50 Lamborghini Huracas at the start on the Belgian circuit
The duo from Bonaldi Motorsport dominates Race 1 Dennis Lind remains the leader among PRO drivers
With 50 cars on the grid, a historic record for the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo Europe, the first of the two races at Spa-Francorchamps was marked by the domination of Adrian Amstutz and Patrick Kujala, the latter also took pole position at the end of Q1. The duo from Bonaldi Motorsport scored their first absolute win of this season and the fifth class victory and managed to increase their lead in the PRO-AM standings.
On the eve of this fourth of the six double rounds, they only had one point of advantage over the Dutchman Rik Breukers, eighth overall and second in the same class with the colors of GDL Racing, followed by Simone Pellegrinelli (Imperiale Racing). Kujala, author of the first driving “stint” during which he extended his lead by over 20 seconds over the most direct of his pursuers, together with his teammate he dominated the race from the first to the last lap. This despite the release of the safety car, which became necessary due to a contact between Marco Mapelli (Petri Corse) and Amir Krenzia (Vincenzo Sospiri Racing) at La Source during the first lap; whereas Nicolas Armindo, who set the second fastest time with the first car of Konrad Motorsport during qualifying, slipped behind after going into a tailspin.
A cool head from Harald Schlegelmilch (Artline Team Georgia), who, after fighting against the other duo from Konrad Motorsport, Christopher Zöchling and Florian Spengler, got the second overall place, thus scoring his first victory of 2016 in the PRO class.
The fourth place taken by Vito Postiglione with Imperiale Racing launches the driver into the championship against the leader Dennis Lind. The Dane from Raton Racing, was only twentieth at the end of the qualifying session, climbed no less than 13 positions, finishing seventh and remaining leader of the standings with four points of advantage over the Italian driver.
Rolf Ineichen and Martin Kodric (Bonaldi Motorsport) finished in fifth and sixth place respectively.
First victory for Nouri Shahin (Leipert Motorsport) in the AM class, in which he finished ahead of Philipp Schlegel (for the third time in a row on the podium with Sportec Motorsport, after debuting in the previous round at Paul Ricard) and Shota Abkhazava (Artline Team Georgia).
Victory “number one” also for Gerard Van der Horst (Van der Horst Motorsport) in the Lamborghini Cup, in which he preceded his teammate William Van Deyzen and Songyang Fu (FFF Racing Team). Drivers’ quotes Patrick Kujala #34 - Bonaldi Motorsport (first overall and in the PRO-AM class): “The car was perfect. Probably, the safety car did not help us at the beginning, but then I got a good advantage. When Armindo spun behind me at the chicane, I saw there was no one else behind me, so I finished my “stint” in complete relaxation, but always kept the situation under control and continued to push. I’m very happy for my team”.
Harald Schlegelmilch #87 - Artline Team Georgia (first in the PRO class): “Another podium and important points. I’m happy with this result also from the point of view of the championship”. Nouri Shahin #4 - Leipert Motorsport (first in the AM class): “This is my first victory in the “Super Trofeo”. I’m very happy to have scored this success right at Spa. At the beginning, the track was wet and after the pit stops it began to get dry. It was a very interesting and difficult race”.
Gerard Van der Horst #98 - Van der Horst Motorsport (first in the Lamborghini Cup class): “This is the first victory of my career. The race was hard fought. I’m really happy”. The second fifteen-minute session of qualifying, which should have taken place today, has been postponed to this morning (green light at 9:15) because of the delay in toheschedule caused by an off-track excursion of the car of Eugenio and Sergio Montez during the first qualifying session.
The second of the two 50-minute races is also scheduled for todayat 11:55 and will be broadcasted in Italy by Nuvolari TV, free-to-air on channel 61 of the DTTV. It will also be available in live streaming on the website of Lamborghini Squadra Corse: http://squadracorse.lamborghini.com/en/live. You can also watch the races again on the official YouTube channel of Automobili Lamborghini, http://www.youtube.com/lamborghini.
