WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Nothing can seem to slow Danny Formal and Kyle Marcelli in Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America this season. Even a concerning tire vibration or inopportune lapped traffic couldn’t prevent the duo from winning for the fourth time in as many tries in 2023.
Formal and Marcelli started from the pole position and led throughout Saturday’s race, wheeling the No. 1 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport, Lamborghini Palm Beach Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo Evo2 to their second victory in as many days at Watkins Glen International. The margin of victory was 2.646 seconds over Lucas Petersson and Giano Taurino in the No. 88 TR3 Racing, Lamborghini Palm Beach Huracán.
Driving the opening stint in the 50-minute race that ran uninterrupted by a full-course caution, Formal built a sizable advantage before feeling a vibration in the car’s left front shortly before pitting to hand the Huracán over to Marcelli. Still leading comfortably yet driving cautiously as the clock ticked down, Marcelli saw a four-second lead evaporate in an instant when he became stuck behind slower cars with about 10 minutes to go.
That’s when the 33-year-old Canadian decided it was time to risk the uncertainties of the vibration and put the hammer down.
“I got hurt bad in traffic,” Marcelli said. “I came up on a gaggle of four or five cars and think I lost like three seconds just parked behind them in the Bus Stop. I said, ‘OK, boys, I’m going to turn up the wick here for two laps and just get away.’ That’s what we did and then it was just sort of managing (the gap) again. Danny did a monster drive at the beginning – quick lap of the race – and we continue to push each other. It’s a lot of fun.”
The defending Pro class champions, Formal and Marcelli have now won 12 North American series races together in the past two-plus seasons. That total includes back-to-back sweeps at The Glen.
“I got everyone a little bit nervous, got the heart racing, when I said there was a little front left tire vibration,” Formal said. “But luckily nothing was off of it, and we managed. … This is our second double here. We won two times here last year, so super grateful.”
Tom Capizzi and John “JCD” Dubets completed the Watkins Glen double in the ProAm class as well. Capizzi opened in the No. 46 Precision Performance Motorsports, Lamborghini Palm Beach Huracán and was running seventh in class at the time of his pit stop. Dubets cycled through in fifth place but stormed to the lead within two laps and won by more than 10 seconds over Keawn Tandon and Luke Berkeley in the No. 42 NTE Sports, Lamborghini Broward Huracán.
“I knew we had a lot of positions to make up and I knew we were in a race against time,” Dubets said. “We didn’t want a yellow to come out and be stuck in the position we were in. Put my head down, put some pace out of the car … and then it was about managing it to the end.”
It gave Dubets and Capizzi a much less dramatic victory than on Friday, when Capizzi recovered from a spin in wet conditions to triumph. Capizzi knew his job Saturday was to give Dubets a clean car in contention to win.
“I wanted to bring it in there to John, we cycled through well, did a great driver change and he took it over from there,” Capizzi said. “It was kind of a textbook race.”
The Am race was anything but textbook. Tyler Hoffman pushed the No. 9 Precision Performance Motorsports, Lamborghini Palm Beach Huracán to the class lead with just two minutes left, passing teammate Anthony McIntosh in the No. 69 PPM Huracán.
“The (No.) 69 was very quick at the beginning there, one of the quickest cars on course,” Hoffman said. “We just stuck to our strategy and clicked away laps and ran a time, and it worked. I think we had a little bit more tire at the end and the strategy just went our way today.”
The win provided redemption for Hoffman’s co-driver Wesley Slimp, who spun while leading on Friday.
“It was a big recovery day for us,” Slimp said. “We needed to salvage this weekend and find some points. I just tried to stay in touch, give Tyler a clean car and then he got in and put together one of the best drives I’ve ever seen – driving from fifth or sixth in class all the way to the front.”
In LB Cup, Ofir Levy (No. 13 Forte Racing Powered by US RaceTronics, Lamborghini Rancho Mirage Huracán) held off Mark Wilgus (No. 50 Forte Racing Powered by US RaceTronics, Lamborghini Beverly Hills Huracán) by just 0.569 seconds in a tense battle of teammates throughout the closing half of the race. It ended Wilgus’ streak of wins to start the season at three, while Levy won for the first time since VIRginia International Raceway last August.
“Wilgus kept me honest the whole race,” Levy said. “It was nonstop pressure, which was good. It took a lot of effort on my part not to run defensively and just try to stick to my line. I got a couple lucky breaks and stayed in it, and I’m happy with the outcome.”