Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe: Weering and Spinelli dominate Race 1 at Paul Ricard

Third successive victory for points leaders as Super Trofeo celebrates 1000 drivers since 2009

Bonaldi Motorsport’s Loris Spinelli and Max Weering remain unbeaten in the 2022 Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe championship after taking another dominant victory from pole in the opening 50-minute race at Paul Ricard. The race also proved to be a significant milestone for Super Trofeo competition, as the 1000 driver marker was hit since the inaugural season in 2009.

Having set the fastest time in morning qualifying, Weering led away from the rolling start, fending off the early attack from Arkadia Racing’s Pierre-Louis Chovet, competing in his first Lamborghini Super Trofeo race weekend alongside team-mate Johan Boris Scheier. Target Racing’s Marzio Moretti was passed by the VS Racing car of Stéphane Tribaudini, while further back there was a spin for Luciano Privitelio (Rexal FFF Racing Team) after contact from Bonaldi Motorsport’s Sandro Mur.

Weering’s lead at the end of the opening lap was just over a second from the chasing Chovet, who kept the Dutchman in his sights for the duration of the first stint. Behind, Tribaudini was in close company ahead of Moretti and BDR Competition’s Amaury Bonduel. The order at the front remained stable until the pit window opened after 20 minutes, with Weering the first of the leading runners to make his mandatory pit-stop. He switched over with Spinelli, who immediately set fastest sector times, as Chovet, Tribaudini, Moretti and Bonduel stayed out on track.

Chovet came into the pits two minutes before the window closed, along with Bonduel, Imperiale Racing’s Manuel Bejarano and Leipert Motorsport’s David Mihai-Serban. Chovet changed with Scheier but what looked like a strong result happening for the #7 newcomers turned quickly into disappointment as Scheier slowed on his out-lap from the pits. The car lost power and Scheier was forced to retire after tumbling down the order.

That promoted the #54 Target Racing Huracán of Moretti and Milan Teekens, who had worked their way past Tribaudini’s team-mate Jean-Luc D’Auria, into second with Bonduel closing fast in third. The pair went toe-to-toe in the second stint, with Bonduel the faster driver as Teekens battled traffic and an issue with his car. Bonduel closed to within half a second of Teekens in the final 10 minutes and made a move to the inside of the Target Racing driver at Beausset but made slight contact with the rear of Teekens’ car, tipping the Dutchman into a spin. He eventually gave the position back to Teekens on the following lap but was penalised 10-seconds post-race. Bonduel did, however, keep third at the finish to claim his first career podium.

Away from the drama in the lead was Spinelli, who used the battle for second to open up a large gap of 11-seconds over Teekens and Bonduel. Despite this, the final stages of the race were not easy for the championship-leading crew, as Spinelli also struggled with a mechanical issue which ultimately forced him to stop at the first turn after the end of the race.

Race winner Loris Spinelli (#61 Bonaldi Motorsport) said: “Max did a very good at the start of the race, made a good gap and I managed to extend this after the pit-stop. Which was fortunate because in the last few laps I had a problem with the car, so we were very lucky to finish the race, especially in first position too. Thanks to the team and to Max who did a great job. We have three in a row, now we can make it four tomorrow.”

Team-mate Max Weering (#61 Bonaldi Motorsport) added: “The speed at the start of the race was perfect, I felt comfortable and managed to make a gap to the car behind before handing over to Loris. The end of the race was a little more difficult due to the setup of the car not being so great, but I was able to push very hard in my stint. Moretti was close to me, but I kept looking in my mirrors, I made one mistake, but it was enough to stay in the lead. Three wins in a row at the start of the year is really perfect also; I could not have hope for a better start, but we still have another race to win tomorrow so fingers crossed we do it again.”

His victory margin was, nevertheless, some 13-seconds over Teekens, with Bonduel third after serving his 10-second penalty. Just off the overall podium and winning the Am class was the sensational Andrzej Lewandowski in his GT3 Poland Lamborghini Huracán. The Polish driver started from pole position and came out on top in a thrilling race-long scrap with Leipert Motorsport’s Gabriel Rindone. Both drivers impressed throughout the 50-minute race, with Rindone finishing sixth overall.

Lewandowski led the early stages, but could not break clear of Rindone, who remained less than half a second adrift of his class rival before the pit-stops. Rindone then made good use of clear air in front of him to leapfrog ahead of Lewandowski after the window closed, but Lewnadowski’s superior second-stint pace was enough to get him ahead of Rindone to take the win. Arkadia Racing’s Stéphan Guérin and newcomer Shahan Sarkissian completed the podium in third.

Sandwiching the pair of Am drivers was the Pro-Am winners, Rexal FFF Racing Team’s Dan Wells and Oscar Lee, who came fifth overall. The British-American duo made the most of a spin for the erstwhile class leaders, Target Racing’s Milan Petelet and Dmitry Gvazava. Petelet lost control of the #9 Huracán at the exit of Beausset, shortly after another Pro-Am entry of Damian Ciosek (#44 Lamborghini Roma Team) suffered the exact same fate. Gvazava and Petelet finished 18th overall. Oregon Team’s Massimo Ciglia and Lewis Williamson finished second in the #27 Huracán, while Gerhard Watzinger and Brendon Leitch took third for Leipert Motorsport.

It was something of a family affair in the Lamborghini Cup as father-and-son Luciano and Donovan Privitelio (Rexal FFF Racing Team) claimed the win ahead of SemSpeed siblings Benoît and François Semoulin. The victory was particularly impressive for the #8 crew after being tipped into a spin at Turn 5 by Martin Kodric on the opening lap. Semoulin led early from Libor Dvoracek (Micanek Motorsport) before the latter suffered two spins. Following the pit-stops, Donovan Privitelio moved ahead and built a lead of 4.619s at the flag, while long-time Lamborghini Super Trofeo servant Gerard van der Horst finished third.


Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe – 2022 Calendar
Round 1: Imola (Italy), 1-3 April
Round 2: Le Castellet (France), 3-5 June
Round 3: Misano (Italia), 1-3 July
Round 4: Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium) 29-30 July
Round 5: Barcellona (Spain) 30 settembre-2 October
Round 6: Portimão (Portugal), 3-4 November

Finals: Portimão (Portugal), 5-6 November