjalbert ran third ahead of Target Racing’s Guido Luchetti. The latter was one of several to spin out of the race, along with the Mičánek Motorsport entry of Bronislav Formánek who was tagged by Cedric Leimer (Autovitesse) at the final corner. The safety car came in just before the start of the pit window, with many of the leading runners coming in. Leitch stayed out and passed Gillardoni for the lead, with the pair swapping with Anthony McIntosh and Pietro Perolini respectively. Perolini then made it back into the lead in the second stint before an unscheduled stop gave McIntosh and Leitch the victory ahead of Enjalbert and Anthony Nahra, with Boutsen VDS’ Roee Meyuhas and Renaud Kuppens completing the podium.

Am

Polesitter Stéphane Tribaudini (VSR) endured a difficult opening lap after contact with the #83 Pro entry of Grégory Guilvert (Schumacher CLRT) at turn 10, inflicting a left-rear puncture. A further spin later on made it a race to forget for the points leader. That allowed Stéphane Lemeret (CMR) to head the way from Adrian Lewandowski (ASR) before the stops, with the order switching at the start of the second stint. Lemeret’s team-mate Rodrigue Gillion dropped to fifth at the finish. Schumacher CLRT’s Stéphan Guerin finished second on the road but was handed the same penalty as Di Folco and Bonduel and ended up third behind Nigel Bailly (Art-Line).

Lamborghini Cup

Polesitters John Seale and Charlie Martin (Iron Lynx) were unable to capitalise on a strong qualifying performance as late contact with the GM Motorsport entry of Marco Gersager ended both cars’ race and brought out the second safety car. Martin lost the lead to Karim Ojjeh, but the latter suffered a right-rear puncture which handed the lead back to Martin before the stops. Seale took over from Martin but was forced to retire and making contact with Gersager as the pair negotiated turn five. After the safety car period, Art-Line’s Shota Abkhazava headed Petar Matić to the flag while Donovan and Luciano Privitelio finished third.

Andrea Frassineti (#6 VS Racing) said: “Mattia made a very good start, taking advantage of a Bonduel's mistake, who then received a 20-second penalty. I managed my stint as best as I could, staying close to him and maintaining the second position. This is my first overall win, and one that I've been looking for since the beginning of this season.”

Race 2
Pro

The sun returned to Barcelona on Sunday morning for the second race, with Bonduel racing clear at the start ahead of Frassineti and Pro-Am polesitter Joran Leneutre close behind. Despite a brief moment of pressure from Michelotto after the pit-stops, Bonduel was largely untroubled en route to another victory, by over four seconds at the flag. The battle therefore centred on who would finish second and it was only decided in the closing minutes as a superb display of tyre management gave Art-Line’s Orudzhev a well-deserved runner-up spot after catching and passing both Ali and Michelotto, each with an inside dive at turn seven. With a lack of mechanical grip, Michelotto then slipped off the podium on the final lap, losing third to Ali at turn 12, while Ericsson also got past to claim fourth at the finish.

Pro-Am

Leitch and McIntosh made two wins out of two in Pro-Am thanks to a superb stint from the latter in the opening stages of the race. On the opening lap, multiple cars encountered trouble, including the #76 Schumacher CLRT of Laurent Hurgon and Lola Lovinfosse which spun at turn four. Iron Lynx’s Leneutre, from his best starting position of the year in third overall, led the way and was one of the last drivers to make his mandatory pit-stop to swap over with Claude-Yves Gosselin. Unfortunately, the #4 slipped down the order in the second half of the race, which allowed Leitch to work his way forward, passing Enjalbert and Nahra to come home victorious. Formánek and Rosina had finished third on the road after a strong qualifying from Rosina, but were demoted to fourth following a penalty, elevating Meyuhas and Kuppens to third.

Am

The opening lap action affected some of the Am competitors, taking both Oliver Freymuth, Nigel Bailly and Cedric Leimer out of contention. Bailly and LB Cup entrant Holger Harmsen came to blows at turn 12, leaving both stuck in the gravel trap. Guerin held the advantage in the first stint, with Target Racing’s Huilin Han in close company. After the stops, Guerin continued to lead but was chased hard by Adrian Lewandowski, with Tribaudini taking over from Piergiacomo Randazzo in the #66 VSR. A penalty cost Tribaudini the win with Guerin coming out on top from Lewandowski and Lemeret/Gillion who completed the podium in third.

Lamborghini Cup

After the early safety car, Abkhazava controlled the opening stint from Paolo Biglieri and Petar Matić with Ojjeh, recovering from an opening-lap collision with Alfredo Hernandez Ortega to run third. The order remained the same after the pit window closed, with Abkhazava taking his #75 Art-Line car to another victory ahead of Biglieri/Matić. A terrific second-stint surge from the #8 Rexal Villorba Corse Huracán of Donovan Privitelio was rewarded with a podium finish ahead of Seale/Martin and Ojjeh.

Amaury Bonduel (#28 BDR Competition by Grupo Prom) said: “It was a very good race for me after I made a silly error at the start of the first race, where I braked on the wet track where I normally braked on a dry track. I got a good gap and managed the tyres which was not easy, especially with the degradation. It’s good for the championship also to win and now I focus on the third race.”

Race 3

The replacement round for the postponed second race at Le Mans had promised to deliver the same sort of excitement as the previous two encounters of the weekend but a multi-car incident on the opening resulted in a lengthy safety car period that prevented any meaningful race taking place. Georgi Dimitrov (Iron Lynx) led off the rolling start but contact between Bonduel and Ericsson at the exit of turn five sent the Target Racing car spinning with several others having to take avoiding action. The ensuing melee took Ericsson, Amati (Iron Lynx), Gillion (CMR), Paul Levet (Oregon Team), Mcintosh (Leipert), Ojjeh (Aggressive Team Italia) and Bonduel out of the race. In total, five cars were caught up leading to the safety car being deployed for over 30 minutes, encompassing the pit window. The race restarted with 17 minutes remaining, with Orudzhev, who had leapt to second on the first lap but dropped back to third at the stops, went on the attack. He overtook Pavel Lefterov (Iron Lynx) at turn five before quickly catching Edgar Maloigne. Frustratingly, a second safety car period was required after the ASR car of Miloš Pavlović spun at the final corner. The race ended under safety car with Maloigne finishing first on the road but dropping to seventh after a pit-stop penalty. Therefore, Orudzhev clinched his second win of the year from Söderström and Ali who reclaimed the Pro points lead, with Lefterov and Stefan Bostandjiev dropping to third post-penalty.

Mičánek Motorsport’s Štefan Rosina and Bronsilav Formánek won in Pro-Am, while VSR’s Randazzo and Tribaudini took another victory in the Am class. Abkhazava picked up his second LB Cup triumph of the weekend for Art-Line.

Egor Orudzhev (#57 Art-Line) said: “It obviously good to win the race even though there was not much racing. I actually think that race two feels more like a win because I managed the race and the tyres really well and made some nice overtakes. I lost some time in the pit-stop, so I knew that I needed to take my chance quickly. My grandfather also passed away today so I am very emotional so would like to dedicate this victory to him.”

In the Pro standings, provisionally it is a straight shootout between Ali/Söderström and Bonduel for the title heading into the final two races of the season at Jerez de la Frontera next month. The Target Racing duo hold a 9.5-point margin over Bonduel while, despite his second victory, Orudzhev is set to fall out of the hunt to be crowned champion, 42 points adrift in third.

2024 Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe calendar

19-21 April – Imola * FIA WEC
9-11 May – Spa-Francorchamps * FIA WEC
11-15 June – Le Mans * FIA WEC
26-28 July – Nürburgring * GT World Challenge Europe
11-13 October – Barcelona * GT World Challenge Europe
14-15 November – Jerez de la Frontera * Lamborghini World Finals