MONTEREY, Calif. (Sept 7, 2018) –The team of Loris Spinelli and JC Perez have dominated the PRO-AM Class of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America championship all season.
They have won six of the eight races and Friday earned their seventh pole in of the year as Spinelli drove his Lamborghini Super Trofeo Evo to the fastest lap in class and overall with a time of one minute, 24.304 seconds (95.568 miles per hour) around the 2.238-mile, 11-turn WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and will lead the field to green in Race 1 Saturday.
Those two in their No. 71 P1 Motorsports, Lamborghini Broward have won four of their 2018 races from the pole in their class and will look to make it five on Saturday.
“It was good to get the pole today,” said Spinelli. “I made a little mistake on my fastest lap but I am happy with the run of the car. This track is difficult so we tried to save the tires and not push the car too hard. We are looking forward to tomorrow.”
The next four positions were claimed by the four PRO Class teams, led by class leader Edoardo Piscopo (No. 50 US RaceTronics, Lamborghini Beverly Hills) with a time of 1:24.680 (95.143 mph). Trent Hindman in the No. 1 Wayne Taylor Racing, Lamborghini Paramus was second in the class at 1:24.750 (95.065 mph).
The chase for the top of the AM Class is coming down to these last four races. Damon Ockey in his No. 09 US RaceTronics, Lamborghini Calgary) earned his fourth class pole of the year by laying down a time of 1:26.126 (93.546 mph). Currently in second place in the points, Ockey is a mere nine points behind class leader Ryan Hardwick (No. 2 Dream Racing Motorsport, Lamborghini Atlanta) who finished third in class qualifying.
Parris Mullins, who along with teammate Mark Proto in their No. 88 US RaceTronics, Lamborghini La Jolla, earned the LB Cup pole with a time of 1:27.618 (91.953 mph). It was the team’s third pole win of the year for the squad who leads their class standings by 16 points.
Shinya Michimi lead the second qualifying session with a time of 1:25.211 (95.440 mph) and will start from the pole in Race 2 of the weekend on Sunday.
“The track conditions have been interesting this week,” Michimi said after earning his team’s third class pole of the year. “We had some new tires and the issues seem to go away with those for a few laps with a good car and I was able to put some good laps together. Tomorrow and Sunday will be a battle to see who can save their tires. Who has the best tires at the end of the race will probably be in the best position.”
Other class leaders in the second qualifying session included Alex Popow (PRO-AM, No. 69 Wayne Taylor Racing, Lamborghini Paramus) at 1:25.277 (94.477 mph), Ockey (AM) with a time of 1:25.976 (93.709 mph) and Sheena Monk (No. 7 Wayne Taylor Racing, Lamborghini Paramus), who won her first race at VIR three weeks ago, in the LB Cup at 1:27.982 (91.573 mph).
The Lamborghini Super Trofeo races at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca take place on Saturday at 2:35 p.m. ET/ 11:35 a.m. PT and Race 2 on Sunday at 2:25 p.m. ET/ 11:25 a.m. PT. Both 2018 Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America series races can be streamed on IMSA.TV and squadracorse.lamborghini.com/super-trofeo/north-america.
