North Americans take Super Trofeo World Finals championship

Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America teams delivered a World Finals champion and a race winner in the final day of competition at Autodromo Vallelunga near Rome. Anthony Mcintosh and Glenn McGee followed their Am class win Saturday with a …

Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America teams delivered a World Finals champion and a race winner in the final day of competition at Autodromo Vallelunga near Rome.

Anthony Mcintosh and Glenn McGee followed their Am class win Saturday with a third-place finish today to clinch the World Finals Am title in the No. 169 Precision Performance Motorsports, Lamborghini Palm Beach Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo Evo2.

McIntosh started sixth in class and bided his time before turning the car over to McGee during the mandatory pit stop. McGee was challenging in fifth spot when two cars ahead had contact and went off track, allowing him to pull the No. 169 Huracán safely into third place and secure the World Finals title.

“We were smarter than a lot of our opponents for this final,” McGee said. “Tony put in a great stint for me, gave me a good car and we were able to run down the leaders. To be on the podium and get the world title is amazing.”

The co-drivers clinched the North American Am championship earlier in the weekend and were elated to top it off with the World Finals crown.

“To represent America has been really, really amazing,” McIntosh said.

The LB Cup class for those with limited experience competed in the same 50-minute race as the Ams, and Graham Doyle made a thrilling last-lap pass for the lead to claim victory in the No. 110 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport, Lamborghini Nashville Huracán. Doyle trailed European Super Trofeo driver Shota Abkhazva (No. 75 ART Line Huracán) when they encountered traffic. Doyle pointed the No. 110 Huracán inside the lapped cars into the turn while Abkhazva was forced wide outside, with Doyle going on to win the class by 0.705s and finishing fourth overall.

“That was incredible! “Doyle exclaimed. “That whole race, start to finish, I can’t even put into words to tell you the truth. Held second position for the majority of the race until that last final lap, when I was able to get into first position and win the race. Truly, I’m on top of the world. To be able to do this here on the world stage is incredible. I’m ready to do it again next year.”

The second-place finish by Abkhazva was enough to secure the World Finals LB Cup championship by a single point over North American driver Jon Hirshberg (No. 186 Forte Racing Powered by US RaceTronics Lamborghini Rancho Mirage Huracán), who finished sixth on Sunday. Mark Wilgus, Hirshberg’s teammate in the No. 150 Lamborghini Beverly Hills Huracán, was in position to take the LB Cup title after winning Saturday’s race, but he was the innocent victim caught in the aftermath when two cars collided in front of him with 12 minutes remaining in today’s race and did not finish.

The Pro/ProAm race that followed saw Shehan Chandrasoma and Nikko Reger (No. 120 TPC Racing, Lamborghini Austin Huracán) place third in ProAm after several post-race time penalties were assessed. Nate Stacy and Nick Persing (No. 108 WTRAndretti, Lamborghini Nashville Huracán) crossed the finish line third but were hit with a five-second penalty for incident responsibility during the race that dropped them to sixth in the final results.

The North American Pro drivers struggled in qualifying for Race 2, with none starting higher than 14th overall. Jake Walker (No. 177 Forty7 Motorsports, Lamborghini Philadelphia Huracán) was the best Pro finisher today, 13th in class and 14th overall. Two-time North American Pro champions Kyle Marcelli and Danny Formal (No. 101 WTRAndretti, Lamborghini Palm Beach Huracán) retired early after absorbing contact from another car.

Lamborghini officials announced that the 2024 World Finals will take place at Jerez, Spain, from Nov. 22-23, with the finals rounds for the North American, European and Asian series taking place at Jerez on Nov. 20-21.

North American Super Trofeo teams grab two wins in World Finals opener

Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America teams claimed victory in both classes of the first single-make series’ World Finals race for the Am and LB Cup classes today, but their counterparts in the Pro and ProAm classes didn’t fare as well in their …

Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America teams claimed victory in both classes of the first single-make series’ World Finals race for the Am and LB Cup classes today, but their counterparts in the Pro and ProAm classes didn’t fare as well in their race.

Anthony Mcintosh and Glenn McGee, the North American Am season champions, held off stiff competition to win the World Finals Am race in the No. 169 Precision Performance Motorsports, Lamborghini Palm Beach Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo Evo2. In the same race, North American LB Cup season champ Mark Wilgus was a surprise class winner in the No. 150 Forte Racing Powered by US RaceTronics, Lamborghini Beverly Hills Huracán after Forte Racing teammate Blake McDonald was spun while leading in the final corner on the final lap of the 50-minute race.

In the Pro/ProAm race that followed, the best North American finishers were two-time North American Pro champions Danny Formal and Kyle Marcelli (No. 101 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport, Lamborghini Palm Beach Huracán), who finished sixth overall and in the Pro class, and Andy Lee and Slade Stewart (No. 114 Flying Lizard Motorsports, Lamborghini Newport Beach Huracán), who placed fifth in ProAm.

McGee started from the overall pole in the 40-car Am/LB Cup race but dropped to third place when the green flag waved. He fought his way back to the lead within 15 minutes, turning the No. 169 Huracán over to McIntosh in front during the mandatory pit stop cycle.

McIntosh drove brilliantly from there, holding off Super Trofeo Europe driver Ibrahim Badawy (No. 62 Huracán) on a pair of late restarts from full-course cautions to win. Badawy was levied a 10-second penalty for incident responsibility earlier in the race, so the margin of victory for McGee and McIntosh wound up at 1.93s over Gabriel Rindone (No. 21 Huracán).

“Glenn nailed it! He gave me a perfect position and a perfect car,” McIntosh said. “Tires were good, team was good, everything.”

“And he had massive restarts!” McGee added about his co-driver. “Our biggest competitors (for the World Finals championship) took a big hit, so it puts pressure on them and takes it off of us for (the second race) tomorrow.”

Wilgus was resigned to finishing no better than third in LB Cup until some late fireworks. European driver Shota Abkhazva (No. 75 Huracán) passed McDonald (No. 171 Forte Racing, Lamborghini Beverly Hills Huracán) for the class lead on the final restart with two minutes remaining, but Abkhazva was facing his own 10-second time penalty for incident responsibility earlier in the race as well.

That meant McDonald, a winner in Thursday’s North American ProAm race when he teamed with Patrick Liddy, was set to win the World Final LB Cup race driving solo. Until, that is, he was tapped from behind while exiting the final turn and stranded on track.

Wilgus came home with the LB Cup win, with Forte Racing teammate Jon Hirshberg just 0.346s behind in the No. 186 Lamborghini Rancho Mirage Huracán.

“We qualified way in the back so I thought, ‘All right, stay clean’ and got a favorable start. Then it was kind of workmanlike working my way through the field and then there were just a couple real favorable incidents right in front of me. I feel fortunate but I’m also pretty excited about this.”

The second World Finals races stream live on the Lamborghini Squadra Corse YouTube page starting at 5:55am ET (Am/LB Cup) and 8:50am (Pro/ProAm) Sunday.

World Finals Pro/ProAm Race 1 Results

World Finals Am/LB Cup Race 1 Results