Superb international field delivers on top billing at The Bend.
The Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia swept into the land Down Under and more than lived up to its headline billing at Adelaide’s 4.95km The Bend Motorsport Park. Kiwi PRO duo Marco Giltrap and Chris van der Drift made history with Absolute Racing by taking victory in the series’ first race-ever race in Australia in the Lamborghini Auckland Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2. Winner in race two was Jonathan Cecotto, with a standout pole-to-flag solo PRO performance for TRT Racing.
Cecotto had been first on the road at the end of the opening 24-lap race of the weekend, but a time penalty for exceeding the 90km/h speed limit before the start signal was given, dropping him to twelfth overall in the final classification. Second behind eventual winners Giltrap and van der Drift in the opening race for round two was the impressive SQDA-GRIT Motorsport AM duo Brian Lee and John Kwon, who took their second overall podium and AM victory in three races in the Lamborghini Seoul Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2. Race one PRO-AM winners and third overall were D1 Racing Team’s Dan Wells and Oscar Lee in the Lamborghini Osaka car, while Thailand’s Supachai Weeraborwornpong put in storming solo performance to win the Lamborghini Cup class from pole.
Cecotto was sure not to put a wheel wrong in the second race, a clean getaway and perfectly-timed pit stop seeing him cross the line with a comfortable margin from PRO championship leaders Giltrap and van der Drift, with Aces Zagame Australian PRO duo Sam Brabham and Dean Canto joining them on the overall podium. Wells and Oscar Lee took another PRO-AM victory to further strengthen their lead in the class, while this time it was Absolute Racing’s Aniwat Lommahadthai and Pasarit Promsombat who took the AM win in the Lamborghini Bangkok car. Iron Lynx’s Kumar Prabakaran of Malaysia won the Lamborghini Cup class from Kam Lung Racing’s Keith Wong and Dr. Ma, who had led the way for much of the 27-lap race.
Giltrap and van der Drift now have a 27-point lead at the top of the PRO classification over Harmony Racing’s Shenghui Xu, while two pole positions a win and a points finish put Cecotto third on the leaderboard. Oscar Lee and Dan Wells have doubled their advantage over Tony and Jackson Walls in the PRO-AM class to 16 points, while Ni Weiliang and Mikko Nässi retain third.
The race for the AM title is intensifying, although Lommahadthai and Promsombat retain their place at the top of the points. The SQDA-GRIT Motorsport duo of Brian Lee and John Kwon now lie just eight points behind in second, up from fifth, with Henry K and Eric K ten points behind them in third. Kumar Prabakaran retains the lead of the Lamborghini Cup, extending his lead over Supachai in second, with Dr. Ma and Keith Wong retaining third ahead of Hairie and Haziq Oh.
The battle for the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia PRO, PRO-AM, AM and Lamborghini Cup titles continues next month with what promises to be an epic encounter in the foothills of Japan‘s breathtaking Mount Fuji. Round three will be held from July 15-16 at the 4.563km Fuji International Speedway.
Race 1
TRT Racing’s Jonathan Cocetto started Lamborghini Super Trofeo’s first-ever race in Australia from pole. Best-qualifying PRO-AM entry, starting in P2 alongside Cocetto, was the rapid Australian father-and-son Objective Racing duo of Tony and Jackson Walls, while Kiwi PRO pairing Marco Giltrap and Chris van der Drift and PRO-AM class front-runners Oscar Lee and Dan Wells made up the second row of the grid.
Cecotto made a strong start, hotly pursued by Jackson Walls taking the first stint for Objective Racing. Absolute Racing’s Chris van der Drift quickly came under fire for third from Wells who made short work of getting past to snatch third early on.
Thailand‘s Pasarit Promsombat led the AM runners in the early stages having taken the opening stint from Absolute Racing team mate Aniwat Lommahadthai in the Lamborghini Bangkok car, while fellow countryman Supachai Weeraborwornpong led the Lamborghini Cup runners having taken class pole for Siamgas Corse.
Up at the front of the pack, Wells was now on the tail of Jackson Walls and challenging for P2, but the young Australian defended well. That duel allowed Cecotto to extend his lead to more than cover the three seconds added to the mandatory pit stop time for solo drivers.
Cecotto retained the lead into the second stints as the pit window closed, this time pursued by Giltrap after a faultless pit stop, with Tony Walls in P3 ahead of Dean Canto who had taken the wheel of the Aces Zagame car from Sam Brabham. Oscar Lee was running P5 and second of the PRO-AM runners, but SQDA-GRIT Motorsport’s Brian Lee was quickly finding his pace.
With less than 20 minutes remaining on the clock, TRT Racing’s Ray Lu spun into the gravel trap, bringing out the safety car. At the restart, Cecotto again made a wheel-perfect getaway with Giltrap giving chase. Behind them, however, Walls and Keith Wong tangled, forcing Canto to take evasive action over the grass. The incident promoted Oscar Lee to P3, however his provisional overall podium delight was brief as Brian Lee came charging past.
With just four minutes remaining on the clock, TRT Racing’s Ray Lu suffered an off and came to a halt trackside. That brought out the safety car for a second time which eventually led the field too the chequered flag. Cecotto crossed the line first but was later handed a drive through penalty, converted to a 30 second time penalty, for exceeding 90km/h before the start signal was given.
Cecotto’s penalty promoted fellow PROs van der Drift and Giltrap to first and saw them strengthen their advantage at the top of the class leaderboard. AM pair Kwon and Brian Lee were classified second overall, also collecting their second AM victory, while Dan Wells and Oscar Lee took third overall and the PRO-AM win. Second in the PRO AM class were Racegraph’s Ni Weiliang and Mikko Nässi, with a disappointed Jackson and Tony Walls third for Objective Racing.
Second behind the quick Koreans in the AM class were Thailand‘s Promsombat and Aniwat Lommahadthai after a strong race, ahead of Triple Ace Racing’s Henry and Eric K. Iron Lynx Kumar Prabakaran was second of the Lamborghini Cup runners, with HZO Fortis Racing Team’s Hairie and Haziq Oh taking the final place on the podium.
Race 2
Jonathan Cecotto lined up on pole for the second time in his TRT Racing Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2 with Dean Canto, taking the opening stint for the Aces Zagame entry, joining him on the front row. PRO points leader Marco Giltrap was joined on the second row by the Iron Lynx AM entry of Jason Loh and Mark Darwin who had impressed in qualifying by locking in a P4 start.
This time there were no errors from Cecotto, who held the lead from a hard-charging Canto as the field stormed away at the start, with Giltrap chasing in third.
Darwin led the AM runners, but caught up in the start melee was True Visions Motorsport Thailand’s Bobby Buncharoen, sustaining damage but continuing on and keeping his P7 starting position. However, minutes later the Thai driver spun, brilliantly handled the car back onto the track but dropping down the order before fighting his way back through the field. SQDA-GRIT Motorsport’s Brian Lee, Absolute Racing’s Lommahadthai and BC Racing’s Vincent Tai also had moments but managed to rejoin the pack.
Giltrap was the first to pit as the mandatory stop window opened, handing the wheel to van der Drift, but it was not enough to snatch the race lead from a dominant Cecotto. Pitting at the last possible moment, the TRT Racing driver retained the lead and couldn’t be touched on his way to victory.
Darwin was another driver to pit late, handing the wheel to Jason Loh who rejoined in fourth. Wells took over from Oscar Lee in the D1 Racing Team car to bring home the PRO-AM win and, despite his lightning race pace which saw him dive past Loh to climb the order, wasn’t able to catch the PROs before the flag. However, behind Wells the battle for the AM win raged on. Buncharoen had climbed to sixth, but was passed first by Pasarit Promsombat and then Jackson Walls, before being handed a drive through penalty for a pit stop infringement. Loh held on to the AM lead, but not for long as Promsombat, Henry K and – just seconds before the flag – John Kwon found their way past to bump the Iron Lynx pair off the class podium.
In the Lamborghini Cup, Kam Lung Racing’s Dr. Ma and Keith Wong had held the class lead for much for the race until Iron Lynx Malaysian Kumar Prabakaran made his move in the closing stages. The HZO Fortis Racing team brothers of Hairie and Haziq Oh finished third in class, while pole-sitter and race one winner Supachai Weeraborwornpong retired with a technical glitch before the start.
Cecotto crossed the line to take a well-deserved overall victory ahead of fellow PRO drivers Giltrap and van der Drift, and Canto and Brabham. Wells and Lee retained their perfect run of PRO-AM victories, with Objective Racing’s Tony and Jackson Walls second and Racegraph’s Ni Weiliang and Mikko Nässi third. Behind AM winners Lommahadthai and Promsombat, Henry and Eric K took a well-deserved podium finish with the Korean duo of Brian Lee and John Kwon in third.
