After Losing out on Victory the Day before, the No. 1 WTRAndretti Huracán Dominates
By Mark Robinson
AUSTIN, Texas – After seeing a win slip away on the final lap the day before, Ryan Norman and Danny Formal weren’t about to let it happen again in Sunday’s Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America race at Circuit of The Americas.
Norman put in a stellar opening stint in the No. 1 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti, Lamborghini Palm Beach Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2 and Formal put the hammer down in the second stint to close the triumph by a margin of 10.056 seconds in the 50-minute race. The win elevates Norman, Formal and the No. 1 Huracán to second place in the Pro class standings, just six points from the lead with four races remaining.
On Saturday, Norman was passed for the lead in Turn 1 on the last lap, then contact with another car dropped the No. 1 to fourth at the finish. Norman credited the support of his team for keeping him in the right frame of mind to attack on Sunday.
“You’ve just got to put that stuff behind you and focus on the task at hand today,” Norman said. “The way things finished today, the points worked out really well. I was just trying to give Danny a really good car today and he just pulled away, a beautiful drive.”
Formal, attempting to win the Pro class championship for a third straight year but for the first time with Norman, credited his co-driver’s resolve.
“Ryan had a tough one yesterday,” Formal said. “He’s such a mature driver, he came back today and put on a clinic in his stint. He gave me the car with the best rear tires possible and (I) just went out and give it all for the first five or six laps, we got a nice lead and then we took care of the car.”
Bryson Morris and Loris Cabirou finished second in the No. 30 Ansa Motorsports, Lamborghini Broward Huracán. Ernie Francis Jr. and Giano Taurino, who won Saturday in the No. 88 TR3 Racing, Lamborghini Miami Huracán, finished fourth on Sunday and lead the Pro standings by six points over Norman and Formal.
It proved to be a spectacular day for WTRAndretti, which took wins in three of the four classes. Nate Stacy and Nick Persing (No. 8 WTRAndretti, Lamborghini Palm Beach Huracán) completed a weekend sweep of wins in the ProAm class, as did Glenn McGee and Anthony McIntosh (No. 69 WTRAndretti, Lamborghini Palm Beach Huracán) in Am. In doing so, both driver pairs moved to the top of their class standings.
Persing, in the No. 8 Huracán, was among the last drivers to make the mandatory pit stop. The overcut allowed Stacy to take the class lead when the pit cycle completed and he rolled on win by more than 18 seconds over Patrick Liddy and Blake McDonald in the No. 72 Forte Racing, Lamborghini San Diego Huracán.
“The car was fantastic!” Stacy commented. “It was set up for the end of the race and it was just on rails. We were (running) in the middle of the Pro pack – I think we were P4 overall – and we were just clicking off laps. The car was so dialed. I can’t thank the guys enough.”
Persing and Stacy unofficially moved three points ahead of AJ Muss and Joel Miller (No. 66 Forty7 Motorsports, Lamborghini Philadelphia Huracán) atop the ProAm standings, with Muss and Miller placing third on Sunday.
“It’s been a great weekend,” Persing said. “A sweep is something we’ve been looking for since we started this season. … It feels good to be back in the lead of the championship.”
McGee started from the Am pole in the No. 69 WTRAndretti Huracán but fell back after contact with Francis in the No. 88 TR3 Racing Huracán on Lap 2. He then went off track to avoid a spinning car in Turn 4 but recovered quickly to regain the class lead before handing the car over to McIntosh, who eased away to win by 14.594 seconds over Cole Kleck and Al Morey in the No. 17 Topp Racing, Lamborghini Austin Huracán.
“I settled in (after losing the class lead), ran down first place for Am and then I chucked it into the pits as quick as I can and Tony took over,” McGee said. “He must have had a massive out lap and then he just drove away from everybody. He did an awesome job.”
Added McIntosh, “Once I got in the car, it was pretty simple. The car was well balanced. We had a lot of grip in the corners. I expected it to go away from us but it kept coming toward us. The car was set up to really go the distance and it went the distance.”
The double-win weekend was enough to put McIntosh and McGee – the reigning Am class champions – into first place in the standings, three points ahead of Dominic Starkweather, who finished fifth Sunday in the No. 47 Precision Performance Motorsports, Lamborghini Palm Beach Huracán.
LB Cup witnessed a weekend winner’s sweep as well. Rodrigo Vales crossed the finish line second in class in the No. 34 TR3 Racing, Lamborghini Miami Huracán, but Rocky Bolduc was penalized 2.631 seconds for his pit stop not meeting the minimum required time in the No. 99 Topp Racing, Lamborghini Boston Huracán. The result gave Vales his second win in as many days, with Bolduc scored second.
“Great weekend, yes,” Vales said. “We tried to do our best. We did a good pit, we stopped correctly and everything went fine, so we won.”
“I didn’t know (that I could win twice). It was a great surprise.”
Nick Groat (No. 57 One Motorsports, Lamborghini Newport Beach Huracán) finished third in LB Cup to extend his class lead to 27 points.
Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America’s next event takes place Sept. 20-22 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.