Bernoldi Tames Rain for Round 10 Win at Road Atlanta; Lewis Clinches Pro-Am Driver Championship
– The rain was no match for Enrique Bernoldi as he captured Round 10 of the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo North America Friday at Road Atlanta.
Bernoldi earned his second win of the season in the No. 1 Prestige Performance Huracán representing Lamborghini Paramus, finishing 7.705 seconds ahead of Richard Antinucci and Edoardo Piscopo in the No. 50 O’Gara Motorsport entry representing Lamborghini Beverly Hills.
“I started by saving my tires because I thought if it doesn’t rain, the track will get more dry and degrade the tires,” Bernoldi said. “So I picked up my rhythm in the first stint, and after the pit stop, I pushed 100 percent. The car was there, and I could pass Richie (Antinucci) and open up a gap. I’m very happy.”
After narrowly missing podium in Round 9 on Thursday, Madison Snow rebounded to place third in the No. 14 BAD Lambo Racing entry representing Lamborghini La Jolla for his fourth podium finish of the season.
Change Racing driver Justin Marks was fourth in the No. 99 Huracán representing Lamborghini Carolinas, and his teammate, Corey Lewis, rounded out the top five. Lewis was also the top Pro-Am finisher in the No. 29 Huracán LP 620-2 Super Trofeo representing Lamborghini Carolinas.
The win, Lewis’ eighth straight this season, sealed his quest for a Pro-Am championship. Change Racing has produced three driver champions in the three seasons the series has been in North America.
“I’m so happy to have wrapped up the championship,” Lewis said. “I really can’t thank Change Racing, Lamborghini Carolinas, Monster Energy Drink enough for this year. It’s been an amazing run so far. We’ve got two more in Sebring and then the World Final. I’m truly looking forward to that.”
The field started Round 10 single file with rain coming down. Piscopo once again led the field to Turn 1 and built a 1.584-second lead on the field after one lap.
But Cedric Sbirrazzuoli wasted little time in making his way to the front from fourth position. He passed Marks in Turn 1 on the opening lap of the race, followed by Bernoldi in Turn 5. Sbirrazzuoli closed the gap on Piscopo and made a move to the inside of Turn 6 on the second lap to take the lead.
The running order remained the same until the pit stops. Sbirrazzuoli waited as long as possible before handing the car off to his teammate, Lawrence DeGeorge, at the same time Piscopo passed off the No. 50 to his teammate, Antinucci.
At that point, Bernoldi had the advantage over Antinucci because he had found the fastest racing line on the wet track and maximum grip from the Pirelli tires on the 2.54-mile, 12-turn circuit.
“This is the worst conditions for guys sharing a car,” Piscopo said. “Last year I lost a race the exact same way. I jumped in the second half of the race, and I had no references. It takes three laps to get up to speed, and that’s how we lost the race.”
Bernoldi attacked the lapped traffic with fury, trying to extend his lead and avoid a last-second pass like Antinucci’s winning move in Round 9.
“I tried to understand where to use a little bit of a dry line and where not to so I didn’t damage the tires so much,” Bernoldi said. “It was good. I did risk a lot in traffic, trying to build a gap. That’s part of the race. I had to try to extend because you never know at the end.”
Mission accomplished. Bernoldi finished the race with his largest lead of the day, 7.705 seconds. The win also prevented Antinucci from clinching the Pro Driver Championship. He leads Bernoldi by 26 points, 132-106, with two rounds to go in the season.
Aaron Povoledo, driving for the first time solo in the No. 77 Musante-Courtney Racing Huracán representing Lamborghini Miami, finished sixth overall and second in the Pro-Am division.
Prestige Performance driver Kevin Conway rounded out the Pro-Am podium with his second podium of the weekend, finishing third in the No. 1 Huracán representing Lamborghini Paramus.
Jim and Josh Norman found the top of the podium for the third time this season with a winning Huracán Amateur finish in the No. 71 BAD Lambo Racing entry representing Lamborghini Palm Beach.
Damon Ockey earned his eighth straight podium with a second-place finish in the No. 09 O’Gara Motorsport Huracán representing Lamborghini Calgary. Ross Chouest rounded out the podium with a third-place finish in the No. 3 Musante-Courtney Racing entry representing Lamborghini Miami. It was Chouest’s first podium since his runner-up finish in Round 1 in May at Laguna Seca.
A day after clinching the Gallardo Driver’s Championship, Dylan Murcott finished seventh overall and picked up his seventh win of the season and fifth in a row. He has yet to finish off the podium this season in the No. 84 Lamborghini Gallardo LP 570-4 Super Trofeo.
He was joined on the podium by Mitchum Motorsport teammate, Brandon Gdovic, who finished eighth overall and second in the Gallardo class. He was also the first Gallardo Amateur finisher in the No. 46 representing Lamborghini Palm Beach.
Josh Hurley rounded out the Gallardo top finishers with a third-place result in the No. 76 Musante-Courtney Racing entry representing Lamborghini Miami.
Bryan Hixon was the second-place Gallardo Amateur finisher in the No. 23 Mitchum Motorsports machine representing Lamborghini Chicago, and Joe Chan and Paul Taylor finished third in the No. 15 Paragon Competition Gallardo representing Lamborghini Toronto.
The two rounds at Road Atlanta were the last two rounds before all three Super Trofeo series, Europe, Asia and North America, descend on Sebring International Raceway Nov. 19-22 for the final two rounds of the 2015 championships and the World Final.
A 60-minute show with highlights from both rounds at Road Atlanta will be televised from 9-10 p.m. (ET) Wednesday, Oct. 28 on CBS Sports Network.
World-class hospitality for competitors and guests also is an important part of the event experience in the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo. Guests from various Lamborghini dealerships are entertained at the Lamborghini and Blancpain Village, where gourmet food and drinks are provided in an elegant atmosphere worthy of the Lamborghini and Blancpain brand and lifestyle.
ROUND 10 POST-RACE QUOTES
ENRIQUE BERNOLDI (No. 1 Lamborghini Paramus, winner): “At the beginning, I took it easy because normally there is a Safety Car. This time it didn’t come. So I didn’t want to risk it at the beginning. I was saving my tires because I thought if it doesn’t rain, the track will get more dry and degrade the tires. So I picked up my rhythm in the first stint, and after the pit stop, I pushed 100 percent. The car was there, and I could pass Richie (Antinucci) and open up a gap. I’m very happy. My tires were quite good. I tried to understand where to use a little bit of a dry line and where not to so I didn’t damage the tires so much. It was good. I did risk a lot in traffic, trying to build a gap. That’s part of the race. I had to try to extend because you never know at the end. We don’t want to have a close race again.”
RICHARD ANTINUCCI (No. 50 Lamborghini Beverly Hills, second): “He (Enrique Bernoldi) got me about maybe two laps after I came out. I was a little bit lost. These guys who started had a better idea of the grip. So I was taking it easy, also, with the championship in one eye. It was pretty slippery out there. I didn’t want to do anything nuts. Ultimately, I think we were as quick. I was trying to save the tire, look for wet, conserve it. We had a little bit of an imbalance, but the team did a good job. Edoardo passed me a great position. We were leading by five seconds, more or less. But when you do the whole race, you know how hard you can push when you go back out there. That’s something that I didn’t benefit from. This is probably the hardest scenario for us, but we came out with a second place. We wanted to win both, but I think we’ll take that right now.”
EDOARDO PISCOPO (No. 50 Lamborghini Beverly Hills, second): “This is the worst conditions for guys sharing a car. Last year I lost a race the exact same way. I jumped in the second half of the race, and I had no references. It takes three laps to get up to speed, and that’s how we lost the race. But it’s good — we’re still leading the championship, by far. The race was OK. I led Cedric (Sbirrazzuoli) go because he was overdriving; he was sliding everywhere. He spun by himself. You have to manage the tire. It was a solid race for us. We’re fighting against a world-class driver (Enrique Bernoldi), and it’s good for the series that we were still fighting.”
MADISON SNOW (No. 14 Lamborghini La Jolla, third): “I took my time on the start, just wanted to see how Turn 1 would go. Everyone made it through Turn 1. That was good. Then it was start moving forward. There were a couple of cars I picked off. The couple lead cars really pulled away. Then it was just staying on the track, working on fast laps. Came in, made the pit stop. I felt like we had a really good stop because it was pretty close on the time. So it was perfect. I went back out and was really laying down the fast laps at the end. The car was great at the end. At the beginning, it was just a little of a handful. But I had the pace at the end, but I was pretty far away. But it was a good race.”
COREY LEWIS (No. 29 Lamborghini Carolinas, first Pro-Am, Pro-Am Champion): (Was it advantage to be a solo driver today because you didn’t need to tiptoe to learn the grip levels after a driver change?): “Absolutely. I did another race earlier today, so I kind of had a feel of where I wanted to place the car throughout the whole race. Not having to change drivers and having to worry about the other guy getting in was a little bit of a relief. The biggest thing at the end was managing the tires. I was trying to get somewhat of a dry line. But the Change Racing guys did an amazing job setting up the car for us. I’m so happy to have wrapped up the championship. I really can’t thank Change Racing, Lamborghini Carolinas, Monster Energy Drink enough for this year. It’s been an amazing run so far. We’ve got two more in Sebring and then the World Final. I’m truly looking forward to that.”
AARON POVOLEDO (No. 77 Lamborghini Miami, second Pro-Am): “The biggest challenge today was getting through the traffic and trying to keep the tires underneath us. The No. 77 Courtney Racing-Eastern Account Systems car was a rocket ship. We had such a fun time carving through from the back of the pack. But I’ll tell you, by the time we got to the tail of the lead pack, I was on slicks that started off as rains. I hope the fans out at (Turns) 10 A/B appreciate car control and drifting. I know that’s the D-drift area, where they do the Tokyo drift thing — I think I contributed a lot to the whole art of drifting there today because I had no left rear by like mid-race on. It was a riot. My hat’s off to the team. They worked their butts off. And to Joe Courtney — none of this would be possible without him. He has put together a hell of a crew and a hell of a team. The combination of a guy like Joe Courtney and Lamborghini, and a series like this, this is some of the most fun you could have anywhere in the world.”
KEVIN CONWAY (No. 10 Lamborghini Paramus, third Pro-Am): “This is only the second time I’ve ever raced in the rain. It’s a big learning curve for me, where a lot of the guys that have raced in Europe a lot more are more experienced in the rain. Solid day, having my teammate P1 in Pro overall. That’s great for the whole Prestige Performance team. I’m just excited for everybody at Lamborghini Paramus. We still have some work to do to figure out the rain from my side. But from Enrique’s (Bernoldi) side, he did a great job. The whole team executed well. We’ll take this and build on it and look forward to heading to Sebring for the World Final.”
JIM NORMAN (No. 71 Lamborghini Palm Beach, first Amateur): “I started, and at the beginning, the grip levels were terrible. It was tough. Once the track improved, then it was traffic. It was hard to get clear laps. But I’m mostly proud for Josh (Norman), who’s never been to this track before and never has raced in the rain before. He jumped into the car, and he was running pretty close to pro times. I’m really proud of him, how well he’s doing this year. Now we get to go back to Sebring, and that’s our home track. We both have a lot of miles at Sebring, so we’re looking forward to that.”
JOSH NORMAN (No. 71 Lamborghini Palm Beach, first Amateur): “This was my first time racing in the rain in four years, and I’ve only done it twice before, and I’ve never been to this track before. So I really was just thrown in there. I got up to speed pretty quickly, and the car felt really good. The team worked really hard and gave us a great car for the race. We just did our part and finished on top. It feels great to be back on top of the podium.”
DAMON OCKEY (No. 09 Lamborghini Calgary, second Amateur): (What was tougher, the varying grip levels or the traffic?): “I think it’s just the different grip levels. There was some running water across the track. My tires weren’t up to temperature yet by the time we got to Turn 10, and that’s where I spun. And half the field got around me there. It was kind of a ‘make-up race.’ I made it back up to P2 and just kind of stayed there. Once Josh Norman got into the car, he was pretty quick, and I wasn’t going to catch him. They had a good 20-second lead. But it was a fun race. Challenging. The rain races are always challenging, but it was fun.”
ROSS CHOUEST (No. Lamborghini Miami, third Amateur): “The guys did a great job getting the car together, preparing the car. It was my first time in the rain. I learned a lot in this race, about tire strategy, and the tires going off and degradation.” (About podium finish in first wet race): “It’s amazing. I think some of the guys in front of me, they weren’t able to preserve their tires as much. Usually they’re always faster than me, but I was able to get a P3, and I’ll take it."
DYLAN MURCOTT (No. 84 Lamborghini, first Gallardo Amateur): “I’m just trying to get more wins and wrap up as many as I can before the season ends. I was praying for rain today in case we get rain for the World Final. I just wanted to practice in it. I’ve never drove this car in the rain before. It was different than I thought. I thought it was going to be a little easier to drive, but it was still really fun. I’m glad we got a rain race in this year."
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