Sant’Agata Bolognese/Spa, July 30, 2016.
Patrick Kujala and Adrian Amstutz have given an “encore”. At Spa, the duo of Bonaldi Motorsport have monopolized the fourth of the six rounds of the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo Europe. Yesterday, they scored their first overall win of the season in Race 1; today they have managed to get on the top step of the podium again. A victory originated from a perfect strategy, in which Amstutz did the first driving “stint” and Kujala pushed hard after the pit stop and even managed to make up for the five-second penalty he had been inflicted for an irregularity during the pit stop.
In the end, Kujala and Amstutz were able to extend their advantage in the PRO-AM standings, by finishing ahead of Dennis Lind, second and first in the PRO class. The driver of the team Raton Racing, who scored a sensational pole position (the only driver who set a lap time below 2’20” during Q2), led the first part of the race, conditioned by the safety car, which entered the track, due to a collision which excluded three cars at a time from the race.
While the Dane scored his fifth victory, which enabled him to get some margin of advantage in his class, in which he was already the leader before this race in Belgium, his main rival in the fight for the title, Vito Postiglione (Imperiale Racing) had to settle for the fourth place overall, after finishing second at this morning’s qualifying.
Conversely, Harald Schlegelmilch was again rewarded for his regular conduct. Yesterday, he finished second and first in the PRO class and in today’s race he did a great start, where he managed to get the third position after starting fifth. Then, he succeeded in keeping his position until the finishing line and finished the race ahead of Postiglione, Martin Kodric (Bonaldi Motorsport) and the crew of the team Antonelli Motorsport, formed by Lorenzo Veglia and Andrea Fontana, who are seconds in the PRO-AM and fought with Nicolas Armindo and Henry Hassid (Konrad Motorsport) till the end. Fourth place in his class for the young Dutchman of GDL Racing, Rik Breukers, who started this fourth round in second position behind Amstutz-Kujala by only one point.
First success of 2016 among the AM drivers for Shota Abkhazava (Artline Team Georgia), who finished ahead of the driver of Leipert Motorsport, Nouri Shahin, who won Race 1, and Tim Müller (Attempto Racing).
In the Lamborghini Cup, it was instead William Van Deyzen who held high the colors of the team Van der Horst Motorsport, who celebrated a one-two yesterday, by finishing ahead of Songyang Fu (FFF Racing Team) and Peter Aronson (Toro Loco).
Drivers’ quotes
Adrian Amstutz #34 - Bonaldi Motorsport (first overall and in the PRO-AM class): “This weekend has been fantastic for us. Honestly, I haven’t done much today, because during my whole “stint”, there was the safety car on track. I’m satisfied for the championship, in which we managed to boost our advantage”.
Dennis Lind #60 - Raton Racing (first in the PRO class): “I’m happy to have finished second and to have confirmed my leadership in the PRO class. I hope I’ll get the same result also at Nürburgring”.
Shota Abkhazava #78 - Artline Team Georgia (first in the AM class): “I can only be glad for my first victory of the season, which arrived at the end of “crazy race” but on one of the most beautiful racetracks”.
William Van Deyzen #97 - Van der Horst Motorsport (first in the Lamborghini Cup): “A great victory and another success for my team. Personally, I couldn’t ask for more…”.
The next round of the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo Europe will be held on the German circuit of the Nürburgring on the weekend of September 17-18.
