JEREZ, Spain — Tony McIntosh and Glenn McGee did everything possible on Sunday to add a Lamborghini Super Trofeo World Finals championship to their Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America title for the second straight year.
They fell a pole position short.
McIntosh and McGee, co-drivers of the No. 169 Wayne Taylor Racing, Lamborghini Palm Beach Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2, drove to the overall and Am class victory in Sunday’s World Finals race, coming on the heels of a second-place finish in Saturday’s opener.
It was a mirror effort from that of Renaud Kuppens, the Super Trofeo Europe driver who won on Saturday and finished second on Sunday in the No. 2 Boutsen VDS Huracán. The single point that Kuppens earned for taking the Am pole in Race 2 made the difference, giving the German driver World Finals honors.
Driving for a different team in 2023, McIntosh and McGee swept the Am titles in both the North American series and the World Finals. While they fell just shy of the repeat double, the duo left Circuito de Jerez proud of their effort.
“To fight for it again this year was amazing,” McGee said. “Where we lost it was in (qualifying). We didn’t have pole, we lost it just on that point, so I’ll take the ding on that one. Kuppens drove well, he was very clean.”
McIntosh started Sunday’s race for Am and LB Cup competitors third overall and second in class in the No. 169 Huracán. He pressed Kuppens throughout the stint, and with the benefit of a three-second advantage in minimum time given two-driver entries during the mandatory mid-race pit stop, McGee emerged from the pit cycle in the overall and class lead. The 50-minute race ended under the third full-course caution after light rain led to a pair of cars spinning off track.
“We knew where we were, we knew what we had to do,” McIntosh said. “We didn’t want to push and have a mistake, and we certainly didn’t want to get a penalty. We just drove hard, fair, clean, kept it in a really good position. Unfortunately, because of (the second-place finish) yesterday, it just kind of messed us up a little bit.”
North American teams swept four of the top five spots in Sunday’s Am race, with Garrett Adams (No. 107 Ansa Motorsports, Lamborghini Broward Huracán) finishing third, David Staab (No. 148 Precision Performance Motorsports, Lamborghini Palm Beach Huracán) fourth and Dominic Starkweather (No. 147 Precision Performance Motorsports, Lamborghini Palm Beach Huracán) fifth.
Sunday’s top LB Cup finisher from the North American contingent was Nick Groat (No. 57 One Motorsports, Lamborghini Newport Beach Huracán), who placed second. Holger Harmsen (No. 90 GT3 Poland Huracán) won both World Finals LB Cup races to take the title. Jon Hirshberg (No. 186 Forte Racing, Lamborghini Rancho Mirage Huracán) finished second in the LB Cup standings after race finishes of second on Saturday and fourth on Sunday.
McIntosh was actually able to secure a second straight World Finals championship, albeit in a different class with a different co-driver and team. He drove with Brendon Leitch in a Super Trofeo Europe ProAm class entry, the No. 99 Leipert Motorsport Huracán that won both days in the races consisting of the Pro and ProAm cars.
Sunday’s top Pro finishers from the North American contingent were Bryson Morris and Loris Cabirou in the No. 130 Ansa Motorsports, Lamborghini Broward Huracán, who finished third. Coupled with their second-place finish on Saturday, it left the Ansa duo just a point shy of the World Finals Pro class champion, Egor Orudzhev, who won Sunday in the No. 57 ART-Line Huracán.
“It was a very good weekend, but we wanted that one more spot,” Morris said. “Thanks to Loris, we were able to bring it home in P3. Tricky race at the start with the safety car coming out very fast and then about halfway through it started raining a bit, which definitely caused some chaos. The most important thing was just to keep it on track and fortunately we did. Coming home second in the championship is a little bittersweet moment, but hopefully we can do it again next year.”
Nate Stacy and Nick Persing, co-drivers of the No. 108 Wayne Taylor Racing, Lamborghini Palm Beach Huracán, finished second in ProAm to the McIntosh/Leitch pairing for the second straight day. It was enough for Stacy and Persing to secure second in the World Finals class standings.