For the first time in its history, Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe will race on the support bill of the FIA World Endurance Championship, kicking off the 16th season of the one-make series reserved for Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2s at Imola this weekend.
Following visits in 2017 and 2022, Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe’s third appearance at the Imola circuit, just over an hour’s drive from the Sant’Agata Bolognese headquarters of Automobili Lamborghini, will take on even greater significance as it coincides with the European competition debut of the SC63.
More than 50 entries are expected to line up for the opening round, with eight of the 23 teams taking part in a Super Trofeo event for the first time (Schumacher CLRT, Aggressive Team Italia, GG Magic Motorsport, GM Motorsport, DS Racing, ASR, UNIQ Racing and Pegasus Racing). Additionally, over 30 drivers are set to make their Super Trofeo debuts at Imola. In total, 195 Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe races have been held, with the landmark 200th race set to be contested in round three on the weekend of the Le Mans 24 Hours.
Proven race winners headline impressive Pro class
Leading the Pro entries are last season’s championship runners-up from VS Racing, Mattia Michelotto and Gilles Stadsbader. The Italo-Belgian partnership won five races and only just missed out on the title to Leipert Motorsport’s Brendon Leitch at the final round. They’ll face stiff competition from the German duo of Sebastian Balthasar – who returns to Leipert Motorsport this year having last driven for them in 2021 – and Jacob Riegel, while the solo entry of Amaury Bonduel (BDR Competition with GrupoProm) is a proven race winner as well. Another crew not to be ruled out is DL Racing’s youthful line-up of Riccardo Ianniello and Rodrigo Testa de Sousa. Both drivers impressed at the end of the 2023 campaign, with Testa de Sousa taking his maiden victory at round five in Vallelunga. There is a distinctly Scandinavian feel to Target Racing’s line-up, as the returning Largim Ali (Denmark) and Oliver Söderström (Sweden) will aim to build on their breakthrough maiden victory at Vallelunga in November.
Hampus Ericsson – brother of Indy 500 winner and ex-F1 driver Marcus – makes his Super Trofeo debut as a solo entry in the #31 car, while Calle Bergman makes it three Swedes on the grid, partnering with another debutant, Guido Luchetti in the #10. Meanwhile, Iron Lynx fields four Pro line-ups for the first time. Bulgarians Pavel Lefterov and Stefan Bostandjiev combine in the #41, while fellow rookies Jesse Salmenautio and Giorgio Amati partner in the #42. The #43 machine will be occupied by Edgar Maloigne and Georgi Dimitrov. Elsewhere, Oregon Team has entered two youthful Pro entries, for Paul Levet and László Tóth and Leonardo Caligioni and Enzo Geraci in the #34 and #61 cars respectively. Having narrowly missed out on the Am title in his first season of car racing last year, Egyptian driver Ibrahim Badawy makes the jump to the Pro category for 2024, remaining with DL Racing.
Pro-Am and Am classes set to thrill again in 2024
Despite a smaller entry list than previous years, the Pro-Am class is set to be hotly contested again in 2024. Defending class champion Andrzej Lewandowski – who has a total of five Super Trofeo titles to his name – teams up with his son Adrian for their first full season together at ASR. One of their main challenges will undoubtedly come from Boutsen VDS’ Roee Meyuhas and Renaud Kuppens who joined forces at the Vallelunga season finale in 2023. Iron Lynx should also be in the mix, with experienced hand Claude-Yves Gosselin partnered by teenager Joran Leneutre to form an all-French combination, while Pietro Perolini and Davide Roda line up for Oregon Team. The Am category has been, in previous years, one of the most evenly fought classes in Super Trofeo Europe and the 2024 season looks to be no different.
Last season’s North America Am champions Anthony McIntosh and Glenn McGee will contest the European campaign with Leipert Motorsport after making their bow at the end of 2023. The US pairing are dovetailing their European programme with another full season in the North American championship. VS Racing finished the 2023 season strongly and will likely be in the hunt again this year with the returning Piergiacomo Randazzo paired with the experienced Stéphane Tribaudini, while solo entries Holger Harmsen (GT3 Poland) and Stéphan Guerin (Schumacher CLRT) cannot be discounted. French drivers Cyril Saleilles and Julien Lambert make their Super Trofeo debuts for Rexal Villorba Corse, as does Stefano Pezzucchi, who partners with Diego Locanto at DL Racing.
Privitelios aim for back-to-back LB Cup titles
Reigning champions Donovan and Luciano Privitelio are back to defend their Lamborghini Cup class title, this time with a new team, Rexal Villorba Corse. As was the case last year, their main competition is likely to come from ASR’s Paolo Biglieri and Petar Matić, while Art-Line’s Shota Abkhazava is keen to add another class title to his CV. LB Cup stalwarts Alfredo Hernandez Ortega (BDR Competition), Serge Doms (DS Racing) and Jason Keats and Charlie Martin (Brutal Fish Racing) are also podium contenders, while British driver John Seale makes his Super Trofeo Europe debut for Iron Lynx.
The weekend at a glance
Due to the high number of entries for the opening round, the championship has decided to divide each qualifying session between classes, to ease traffic on track. Therefore, the Pro and Pro-Am cars will qualify together, as will the Am and Lamborghini Cup categories, with each session lasting 10 minutes.
Friday 19th April
Free Practice 1 (09:00 – 10:00)
Free Practice 2 (14:45 – 15:45)
Saturday 20th April
Qualifying 1 (10:00 – 10:20)
Qualifying 2 (10:30 – 10:50)
Race 1 (17:40 – 18:30)
Sunday 21st April
Race 2 (09:45 – 10:35)
All times CET
2024 Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe calendar
19-21 April – Imola * FIA WEC
9-11 May – Spa-Francorchamps * FIA WEC
11-15 June – Le Mans * FIA WEC
26-28 July – Nürburgring * GT World Challenge Europe
11-13 October – Barcelona * GT World Challenge Europe
14-15 November – Jerez de la Frontera * Lamborghini World Finals
