JEREZ, Spain — A businesslike effort from a pair of Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America teams on Friday sealed the deal for them to win their respective class championships in the final race of the season.
A.J. Muss and Joel Miller finished fifth in the ProAm class in the 50-minute race at Circuito de Jerez, but it was enough to deliver the class championship to the co-drivers of the No. 166 Forty7 Motorsports, Lamborghini Philadelphia Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2.
In the Am class, Glenn McGee and Anthony McIntosh collected their sixth win of the season in the No. 169 Wayne Taylor Racing, Lamborghini Palm Beach Huracán to wrap up the class crown for the second straight year.
Ryan Norman and Danny Formal, who share the No. 101 Wayne Taylor Racing, Lamborghini Palm Beach Huracán, rolled to their third overall and Pro class win in Friday’s season finale. Formal completed a crisp pass for the lead on Giano Taurino (No. 188 TR3 Racing, Lamborghini Miami Huracán) with 15 minutes remaining and edged away to win by 2.810 seconds. Taurino and co-driver Ernie Francis Jr. finished second, a day after they sewed up the Pro class championship.
“The car was absolutely mega today,” Norman said after he and Formal secured second in the Pro class points battle with the win. “We’ve had a fast car all year long and we just didn’t have some luck in some of the rounds, but we just kept our heads down and everyone at Wayne Taylor Racing worked so hard for this. I’m so glad that we ended the season on a high note here.”
Added Formal, “To catch the (No. 188), the champions of the season, and pass ‘em and gap ‘em five seconds in a couple laps really shows how fast our car was. … We finished P2 in the championship; it’s not what we wanted but we fought extremely hard and never gave up.”
Marc Miller and Paul Nemschoff, co-drivers of the No. 141 Flying Lizard Motorsports, Lamborghini Newport Beach Huracán, won Friday’s ProAm race after the No. 172 Forte Racing, Lamborghini San Diego Huracán of Alberto Clementi Pisani and Edoardo Liberati – which has taken the checkered flag in first place – was assessed a postrace 30-second penalty for incident responsibility on Lap 1. The class focus, however, was behind them, as Muss and Joel Miller came home fifth in the No. 166 Forty7 Motorsports Huracán, just one place behind their nearest title competitors, Nate Stacy and Nick Persing in the No. 108 Wayne Taylor Racing, Lamborghini Palm Beach Huracán. Muss and Miller’s final advantage over Stacy and Persing was eight points.
“I teamed up with Joel this year and our sole purpose was to come try to win a championship,” Muss said. “I’ve been learning a lot, Joel’s been a phenomenal coach for me in helping me develop in my career. A title’s a title and it means a lot to me.”
“Super stoked for the whole team,” Miller added. “AJ and I actually linked up at the World Finals last year and that conversation started then. We started a bit in the hole after the first race (this season) and we just clawed it back.”
McGee bolted the No. 169 Huracán into the Am class lead on the opening lap. After losing that lead in his stint, McIntosh regained the top spot on the final lap when a tire shredded on the leading No. 128 Alliance Racing, Lamborghini Palm Beach Huracán driven by Augusto Soto-Schirripa.
“That’s two titles – back-to-back – and I’m just so happy to be able to say that,” McIntosh said. “It’s fantastic!”
“I can’t believe it,” added McGee. “I have such a great teammate. Tony just keeps getting faster and faster every year. … I think we found a very good setup. The car was absolutely amazing.”
Nick Groat, who clinched the LB Cup championship on Thursday with a class win, repeated the victory on Friday in the No. 157 One Motorsports, Lamborghini Newport Beach Huracán. It meant that a different team earned the championship in each of the four North American classes (TR3 Racing in Pro, Forty7 Motorsports in ProAm, Wayne Taylor Racing in Am and One Motorsports in LB Cup.