Thirty Entries Will Be on the Grid for the Circuit of The Americas Season Opener
By Mark Robinson
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America enters its ninth season in the best shape ever for the series. Car count is at a record high. New teams and Lamborghini dealers are on board. The schedule is as strong as it’s been.
Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America: Circuit of The Americas Entry List
It’s no wonder why Chris Ward, Senior Manager of Motorsports for Automobili Lamborghini America, is all smiles heading to this week’s season-opening round at Circuit of The Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas. Ward is realizing the fruits of labor from the Lamborghini America team to make the IMSA-sanctioned single-make racing series even more electrifying and competitive.
“We’re a record grid for the North American championship,” Ward says. “That’s because there’s been a lot of work to engage more teams into the championship. By virtue of the type of racing we’re doing, with teams that have customers, if you have more teams, you get more customers.
“There was a big focus in 2019 and ’20 of engaging people and encouraging them to come and try it,” continues Ward. “Fortunately, that’s paid dividends.”
The doubleheader round at COTA features 30 cars on the entry list, split among the four classes of Pro ProAm, Am and LB Cup. A number of high-profile drivers, teams and dealers return, but there is just as much excitement for the newcomers to Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America.
Four new teams with pedigrees in other series are providing nine new Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo Evo entries on the grid. Kelly-Moss Road and Race (with a winning Porsche legacy in both the GT3 Cup Challenge and Carrera Cup North America) will have three cars, with MCR Racing, Taurino Racing and TP3 Racing fielding two cars each. A dozen Lamborghini dealers from around the United States – another record – are involved in 2021 to support the customer racing program.
COTA is just the first of five amazing American road courses to host Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America this year. The track just outside Austin is also home to the Formula One U.S. Grand Prix. The Lamborghinis will be sharing the pristine and challenging 3.4-mile, 20-turn circuit this weekend with all three of NASCAR’s top-tier series.
Following COTA on the 2021 schedule will be stops at VIRginia International Raceway (June 4-6), Watkins Glen International (June 24-27), Road America (Aug. 6-8) and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (Sept. 10-12) before teams and drivers head to Misano, Italy, for the final North American round (Oct. 28-29) and the World Final (Oct 30-31) that includes their counterparts from the European and Asian series.
Competition in each North American class should be strong. In the top-level Pro class, Steven Aghakhani and Jacob Eidson are looking to go one better in 2021 after finishing just three points shy of winning the Pro championship last year. They are back driving the No. 6 O’Gara Motorsport/US RaceTronics, Lamborghini Beverly Hills Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO.
By no means are Aghakhani and Eidson a shoo-in for the title.
“They’ve got stiff competition across the board, honestly,” Ward says. “With a nine-car Pro field, it’s going to be pretty exciting, it’s going to be pretty competitive.”
Teaming in the No. 44 Ansa Motorsports, Lamborghini Broward entry will be Sergio Jimenez, who had a pair of Pro class wins last season, and Nelson Piquet Jr., son of the F1 great who has also raced in F1, NASCAR, Formula E and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Others to watch in the Pro class are:
- Max Weering, driver of the No. 61 MCR Racing, Lamborghini Charlotte Huracán, who is competing in Lamborghini Super Trofeo in both North America and Europe. Weering won the European 2021 opener.
- Nico Jamin and Scott Andrews in the No. 13 Ansa Motorsports, Lamborghini Broward entry. Andrews was on the winning Le Mans Prototype 3 team at this year’s Rolex 24 At Daytona and won a pair of IMSA Prototype Challenge races last year. “Scott’s kind of winning everything he sits in at the moment,” says Ward. Jamin is a former USF2000 and Pro Mazda champion in the open-wheel junior ranks.
ProAm features some tantalizing entries as well. Victor Gomez IV moves into the class after winning all 10 Am races and the title last year. The Puerto Rican will drive the No. 29 Change Racing, Lamborghini Charlotte Huracán. Loris Spinelli, who won multiple Lamborghini Super Trofeo championships in both North America and Europe in 2017 and ’18, returns to pair in ProAm with Claude Senhoreti in the No. 51 Taurino Racing, Lamborghini Palm Beach entry.
The Am class includes Randy Sellari (No. 03 Wayne Taylor Racing, Lamborghini Paramus Huracán), who won six races on his way to the LB Cup crown in 2020. Luke Berkeley, a 17-year-old sensation in the No. 23 Dream Racing Motorsport, Lamborghini Broward Huracán, is another to watch – as is Giano Taurino, driver of the No. 88 Taurino Racing, Lamborghini Palm Beach Huracán and son of the team owner. And don’t overlook Alan Metni (No. 99 Change Racing/Lamborghini Dallas Huracán), who joins the series after dominating the Porsche GT3 Cup Masters class the past three years.
LB Cup contains faces familiar and new this season. John Hennessy (No. 33 O’Gara Motorsport/US RaceTronics, Lamborghini San Diego Huracán) and Matt Dicken (No. 36 Change Racing, Lamborghini Charlotte Huracán) each won LB Cup races in 2020. Newcomers include Scott Welham (No. 82 Change Racing, Lamborghini Charlotte Huracán), whose goal to race last year was delayed by the global pandemic, and Jordan Missig (No. 53 Wayne Taylor Racing, Lamborghini Greenwich Huracán), who has drawn rave reviews for his skill at the wheel.
Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America action begins Friday at COTA with two practices (1:45 and 5:45 p.m. ET). Qualifying for both races takes place at 8 a.m. Saturday morning. Race 1 starts at 7 p.m. ET Saturday, with Race 2 going green at 12:10 p.m. ET Sunday. Both races will stream live on Lamborghini.com. A weekend recap airs at 2 p.m. ET Wednesday, June 2 on NBCSN.