Close to 100 cars are expected to participate in the 10th edition of the Lamborghini World Finals this weekend (November 18-19) as the Autodromo Vallelunga Piero Taruffi hosts the event for a record third time.
The traditional conclusion to the Super Trofeo season since the inception of Lamborghini Squadra Corse a decade ago, the World Finals brings together the best from the three regional one-make championships. Competitors from Europe, North America and Asia will take part in a unique standalone weekend across four separate classes. As well as the second World Finals edition for the Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2, it is also the first using the Hankook tyre, introduced to all Super Trofeo championships at the start of the year.
Additionally, the World Finals welcomes back Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia for the first time since the 2019 edition at Jerez de la Frontera in Spain. Following the outbreak of the coronavirus at the start of 2020, the regional series was forced into a four-year hiatus but returned at the beginning of this year.
Prior to the World Finals, all three regional championships will draw their regular seasons to a close with the sixth and final round, held between November 14-17.
Super Trofeo Europe
The European competitors already experienced the Vallelunga circuit last weekend, with the rescheduled penultimate round of the 2023 campaign taking place over two days. The Pro title race remains evenly poised heading into the final round of the year, with Leipert Motorsport’s Brendon Leitch holding a 2.5-point margin over the VS Racing duo of Mattia Michelotto and Gilles Stadsbader. Oregon Team’s Marzio Moretti and Sebastian Balthasar, and BDR Competition’s Amaury Bonduel are also mathematically in the hunt for the overall crown.
Meanwhile, VS Racing’s Andrzej Lewandowski is on the verge of securing the Pro-Am title after a double victory last weekend. In the Am championship, just half a point separates Lamborghini Roma by DL Racing’s Ibrahim Badawy and Leipert Motorsport’s Gabriel Rindone, while Bonaldi Motorsport’s Paolo Biglieri and Petar Matić maintain the advantage in the Lamborghini Cup standings. Joining the championship this week will be North American regulars Anthony McIntosh and Glenn McGee (Imperiale Racing) and ADAC GT4 runner-up Marc de Fulgencio, who replaces Yury Wagner in the #99 Leipert Motorsport machine.
Super Trofeo North America
In contrast to their European counterparts, three of the four Super Trofeo North American titles have already been decided prior to arriving in Italy. Wayne Taylor Racing’s Kyle Marcelli and Danny Formal wrapped up the Pro crown with a pair of second places at Indianapolis in September, while Keawn Tandon did likewise in the Pro-Am class. In Lamborghini Cup, Forte Racing by US RaceTronics’s Mark Wilgus has been the dominant force all season and was crowned class champion after Indianapolis as well. The only class still yet to be decided is in Am, but Glenn McGee and Anthony McIntosh need only to score one point more than their rival, David Staab to be crowned.
Super Trofeo Asia
Not since October 2019 in Spain has the Asian series joined its continental cousins at a Super Trofeo World Finals, and a grid of 20 cars is tipped to make the trip over to Italy for the final round of the year. Absolute Racing’s Marco Giltrap and Chris van der Drift are already Pro champions; the Kiwi pairing have dominated the class all year and head into the final round with the pressure firmly off their shoulders. It’s a similar story in the Pro-Am category as established pairing Oscar Lee and Dan Wells wrapped up the title prior to Vallelunga, but the Am and LB Cup classes present a completely different situation.
Just three points split points leaders Aniwat Lommahadthai and Pasarit Promsombat and Changwoo Lee and John Kwon, with both crews on four wins apiece. In LB Cup, 12 points is the difference between Super Trofeo veteran Supachai Weeraborwornpong and Kumar Prabakaran entering the finale, while Chi Min Ma is a relative outsider, 22 points adrift. Malaysian brothers Hairie Zariel Oh and Haziq Zariel Oh can equal Weeraborwornpong’s tally of 120 points with a maximum score this weekend but cannot claim the title due to Weeraborwornpong’s superior win record this season.
