NEWS

When he’s not scouring through legal documents and advising clients in his day job as an attorney at Haynes and Boone, LLP, David Staab leads a very different kind of life. Since 2022, he’s been fulfilling his childhood dream at the wheel of a Lamborghini Huracán in the Am class of Super Trofeo North America.

The Texan, originally from Dallas Fort Worth and now residing in Trophy Club north of the city centre, has been a key staple of the continental championship over the past five seasons, with 28 podium finishes and 11 class wins to date. Staab is a perfect example of an FIA bronze-rated driver pursuing his passion while still holding down a full-time career.

“To be driving a Lamborghini is a literal dream come true for me,” Staab begins. “I used to have posters of Lamborghinis on my bedroom wall as a kid, so it is surreal to be able to race one of these cars.”

“They look like spaceships; nothing looks cooler than the Super Trofeo in the paddock. The car has fins and vents everywhere, a massive wing, a roof scoop, and a 620hp engine—everything that represents Lamborghini is there. The cars are wild and fun to drive.”

“And the tracks we race on as well, they are all tracks that I grew up dreaming of racing at that I had only been able to experience through video games. The fact we get to travel to other circuits around the world, like Misano, Jerez, or Portimão, it’s been unbelievable.”

Before making his Super Trofeo debut with Precision Performance Motorsports, Staab plied his trade in another spec series, gaining the valuable experience at the wheel and, more importantly, the race craft needed to make the cut further down the line.

In much the same way as past Super Trofeo North America competitors Bryan Ortiz, Anthony McIntosh, Glenn McGee and Ashton Harrison to name but a few, Staab worked his way up the popular Mazda MX-5 Cup in the USA but quickly had to unlearn many aspects of that category when jumping to the 620hp Super Trofeo machine.

“There are some things from MX-5 Cup that are transferrable, but a lot of things are not. For example, in MX-5 Cup, drafting is huge part of the race craft whereas in Super Trofeo it isn’t. Maintaining momentum through a corner is more important in the MX-5 Cup in comparison to the Super Trofeo where getting back to full throttle as early as possible generally has a bigger impact on lap times.”

“Racing in the MX-5 Cup series, both in real life with IMSA and in the simulator with iRacing, helped to develop my race craft and track awareness,” Staab explains. “From start to finish, you have got a car on your left, on your right, and on your front and rear bumpers the whole time. It’s like a war out there, so that was a great training ground for Super Trofeo.”

The constant vigilance involved in a cut-throat spec series has certainly made Staab far more aware of his surroundings. At the opening round of the 2026 season at Sebring, he needed those skills more than ever, after losing his right-hand side mirror early in the first race. Despite this, he battled back to finish an impressive second, behind race-winner Nick Groat.

“It certainly did come in use! I watched the race broadcast back and they made the comment that a lot of cars have rear view cameras in their cars. Well, mine does not! That was a challenge, because at Sebring there are a lot of heavy braking zones and right handers, so trying to get a good gauge as to how much I needed to defend or not was pretty difficult!”

It was through MX-5 Cup that Staab was first introduced to PPM and [Super Trofeo driver and PPM Competitions Director] Brandon Gdovic. And the MX-5 connection continued in the maiden season as Staab was partnered by its 2018 series champion, Nikko Reger.

The pairing enjoyed a thoroughly competitive season together and led the points standings heading into the final round of the year, at the Portimão circuit in Portugal, before the cruelest of blows cost them dearly.

“The first season, Nikko and I were extremely close to winning the Am title,” reflects Staab. “We were the points leaders by a decent margin coming into the final race of the season in Portugal, we had won the first race, and we were starting on pole for the final race.”

“Both Nikko and I loved the track, loved where we were with the car, and were extremely confident. The car had been rock-solid for us all season. But, in the warm-up before the race, I looked up and saw smoke billowing up from the back of the engine bay…the alternator had failed.”

“Then there was a mad scramble because we were just about to go to the grid; I would venture to say that we were the only car that has ever started a race without an alternator – we actually had a battery strapped into the passenger floorboard of the car.”

“We were informed that it wouldn’t work, but we decided to give it a go anyway. Unfortunately, the Lamborghini technical staff was correct, and it was not possible to run the car in that configuration. We took the green flag anyway because you never know what could happen in the race, but very soon after, we lost power to the radio, lost the ability to shift, and we had to bring the car in.”

“That was a disappointing end to the North American season, but we finished the year on a high note by winning the last race of the World Finals and finishing second in the World Finals standings.”

The following year, Staab raced as a solo driver, and he has done every year since, with the exception of 2024 when he ran a partial season, sharing the #48 PPM car with his brother, Michael Staab, for different rounds of the series. Driving solo allows Staab to maximise his seat time and flourish more as a driver, learning from one of the very best in the North American championship, his team boss and former North American Pro-Am class champion Brandon Gdovic.

“I’ve learned an incredible amount from the team and Brandon, in particular,” Staab says. “He has been integral in my coaching, getting me to where I am now. After the sessions, it’s a big group effort among the engineers and Brandon personally going through the video and the data and focusing on all the areas of improvement.”

“It’s been great that Brandon is also racing in the series this year in the Pro class. Having him as a benchmark on the same setup has been extremely helpful. I am also thrilled that Carter Fartuch joined PPM this year from his prior role as the Director of Instructors at Skip Barber Racing School. With the coaching of Brandon and Carter, combined with the engineering and setup expertise of Chase Wrenn and Wesley Goodwin, among others, and the top notch mechanics that work on my car, including Arllan Ignacio, Kyle Vannarath, and Anthony Goshorn, and the support of everyone else on the PPM team and Lamborghini Palm Beach that make the race weekends possible, we have an extremely strong team that works hard to maximize every second of track time.”

Staab has been one of the leading contenders in the Am class since he joined the championship, finishing runner-up in 2022 and 2023 before narrowly missing out on the title last season. Perhaps 2026 could be the year?