Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia gears up for debut Down Under

Third generation Brabham joins stellar line-up for Round 2 in Adelaide.

The outstanding entry list for Round 2 of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia includes a legendary Australian motorsport name: Brabham. Sam, son of Le Mans winner David and grandson of triple F1 World Champion Sir Jack, joins the series for its milestone debut Down Under at Adelaide’s The Bend Motorsport Park this weekend.

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Australia will get its first taste of the prestigious championship when 21 Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2 race cars take to the 4.95km International configuration of the country’s newest and most spectacular motorsport facility, which includes a thrilling 1km straight and 18 turns. Located 100km Southeast of South Australia’s state capital Adelaide, the multi-discipline motorsport facility opened in January 2018, and is designed to host a wide variety of car and motorcycle competitions.

Following a dazzling opening round at Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit last month, Lamborghini Auckland-backed Kiwi duo Marco Giltrap and Chris van der Drift lead the Lamborghini Super Trofeo PRO standings. Chinese Harmony Racing pair Xu Shenghui and David Chen Wei’an in the Lamborghini Azabu car lie in second having endured more than their share of hard knocks at the season curtain-raiser.

Both PRO teams can expect stiff competition in Australia, however, as local racing royalty Sam Brabham joins forces with fellow countryman and Australian Supercar Championship regular Dean Canto at Aces Zagame. Brabham, 28, began karting at the age of 16, before climbing the junior single seater ladder and embarking on his sportscar career in 2018, finishing runner-up in last year’s Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia GT4 class. A familiar face in Australian Supercars for the last two decades, Brabham’s team mate Canto is also a two-time Super2 Series champion who narrowly missed out on a third title in 2008. The hugely accomplished and respected Adelaide-based driver has no fewer than six top ten Bathurst finishes to his name, including a second place in 2012, and his vast experience makes him the ideal team mate for Brabham.

Following a stunning debut in Malaysia, where D1 Racing Team PRO-AM entry Oscar Lee and Dan Wells in the Lamborghini Osaka car took a maximum points haul with two pole positions and two class victories – including an outright win in race two – the squad expands to three cars for Adelaide. Impressive AM driver Tse Ka Hing, second on the leaderboard after Malaysia thanks to a magnificent solo performance, is this time joined in the Lamborghini Nagoya car by fellow Hong Kong SAR competitor and successful touring car PRO driver David Lau. The team enters third Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2 for Australian Adrian Deitz as a solo AM entry.

Australian father-and-son team Tony and Jackson Walls also had strong season-opener in Malaysia, taking an overall and a class podium in their Objective Racing Lamborghini to put them second on the PRO-AM leaderboard ahead of Korean team Racegraph’s Ni Weiliang of Singapore and Asian-based Finn Mikko Nässi. Also, expect the TRT Racing PRO-AM entry of Li Qiang and Jonathan Cecotto to bounce back in Adelaide after a challenging start to the season despite showing excellent pace.

At the heart of Lamborghini Super Trofeo competition is the AM class, and the 2023 season is already shaping up to be intensely competitive. Absolute Racing Thai duo Aniwat Lommahadthai and Pasarit Promsombat took pole position for the opening race of the season in the Lamborghini Bangkok car, converting their qualifying pace into a podium finish to put them top of the AM leaderboard after round one.

BC Racing’s Johnson Huang and Vincent Tai have a golden opportunity to close their three-point deficit and take the top spot in Adelaide – but will face a wall of formidable opponents.  True Visions Motorsports Thailand’s Suttiluck ‘Bobby’ Buncharoen is just a single point behind the BC Racing pair, while a stunning second place overall finish in race one for the impressive Lamborghini Seoul entry of Brian Lee Changwoo and John Kwon sees the SQDA-GRIT Motorsport duo a mere five points off the top of the leaderboard.

AM drivers Jason Loh Lean Shen and Mark Darwin return in the first of the two Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2 entries, while Kang Zhilong and Ray Lu in the second TRT Racing entry and Hong Kong duo Henry and Eric K with Triple Ace Racing will also be looking to build upon positive season starts.

Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia newcomer Deitz makes his series debut with the D1 Racing Team.  Deitz brings with him a wealth of GT experience, and has successfully campaigned the mighty Lamborghini Huracán GT3 – latterly the EVO – over the last seven seasons at Bathurst and across the Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia, Intercontinental GT Challenge, Australian GT Championship and Super GT Australia series. Add to that Dietz‘ experience of The Bend, and D1 Racing Team has added another powerful string to its bow.

Kumar Prabakaran tops the Lamborghini Cup points in the second Iron Lynx entry after leading the way in Malaysia with a pole position, class win and a podium. Also driving solo, Siamgas Corse powered Supachai Weeraborwornpong to a pole position and class win in race one in Malaysia to lie just two points behind his Malaysian rival. Snapping at their heels, however, are Kam Lung Racing’s Ma Chi Min and Vong Keng Fai, and HZO Fortis Racing Team brothers Hairie and Haziq Zairel Oh.

The Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia makes its eagerly-anticipated Antipodean debut on Friday, June 9, with two one-hour free practice sessions. Two, 15-minute qualifying sessions on Saturday morning set the starting order for the two, 50-minute races, the first of which gets underway at 14:20 the same day. Race two starts at 11:20 on Sunday (all times UTC+09:30). Both races will be live streamed via the official Lamborghini Squadra Corse YouTube channel.