MISANO ADRIATICO, Italy – Drivers in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America series wasted no time clinching their titles on Friday at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.
Richard Antinucci earned his third Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America season championship by taking the overall and Pro class win in Friday’s opening race. Brandon Gdovic and Bryan Ortiz claimed the ProAm championship by finishing second in their class. Luke Berkeley won in Am to wrap up that class, while Mark Kvamme and Terry Olson notched the LB Cup crown by finishing third in class.
Antinucci added an exclamation point to his season by winning the second race Friday afternoon in the No. 127 Dream Racing Motorsport, Lamborghini Las Vegas Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO. It gave him seven wins in the 12 races this season and 21 for his Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America career. He also captured Pro class titles in 2015 and 2019.
“I can’t thank enough my sponsor Bitbull and Dream Racing,” Antinucci said. “Altogether this trio of support – team, technical and sponsor, and just psychological support – has been incredible. We’ve had really good results. I can’t be more happy, and I’m extremely grateful for everyone who brought me here.”
The battle for second in the Pro class championship came down to the result of Friday’s second race. Stevan McAleer and Jeroen Mul (No. 116 Change Racing, Lamborghini Charlotte) crossed the finish line in third place but were elevated to second when Jacob Eidson and Steven Aghakhani (No. 106 O’Gara Motorsport/US RaceTronics, Lamborghini Beverley Hills) were assessed a one-second penalty for a short pit stop. It allowed McAleer to retain second in the standings by three points over Eidson and Aghakhani.
Like Antinucci in the Pro class, Gdovic and Ortiz (No. 146 Precision Performance Motorsports, Lamborghini Palm Beach) won the second race in ProAm on Friday afternoon. It was also their seventh triumph of the year. Victor Gomez (No. 129 Change Racing, Lamborghini Charlotte), who struggled with car issues all day, finished second in the ProAm standings.
“It’s been a great year with Bryan,” Gdovic said. “Had a bunch of wins this year. Definitely happy to wrap up another championship in the series and glad to get a championship for Bryan, too. A clean sweep of championships for the PPM team. It was definitely an awesome year for us.”
Ortiz, a series newcomer, was elated with the results.
“I obviously didn’t know what to expect (coming into the season),” Ortiz said, “but the team have done great in the past. I always tried to do my best and it’s been a great year. We won a lot of races; we’ve been consistent in the top of the championship and not making mistakes. It’s been a great team effort.”
Berkeley’s triumph Friday morning ran his string of wins to four, allowing him to pull away to the Am championship in the No. 123 Dream Racing Motorsport, Lamborghini Broward Huracán. The 17-year-old used his rookie season to lay the foundation for an advance to the Pro class in 2022.
“What an incredible year!” Berkeley said. “It was a tough start to the year with a couple issues in races, but I put my head down and focused. I knew that if I could finish the rest of the championship with solid points in each race, I could wrap up the championship, and that’s what we did here.”
Ashton Harrison (No. 125 Harrison Contracting with Wayne Taylor Racing, Lamborghini Paramus) was the Am winner in Friday’s second race. Her third win of the season helped Harrison overtake Alan Metni (No. 199 Change Racing, Lamborghini Dallas) for second place in the final Am standings.
Kvamme and Olson (No. 147 Precision Performance Motorsports, Lamborghini Palm Beach) cruised to the LB Cup championship after winning four of the first six races. They failed to reach the top step of the podium in the second half of the season, but still held strong.
“Mark was a pleasure to drive with,” Olson said, “and I’ve got to say the Lamborghini Super Trofeo series is just managed impeccably well. So much fun from the very first practice all the way through to the end. Great people, real professionalism, it’s a joy to race here. We had a lot of good, clean racing this year which made it a lot of fun. It’s really, really great to bring home a championship just racing clean and racing fast.”
The strongest LB Cup driver in the second half of 2021 was John Hennessy (No. 133 O’Gara Motorsport/US RaceTronics, Lamborghini San Diego), who swept the class wins on Friday to finish the year with five victories in the last six races.