The depth of competition in Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America this season was highlighted Sunday at Circuit of The Americas, with a different winner in each of the four classes from Saturday’s first race.
In Sunday’s 50-minute race under changing weather conditions that finished under the last of two full-course cautions, Stevan McAleer and Madison Snow took the overall and Pro class win in the No. 16 Change Racing, Lamborghini Charlotte Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO. Teammate Victor Gomez IV finished first in ProAm in the No. 29 Change Racing, Lamborghini Charlotte Huracán. Ashton Harrison drove the No. 25 Harrison Contracting with Wayne Taylor Racing Huracán to victory in the Am class, with Bill Peluchiwski notching the first series win for him and Kelly-Moss Road and Race in the No. 62 Lamborghini San Francisco LB Cup entry.
McAleer, Snow Win from Pole in Pro Class
Rain began falling around the 20-turn, 3.4-mile sparkling road course on the pace laps, gradually getting heavier. McAleer started from pole position in the No. 16 Huracán but was overtaken on the first lap by Loris Spinelli (No. 51 Taurino Racing, Lamborghini Palm Beach) heading into the wide Turn 1.
“At Turn 1, Loris made a good move on the inside; I didn’t fight it too much at all,” McAleer said. “I was actually quite happy for him to lead through the esses on the out lap to kind of see what was going on.”
The wet conditions contributed to Max Weering spinning and contacting the Turn 3 wall in the No. 61 MCR racing, Lamborghini Charlotte Huracán – bringing out the first yellow flag. When racing resumed with 36 minutes remaining, the rain had essentially stopped and the course began to dry. Spinelli still led McAleer when the 10-minute pit window opened with a half hour to go in the race.
Spinelli was the last driver to make his mandatory stop, handing over the No. 51 to co-driver Claude Senhoreti in the lead, with reigning Pro class champion Snow second in the No. 16 and Saturday’s race winner Richard Antinucci third (No. 27 Dream Racing Motorsport, Lamborghini Las Vegas).
Antinucci bumped his way by Snow into second place and then chased down and passed Senhoreti for the lead with 17 minutes left. The joy was short-lived, however, as Antinucci was penalized for passing a car under a local yellow. The ensuing pit-lane drive-through dropped the two-time series Pro champion to a fourth-place finish.
“(Antinucci) got me in Turn 11, pushed me off the track and almost into the grass,” said Snow, who is only slated to drive this weekend in the No. 16. “Then he passed a lapped car under yellow. That cost him.”
Snow sailed by Senhoreti and held a two-second lead over Alec Udell (No. 48 Kelly-Moss Road and Race, Lamborghini San Francisco) when the second full-course caution came out after Scott Welham (No. 82 Change Racing, Lamborghini Charlotte) slid into the Turn 12 barrier with eight minutes remaining. The track safety crew was unable to clean things up before the race ended under yellow.
“Stevan did a great job getting the start done, hoping it was going to rain and then staying up front,” Snow said. “Then the yellow came out, I got in the car, had a couple good runs against good guys and ended up out front.”
McAleer and Snow have an unofficial lead of five points over Antinucci after the first of six doubleheader rounds.
“We had the car up front both races, we’re leading the championship and super excited,” McAleer said. “This is my first win in the Pro class. It’s going to be a good season.”
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