ELKHART LAKE, Wis. — It wasn’t easy, but Loris Spinelli and Giano Taurino completed a weekend sweep of Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America, winning both races at Road America.
The second victory came in difficult conditions on Sunday, which included a red-flag stoppage and mandate for teams to change to wet-condition tires.
Starting ninth overall in the No. 88 Taurino Racing by D Motorsports, Taurino moved into the top six before making the mandatory pit stop and turning over the car for Spinelli to finish the 50-minute race.
A full-course caution came soon after, when several cars slid off course in Turn 12 as heavy rain pelted that area of the track. The race was red-flagged with 17 minutes, 17 seconds to go, with Spinelli saddled in 12th place.
The Italian relied on his extensive wet-weather racing experience to slice through the field after racing resumed. He crossed the finish line second behind Nelson Piquet Jr. who was assessed a post-race penalty for not making the mandatory pit stop.
Piquet was relegated to 22nd in the standings.
“This race for sure has been a real challenge for the weather,” Spinelli said. “I’m so happy! I fight in the end to get this win. Thanks to Giano for an amazing stint in the first part and everybody at Taurino for this. Some parts of the track were very wet, so [the red flag] was the best way to choose to have a safe race. But it was hard to keep the car on the track.”
The margin of victory for Spinelli and Taurino was a scant 0.757 seconds over Joel Miller, making his series debut this weekend in the No. 11. Sunday’s win for the No. 88 followed the triumph in Saturday’s first race, which was dominated by full-course cautions.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” Taurino said of the sweep. “My heart’s still shaking, I still have butterflies. It was unexpected because we’ve been struggling all year and we finally have found a car that can help us fight now. I think this is only the beginning.”
Bryson Lew and John Dubets completed a weekend sweep in ProAm as well, winning both class races in the No. 46 Precision Performance Motorsports. The duo took third place overall Sunday and won their class by more than 16 seconds.
“I had a little bit of excitement there,” said Dubets, who started the race. “I was behind Piquet, we came into Canada Corner and it started downpouring. We both went for a wild ride. Luckily, our car stayed on track and we managed to catch the pit lane before it closed. [It] put Bryson in the perfect spot to go out there in front of the field and he did an excellent job in those tricky conditions.”
“It feels great to be back on the podium, on the top step especially,” Lew added. “John told me to be careful with all the lines, with the oil and the rain. I made sure to be cautious the first pace lap and I just implemented that throughout the race. It worked out great.”
The Am class winner Sunday was Shehan Chandrasoma in the No. 19 MCR Racing, Lamborghini Austin Huracán.
The Super Trofeo rookie gained his third win of the season.
“It was a good race,” Chandrasoma said. “I lost two spots in the end in the overall, but I just decided to stay safe in my Am class. That’s what I’m competing for and I think I’m back in the championship hunt now.”
LB Cup provided a sensational story with Keawn Tandon taking the class win in his first car racing weekend.
The 18-year-old’s previous experience all came in karting. He didn’t know he would be competing in Lamborghini Super Trofeo until Thursday, when he took his first shakedown laps in the No. 89 NTE Sport.
“It was amazing; I’m still processing it,” Tandon said. “The biggest thing was just to stay clean the whole time and get the thing rotated and back to power as soon as possible, and just stay out of traffic. After they told me I was P1 in my class, the last three laps I just let off and said, ‘Let’s just keep it like this.’”
Keyword: Wild Win For Spinelli And Taurino