A superb strategic call and a pair of late full course cautions enabled Lamborghini to claim its first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship victory of the year courtesy of Wayne Taylor Racing’s Danny Formal and Trent Hindman at Mosport in Canada.
The pairing, at the wheel of the #45 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2, started fifth on the grid but faced adversity from the beginning of the 2h40 minute fourth round of the sprint cup season after an opening-lap spin following contact.
Having dropped to the rear of the field, a bold call from the team to stay out on track during a FCY period paid off handsomely as two further neutralisations in the final hour allowed Formal and Hindman to pull off a remarkable back-to-front triumph.
For both Hindman – a past Lamborghini Super Trofeo World Finals winner, in 2017 at Imola – and Lamborghini Young Professional Driver Formal, the victory marked their maiden IMSA success and a just reward following the heartache of a late-race retirement in January’s Daytona 24 Hours.
Despite the Huracán GT3 EVO2 arriving in Canada as the heaviest car on the GTD and GTD Pro grid, the #45 machine began the weekend reasonably strongly in free practice. Formal and Hindman were fifth quickest in the first session and eighth in the second; each time pacing less than a second off the fastest GTD class crew.
Come qualifying, the #45 was again in the mix, lining up fifth on the grid. Formal took the start but was soon relegated to the back of the pack after getting hit by the #021 Ferrari at turn nine. The #45 also drove the opening stint with a cracked rim, before Hindman took over for an elongated second stint as the team elected to roll the strategy dice in order to consolidate track position.
With most of its rivals pitting under yellow to take on fuel and fresh tyres, the #45 went the other way and stayed out, with Hindman racing away to a 30-second lead over the next best in GTD. Knowing that it needed at least another FCY to be able to stretched its own fuel load to the end, the team got their wish in the final hour as the second-placed #78 Forte Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 of Mario Farnbacher crashed out after being hit by an LMP2 car.
That, along with a final caution which resulted in the race finishing under yellow, allowed the #45 to remain in the lead and capture Wayne Taylor Racing’s first-ever IMSA GTD victory and first GT3 success with Lamborghini.
In GTD Pro, the #9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 competed strongly in their home race, with Lamborghini Factory Drivers Andrea Caldarelli and Marco Mapelli taking a fighting fifth place finish. The pairing had topped opening practice on Friday but knew that the race would present a different challenge and so it proved. Mapelli took the start from sixth on the grid and moved up one position fended off the slow starting #4 Corvette. With Caldarelli taking over for the second stint, the #9 lay in fourth place, but dropped back to fifth at the last FCY restart.
QUOTES
Danny Formal, Lamborghini Young Professional Driver: “It was a crazy race. I got t-boned going into Turn 9 fighting for second at the start. Got on the back foot there and had to drive the whole stint with a broken rim. The vibration was abnormal. The team told me to keep on going and push through. Kind of had no feeling on my right arm and leg due to the vibration but the car was fantastic at race pace. We knew that coming in. The guys at Wayne Taylor Racing, everyone on that stand, we really truly deserve this win. We have had it close so many times this season. Trent did fantastic, had to drive two hours without water, he is an iron man! So proud of him, so proud of the team. We really deserved this win. This program is fantastic, and it has been a long time coming.”
Trent Hindman, #45 Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2: “What a race! Whatever those Wayne Taylor Racing guys up on that pit box tell me, I believed. I trust them. They said we had it and I had all the faith in the world in them. The guys over the wall and Danny – they did an amazing job. I have been on the wrong side of these kind of races enough to know you what you have to do to get it and that is exactly what we did. So grateful for the whole Wayne Taylor Racing team. It’s been a long time coming for us and glad it is here.”
