Welcome to the 2025 Race ofChampions Sydney Photo Gallery, our images are from John Morris…
GDOVIC & DALY VICTORIOUS IN LAMBORGHINI AT LAGUNA SECA
MEDIA RELEASE/Lamborghini – Photo: supplied
The ninth round of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America got underway under gleaming Northern California skies at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, with Saturday’s first race of the doubleheader weekend shining just as bright with competition.
RACE ONE-SATURDAY
Pole sitter Richard Antinucci got the jump at the start of the 50-minute race, pulling the No. 29 Change Racing, Lamborghini Charlotte ahead of the charging No. 46 Precision Performance Motorsports, Lamborghini Palm Beach driven by Brandon Gdovic.
After slipping from second to fifth on the start, Sandy Mitchell (No. 1 Prestige Performance/Wayne Taylor Racing, Lamborghini Paramus) locked into an early battle for fourth place with Steven Aghakhani (No. 6 US RaceTronics, Lamborghini Beverly Hills). After jockeying for more than five laps, Mitchell finally got by Aghakhani for position on Lap 10, shortly before the mandatory pit window opened.
Gdovic led the first group of drivers to pit lane on Lap 14, turning the No. 46 over to co-driver Conor Daly. Antinucci made his stop a lap later, with Corey Lewis taking the wheel of the No. 29. Following the pit exchange, Daly came out ahead and waited for the complete pit cycle to finish before assuming the race lead on Lap 19 when Dani Clos made his pit stop in the No. 69 Prestige Performance/Wayne Taylor Racing, Lamborghini Paramus and handed the car over to William Hubbell.
From there, the battles began to take shape in each of the four classes. Daly, Lewis and Andrea Amici (No. 1) ran together in formation at the front of the Pro class and the overall field. Lewis closed within the rear bumper of Daly on a few occasions but couldn’t muster the momentum to complete the overtake for the lead. They were still in that order when the time limit was reached, with Daly crossing the finish line 1.825 seconds ahead of Lewis and 3.116 seconds up on Amici.
After taking over for Damon Ockey in the No. 09 US RaceTronics, Lamborghini Vancouver, Jacob Eidson moved quickly past Hubbell in the No. 69 for the ProAm lead and wasn’t threatened. The No. 09 won the class and finished sixth overall. Dean Baker and Bruno Junqueira put the No. 53 Prestige Performance/Wayne Taylor Racing, Lamborghini Paramus into second in class, with the No. 69 of Clos and Hubbell third. Ockey and Eidson expanded their points lead to 123-78 in the class and can clinch the ProAm crown in Sunday’s race.
In the Amateur class, Aghakhani and James Sofronas (No. 14 GMG Racing, Lamborghini Newport Beach) put on a memorable duel in the closing stages. Sofronas – competing in his first Lamborghini North America race of the season – made the decisive maneuver past Aghakhani with just under 13 minutes to go in the race and pulled away to win the class. Cameron Cassels placed third in Am in the No. 33 Prestige Performance/Wayne Taylor Racing, Lamborghini Paramus.
LB Cup saw a spirited battle to the finish. Chad Reed and Justin Price took the class lead in the No. 22 Dream Racing Motorsport, Lamborghini Atlanta following the pit cycle. Closing fast, however, was Ashton Harrison in the No. 43 Prestige Performance/Wayne Taylor Racing, Lamborghini Paramus, after she took over for Stephanie Cemo.
On each of the final two laps, Harrison tried to pass Price coming out of the hairpin last turn. But each time, Price held position and clipped Harrison at the line by a mere 0.145 seconds. Mel Johnson and Thomas Lovelady finished third in LB Cup in the No. 08 GMG Racing, Lamborghini Newport Beach. Heading into Sunday’s race, Johnson leads the class standings by just two points over Harrison and Cemo.
Sunday’s race starts at 12:20 p.m. ET and streams on IMSA.tv or squadracorse.lamborghini.com/live-streaming with IMSA Radio commentary. NBCSN will broadcast the WeatherTech Raceway round at 3 p.m. ET Wednesday, Sept. 25.
WHAT THEY SAID
Brandon Gdovic, No. 46 Precision Performance Motorsports, Lamborghini Palm Beach
“I was trying to conserve as much tires as I could for Conor’s stint. It’s no surprise here that you have to do that. I tried to stay with Richy (Antinucci) during my stint and we had a good driver change. Conor did an awesome job in keeping the lead and bringing it home.”
Conor Daly, No. 46 Precision Performance Motorsports, Lamborghini Palm Beach
“It was tough today. It’s super-hot here and the tires were wearing down. So a lot of my work was tire conservation. I know it is tough to pass here so for me it was just trying to win at the slowest possible pace and to have the tires at the end if we needed them. That was our strategy and it played out perfectly. I tried to keep the same pace during my stint and I was successful in keeping yourself underneath you, and I was able to do that.”
Damon Ockey, No. 09 US RaceTronics, Lamborghini Vancouver
“The race today was great. The track got hot and the tires were soft. Jake did well in his stint. I started strong but I put two wheels off in Turn 1 and lost about 10 seconds and the car was going OK, but the tires went away. Jake drove well to get us back to first place.”
Jake Eidson, No. 09 US RaceTronics, Lamborghini Vancouver
“It was tough today because the tires fall off so you are in survival mode most of the time, but I was trying to pass as many cars as possible. That is hard to balance. It was a clean race and tomorrow we will look to make the overall podium.”
James Sofronas, No. 14 GMG Racing, Lamborghini Newport Beach
“When you are running against kids that are one-third your age, you have to give it everything you’ve got. I wanted to come here and help my clients by giving them extra data and setup video. We tried a different setup and mine was for race pace and tire management. I’ve been racing here for a long time. Today was great for GMG and Lamborghini Newport Beach, and to get to race with my friends is great. Steven pushed me today and he is a strong young talent. Track knowledge of Laguna Seca is good. Lamborghini looks good and sounds good and is such a fun car to drive.”
Chad Reed, No. 22 Dream Racing Motorsport, Lamborghini Atlanta
“It is my first time at Laguna on the track. So it was nice to get out there and stay close. I was trying to save tires and was able to do that. It is awesome to get another win.”
Justin Price, No. 22 Dream Racing Motorsport, Lamborghini Atlanta
“I had a little mistake at the end but those last couple of laps’ battles at the end were awesome. We have had such fun racing in LB Cup this year and everyone is having a good time, and that is what we are here for.
RACE TWO SUNDAY
The marine fog layer over WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca lifted just in time Sunday morning to reveal a thrilling final domestic round in Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America.
The 10th race of the season contained all the elements that make the single-make series utilizing identical Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVOs a fan favorite: wheel-to-wheel racing, dazzling passes, critical pit stops, drivers charging toward the front; even a drag race to the finish line to decide a podium position.
Conor Daly, who finished off the race win Saturday in the No. 46 Precision Performance Motorsports, Lamborghini Palm Beach, started from pole on Sunday and quickly built a two-second lead while the action was furious behind him. Jake Eidson (No. 9 US RaceTronics, Lamborghini Vancouver), Corey Lewis (No. 29 Change Racing, Lamborghini Charlotte), Cedric Sbirrazzuoli (No. 27 Dream Racing Motorsport, Lamborghini Dallas) and Andrea Amici (No. 1 Prestige Performance/Wayne Taylor Racing, Lamborghini Paramus) ran nose-to-tail in second through fifth place through most of the opening stint.
It wasn’t until Lap 10 when Lewis made an inside pass of Eidson in Turn 2 for second place. Later on the same lap, Amici snuck past Sbirrazzuoli for fourth. A lap later, contact between LB Cup points leader Mel Johnson (No. 08 GMG Racing, Lamborghini Newport Beach) and Justin Price (No. 22 Dream Racing Motorsport, Lamborghini Atlanta) ended the latter’s race with right-rear wheel damage.
On Lap 13, as the mandatory pit window for the 50-minute race was about to open, Randy Sellari (No. 3 Dream Racing Motorsport, Lamborghini North LA) spun at the top of the famous Corkscrew turn while leading in LB Cup.
When the pit window opened, Daly, Lewis and Sbirrazzuoli were among the first takers. Brandon Gdovic replaced Daly in the No. 46 while Richy Antinucci jumped into the No. 29 for Lewis. As the two raced for the same real estate at pit exit, they made light contact, with the No. 29 getting the temporary advantage. However, Antinucci was soon ordered to cede the position to Gdovic for an improper pit exit.
Adding insult to injury, the No. 29 was then assessed a drive-through penalty for not meeting the 84-second minimum pit stop time (from pit-lane entry to exit) by more than one second. The No. 46 was also penalized for not meeting the pit time requirement, but since its pit stop was less than a second off the minimum, it was assessed a post-race time penalty of 0.234 seconds (double the actual time by which it missed the minimum). When the dust settled from the pit stop cycle and the penalties, Gdovic held a lead of nearly two seconds over Sandy Mitchell in the No. 1, with Paolo Ruberti third in the No. 27. Mitchell wasn’t done, however, and quickly closed to the rear bumper of Gdovic.
Mitchell made a couple unsuccessful late attempts to pass for the lead, but knowing his car would be assessed a five-second post-race penalty for an improper race start, opted to hold steady in second place at the checkered flag.
The win for the No. 46 completed a weekend sweep for Daly and Gdovic and was their third this season to go with the season opener at Barber Motorsports Park. It was also the third straight victory for Gdovic, who teamed with Shinya Michimi to win the second race of the VIRginia International Raceway weekend last month.
Meanwhile, Antinucci charged back from the drive-through penalty to make a late pass on Ruberti and claim third place overall and in the Pro class. Antinucci and Lewis lead Gdovic by six points (124-118) in the Pro standings.
For the second straight day, James Sofronas (No. 14 GMG Racing, Lamborghini Newport Beach) and Steven Aghakhani (No. 6 US RaceTronics, Lamborghini Beverly Hills) put on a dazzling duel for the Am class win in the closing lap. And for the second straight day, Sofronas held strong for the win, Aghakhani finished second and Cameron Cassels (No. 33 Prestige Performance/Wayne Taylor Racing, Lamborghini Paramus) was third. McKay Snow (No. 63 Change Racing, Lamborghini Charlotte) finished fourth and leads Aghakhani by 13 points and Cassels by 15 in the Am standings.
Eidson started second and turned the No. 09 over to Damon Ockey, who comfortably drove to the win for the ProAm weekend sweep. In the process, the duo clinched the season championship. Ron Atapattu and Patrick Liddy drove the No. 24 US RaceTronics, Lamborghini La Jolla to second place on Sunday. Dani Clos secured the last spot on the ProAm podium when he rolled the No. 69 Prestige Performance/Wayne Taylor Racing, Lamborghini Paramus out of the last turn and past teammate Dean Baker in the No. 53 on the final straight to the checkered flag.
Despite the early contact with the No. 22, Johnson and co-driver Thomas Lovelady finished off the LB Cup victory in the No. 08. Sellari recovered from his Corkscrew spin to finish second in the No. 3, with Matt Dicken (No. 36 Change Racing, Lamborghini Charlotte) taking third. Johnson holds a 14-point lead (115-101) over Ashton Harrison and Stephanie Cemo, who finished fifth Sunday in the No. 43 Prestige Performance/Wayne Taylor Racing, Lamborghini Paramus.
The climactic round of Lamborghini Super Trofeo takes place Oct. 24-25 at Jerez de la Frontera in Spain, where competitors from North America, Europe and Asia will compete. Live streaming of that event will be available on squadracorse.lamborghini.com/live-streaming.
WHAT THEY SAID
Brandon Gdovic – No. 46 Precision Performance Motorsports, Lamborghini Palm Beach
“I didn’t have to work as hard yesterday! It was a great battle today and I had to make sure I stayed on our strategy. I knew the (No.) 29 was supposed to give me the lead and he was supposed to let me by. I then let him go back by and I knew he had that drive-through he had to serve. I made sure to pace myself to keep the tires on the car, but it was good to be first over the line.”
Conor Daly – No. 46 Precision Performance Motorsports, Lamborghini Palm Beach
“Yesterday we found out what it was like on the older tires, and Brandon did exactly what he needed to do today. Others made mistakes today and we didn’t. These races, it’s important to stay mistake-free and that what’s we did today. We got two wins this weekend and that’s a great way to finish off the North American portion of the season. It’s been fun to be here this weekend, the car and the track was awesome.”
Damon Ockey – No. 9 US RaceTronics, Lamborghini Vancouver
“It’s great to win the championship but we still have two more races to go, and we want to go to Spain and continue to race hard and make overall podiums. Jake drove a great first stint and was in first place for most of the first part of the race. We had a five-second penalty and we were able to stay ahead of that and we got another win.”
Jake Eidson – No. 9 US RaceTronics, Lamborghini Vancouver
“Good race today for us and it is great to clinch the class championship. We had another clean race and that is what we are always looking to do. I gave Damon no tires today, as I thought I would try to make it as hard as possible for him! We are looking forward to the World Finals and see what we can do there.”
James Sofronas – No. 14 GMG Racing, Lamborghini Newport Beach
“That was fun. The best part was a double podium for GMG today with my friends Mel (Johnson) and Thomas (Lovelady). Great job by our team and we set the car up for a long run. It was cooler today so we didn’t need as much ‘TC.’ Then, Steven (Aghakani) gave me a heck of a run there at the end. This was a well-earned win for the guys who put this car together on what basically was a last-minute call.”
Mel Johnson – No. 08 GMG Racing, Lamborghini Newport Beach
“It’s been a tough weekend for us but we had a bit of pace today and brought it into the pits P1 today. That was some redemption from yesterday and Tom did the rest of the work. I had some contact with the No. 22 and we came together in Turn 1, but I was able to get it going pretty quickly after that.”
Thomas Lovelady – No. 08 GMG Racing, Lamborghini Newport Beach
“It was a solid day. Mel did a great job in his stint and we had good pace. We tried to have a clean run. That is what we did for the most part and that turned into a win today.”
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