The Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo North America series has added some Texas-style flair to its schedule with two rounds of exciting race action Sept. 17-19 at Circuit of the Americas.
The North American series, in its third season, comes to the 20-turn, 3.4-mile circuit for the first time. The double-header event will host the largest grid for the North American series to date, with 26 Lamborghini cars - a combination of Huracán and Gallardo models - entered for the COTA event. That's three more than the previous high of 23, set in August at the last event, at VIRginia International Raceway.
The COTA weekend will feature two 50-minute races. This season features multi-class racing for the first time in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo series. The new Lamborghini Huracán LP 620-2 Super Trofeo car made its racing debut in 2015. It joined the Lamborghini Gallardo LP 570-4, the only Lamborghini showcased in the Super Trofeo series for the first two seasons.
The first race of the weekend, Round 7, is scheduled for 5:55 p.m. (CT) Thursday, Sept. 17. Round 8 begins at 8 a.m. Friday, Sept. 18. Two practices are scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 16, followed by a double-qualifying session Thursday morning.
Both races will be streamed live at squadracorse.lamborghini.com/en/live-usa. Highlights from both rounds will be televised from 9-10 p.m. (ET) Wednesday, Oct. 7 on CBS Sports Network.
The championship race is heating up after six rounds of intense action.
Lamborghini factory driver Richard Antinucci and reigning Super Trofeo Europe champion Edoardo Piscopo, who joined the fold at Watkins Glen International in June, showed the potential of being a dominant force, earning two victories at the last event at VIR. The wins and a second-place finish extended Antinucci's streak of podium finishes to six out of six starts this season.
The wins increased Antinucci's championship lead to 24 points, 84-60, over reigning driver champion Kevin Conway and his co-driver, Enrique Bernoldi. Piscopo is third after missing the first two rounds.
Madison Snow is fifth in the Huracán Pro division after just three races in the series. He had never sat in a Lamborghini before the last three rounds at VIR and was still able to take the checkered flag in Round 4 for his first Super Trofeo victory.
In the Huracán Pro-Am division, Corey Lewis has made his name known after an impressive second half of the 2014 season. Lewis has been deadlocked in a points race with Pro-Am competitor Cedric Sbirrazzuoli, a Blancpain Endurance Series regular, for much of the season.
Lewis swept the last three rounds at VIR to give himself some breathing room. He has a 14-point lead, 84-70, over Sbirrazzuoli at the halfway point of the season.
Sbirrazzuoli and his co-driver, Lawrence DeGeorge, are one of three STR entries with ties to Texas. All three STR entries, two Huracáns and one Gallardo, all represent the dealership Lamborghini Dallas.
GMG made its season debut at VIR with Jeffrey Cheng and Matt Halliday co-driving the No. 88 Huracán, earning three podium finishes in three races. The team will expand with two entries at COTA. Cheng will return, with Rob Phillips making his series debut.
Ryan Ockey continues to lead the Huracán Amateur division, 79-72, over the father-son duo of Jim and Josh Norman.
Dylan Murcott has dominated the Gallardo class so far this season. He has three wins and has finished on the podium in every race.
The 2015 season features 12 rounds at six iconic circuits. The season finale is Nov. 19-20 at Sebring International Raceway, followed immediately at the same circuit by the World Final, where the Super Trofeo North America, Europe and Asia series will converge to battle for the right to be a world champion.
The Huracán LP 620-2 Super Trofeo adopts the V10, direct-injection engine mounted on the road car, managed by a MoTeC control unit that delivers a maximum output of 620 horsepower. The frame is a hybrid carbon/aluminum construction with modified geometries to house an improved radiator up front and better accommodate the racing gearbox at the rear, which also provides better aerodynamics.
The 570-horsepower, V10 Lamborghini Gallardo LP 570-4 Super Trofeo features impressive technology such as paddle shift E-gear transmission, Öhlins race shocks, Brembo brakes, a carbon fiber aerodynamic package that includes a rear wing with 10 adjustable positions, MTA data acquisition, air jacks, center wheel locks and more.
World-class hospitality for competitors and guests also is an important part of the event experience in the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo. Guests from various Lamborghini dealerships are entertained at the Lamborghini and Blancpain Village, where gourmet food and drinks are provided in an elegant atmosphere worthy of the Lamborghini and Blancpain brand and lifestyle.
