The iconic Belgian circuit of Spa-Francorchamps plays host to the fourth round of the 2021 Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe season this weekend, with plenty to fight for as the championship enters the second half of the year.
The 7.004km circuit situated in the middle of the vast Ardennes Forest throws up perhaps the most demanding challenges for the teams and drivers all season, with the famous Eau Rouge de Raidillon and the breakneck left-hander Blanchimont ready to punish the slightest mistake.
Last year produced a pair of action-packed races, with current points leader Kevin Gilardoni picking up victory in race one, while the Pro-Am combination of Olli Kangas and Yuki Nemoto won race two, which was red flagged following a huge accident for Raúl Guzman.
After collecting their third race victory of the season at Zandvoort last month, the Oregon Team partnership of Gilardoni and Leonardo Pulcini lead the standings on 68 points but are just four clear of nearest rivals Sebastian Balthasar and Noah Watt (Leipert Motorsport) following the latter pairing’s first win of 2021 in the Netherlands.
Just 14 points further back in the Pro category is the solo Johan Kraan Motorsports Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO of Dutchman Max Weering, while the Target Racing duo of Guzman and Glenn van Berlo are another five adrift and looking to stand on the top step of the podium for the first time this season.
The 100% Dutch pairing of Milan Teekens and Maxime Oosten are also sitting pretty in the standings, two points behind Guzman and van Berlo on 43 points, with the rapid – but ultimately unlucky this season – duo of Jonathan Cecotto and Kevin Rossel (GSM Racing) sixth.
Keen to make amends after a disappointing retirement in the second race at Zandvoort will be Michael Dörrbecker and Mattias Michelotto (VS Racing), who lie seventh in the points, just ahead of Bonaldi Motorsport’s Daan Pijl who will once again be partnered by the vastly experienced Danny Kroes this weekend.
Kroes certainly has experience of winning at Spa-Francorchamps as well, having recorded a crucial victory in race two in 2019, a victory which ultimately helped he and team-mate Sergei Afanasiev secure the title in their first season together.
In the Pro-Am class, VS Racing’s Karol Basz and Andrzej Lewandowski hold as comfortable a lead you can have in the Super Trofeo standings entering the weekend, with Micanek Motorsport’s Czech duo Bronislav “Bromek” Formanek and Josef Zaruba 14 points back in second. Seven points back from Formanek and Zaruba is the Target Racing entry of Dmitriy Gvazava and Andrea Cola, who suffered a frustrating second race at Zandvoort, spinning out at Tarzan and not making the finish.
Fresh from another podium finish in race two in the Netherlands, Leipert Motorsport’s Oscar Lee and Dan Wells are just a point behind in fourth and will be keen to make more steps towards a first win of the season at Spa.
New to the Pro-Am field this weekend will be the Trofeo Verde GT team of David Fairbrother and Jordan Witt. The British pairing have contested the SRO GT2 European season since the opening round at Monza in April and are no strangers to the world of Super Trofeo Europe, with Witt having raced several times since making his championship debut at the Nürburgring in 2019.
After missing both of the races at Zandvoort, JM Littman returns to action this weekend, but will have a new team-mate, in the form of Lorenzo Veglia, who is deputising for Antoine Bottiroli.
In the Am class, Boutsen Ginion Racing’s Claude-Yves Gosselin will have a real opportunity to seize the lead of the standings as points leader Ray Calvin (Leipert Motorsport) will be absent from the grid. A regular in the #10 Huracán, Calvin’s place will be taken by Canadian Dean Neuls and German Matthias Hoffsümmer.
Other additions to the Am field include the welcome return of the GT3 Poland team, with Grzegorz Moczulski teaming up with Nicolai Gadetskii.
Also returning to Super Trofeo Europe after a period of absence will be the Semoulin pairing of Benoît and François, racing for the Scuderia Tornacum in the Lamborghini Cup. The 2019 Super Trofeo World Finals winner in the class missed the entire 2020 season but will be fighting for top honours on home soil this weekend.
They will be joined in the LB Cup by Micaenk Motorsport’s Libor Dvoracek and the ever-popular Gerhard van der Horst, while the leading entries from the season so far, including title contenders Hans Fabri (Imperiale Racing) and Pierre Feligioni and Daniel Waszkzinski (Boutsen Ginion Racing) are also expected to be in the mix.
2021 Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe Calendar
Round 1: Monza (Italy), 16-18 April
Round 2: Le Castellet (France), 28-30 May
Round 3: Zandvoort (Netherlands), 18-20 June
Round 4: Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium) 29 July-1 August
Round 5: Nürburgring (Germany) 3-5 September
Round 6: Misano Adriatico (Italy), 28-29 October
Lamborghini World Final
Misano Adriatico (Italy), 30-31 October