These 23rd and 24th of April, the most famous, prestigious and competitive racing teams and drivers were meeting in Monza for the first round of the 2016 Lamborghini Super Trofeo, the world fastest one-make serie. Leipert Motorsport, Sarah Bovy and Ben Gersekowski were there too:
"As a driver, it's an amazing feeling to walk across the paddock of the Blancpain GT wearing the official colours of Lamborghini”, says Sarah. “It's even more special in Monza, a legendary track were you can feel and see the "Furious Bull" all around you !"
"My first feeling when I get on the track was that the Huracàn Super Trofeo is definitely not only a gorgeous car; it’s also a phenomenal racing machine! With 620 HP, an engine that never stops pushing and an incredible grip in the fastest corners, the ‘Lambo’ is quicker than most GT3 cars! I was also impressed by the number and the general level of the competitors of the Trofeo, which is really high and qualitative".
A feeling that was confirmed during the qualifications on Saturday morning:
"With 47 cars, 71 drivers participating to the race, and 15 minutes of qualification each, the exercise was really challenging. Ben took the first part of the quali and struggled to find a clean lap with the right tyre pressure. He qualified 26th of his session. Directly after, it was my shot. I managed to squeeze a 1.49.5 while being slowed down by the traffic in the last sector. With a predictive time in 1.48.6 at the end of the second sector, the top 10 overall for my first quali ever in Super Trofeo was feasible! I eventually had to content myself with the 16th position out of 47 cars. Honestly, even if I expected a better outcome, I’m happy with our pace and I know that we can improve it again with experience".
Unfortunately for the enthusiastic duo, the first race on Saturday afternoon was shortened by a race incident:
"Ben took a great start, he was fast and gaining position already in his first lap. Unfortunately, he missed his ideal line and took a bit too much curbs in Ascari's chicane. He paid it the hard way and got out of the track. Even if the car was not damaged, the race was over as it was stuck against the wall. It's a small mistake that any driver could have done so I'm not blaming him at all. It's just part of the race".
On Sunday, the # 2 green and orange Huracan Super Trofeo was ready to fight again. This time, Sarah was behind the wheel for the start of the race:
"I can tell you it's a completely insane feeling to get on the grid of such a race. I wanted to take a good start to avoid incident in the first chicane and that's what I did. After the first lap, I started filling the gap with a few cars fighting for the top 10 of the race. I realised that I was faster and started overtaking a few of them. My pace was really good and I felt confident in the car. Suddenly two cars crashed just in front of me in Ascari and I miraculously managed to avoid both of them. Right after, the safety car was deployed".
This first safety car of the season was also the opportunity for most of the cars to get in the pits for the mandatory driver change.
"When I pitted in, I was 13th overall and 5th in class. However, when Ben jumped in the car we encountered an issue to bind the belts. This problem made us losing a lot of time and racing positions as all the cars were very close due to the safety car."
With 15 seconds lost in the pits, Ben and Sarah lost more than 15 positions on track… but this was not enough to stop their positive mind-set and the wish to show their ambitions!
"It's true, the weekend was not perfect. But we learned tons of good lessons from that first experience”, notice Sarah. “We eventually managed to finish P17th overall and 9th in class. It means we officially score our two first point in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo, this for our very first race! It's still a great feeling even if I’m sure that a podium was possible. On top of that, I managed to get the 8th fastest lap on track during my stint… out of more than 70 drivers. I should thus not be unhappy with my performance."
We are now looking forward to see again the #2 Lamborghini soon on track for the second round of the championship:
“Stay tuned on SquadraCorse.Lamborghini.com and www.SarahBovy.com in view of the next round in Silverstone on May 14 and 15. That will be a great show again!”, Sarah promises !
"As a driver, it's an amazing feeling to walk across the paddock of the Blancpain GT wearing the official colours of Lamborghini”, says Sarah. “It's even more special in Monza, a legendary track were you can feel and see the "Furious Bull" all around you !"
"My first feeling when I get on the track was that the Huracàn Super Trofeo is definitely not only a gorgeous car; it’s also a phenomenal racing machine! With 620 HP, an engine that never stops pushing and an incredible grip in the fastest corners, the ‘Lambo’ is quicker than most GT3 cars! I was also impressed by the number and the general level of the competitors of the Trofeo, which is really high and qualitative".
A feeling that was confirmed during the qualifications on Saturday morning:
"With 47 cars, 71 drivers participating to the race, and 15 minutes of qualification each, the exercise was really challenging. Ben took the first part of the quali and struggled to find a clean lap with the right tyre pressure. He qualified 26th of his session. Directly after, it was my shot. I managed to squeeze a 1.49.5 while being slowed down by the traffic in the last sector. With a predictive time in 1.48.6 at the end of the second sector, the top 10 overall for my first quali ever in Super Trofeo was feasible! I eventually had to content myself with the 16th position out of 47 cars. Honestly, even if I expected a better outcome, I’m happy with our pace and I know that we can improve it again with experience".
Unfortunately for the enthusiastic duo, the first race on Saturday afternoon was shortened by a race incident:
"Ben took a great start, he was fast and gaining position already in his first lap. Unfortunately, he missed his ideal line and took a bit too much curbs in Ascari's chicane. He paid it the hard way and got out of the track. Even if the car was not damaged, the race was over as it was stuck against the wall. It's a small mistake that any driver could have done so I'm not blaming him at all. It's just part of the race".
On Sunday, the # 2 green and orange Huracan Super Trofeo was ready to fight again. This time, Sarah was behind the wheel for the start of the race:
"I can tell you it's a completely insane feeling to get on the grid of such a race. I wanted to take a good start to avoid incident in the first chicane and that's what I did. After the first lap, I started filling the gap with a few cars fighting for the top 10 of the race. I realised that I was faster and started overtaking a few of them. My pace was really good and I felt confident in the car. Suddenly two cars crashed just in front of me in Ascari and I miraculously managed to avoid both of them. Right after, the safety car was deployed".
This first safety car of the season was also the opportunity for most of the cars to get in the pits for the mandatory driver change.
"When I pitted in, I was 13th overall and 5th in class. However, when Ben jumped in the car we encountered an issue to bind the belts. This problem made us losing a lot of time and racing positions as all the cars were very close due to the safety car."
With 15 seconds lost in the pits, Ben and Sarah lost more than 15 positions on track… but this was not enough to stop their positive mind-set and the wish to show their ambitions!
"It's true, the weekend was not perfect. But we learned tons of good lessons from that first experience”, notice Sarah. “We eventually managed to finish P17th overall and 9th in class. It means we officially score our two first point in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo, this for our very first race! It's still a great feeling even if I’m sure that a podium was possible. On top of that, I managed to get the 8th fastest lap on track during my stint… out of more than 70 drivers. I should thus not be unhappy with my performance."
We are now looking forward to see again the #2 Lamborghini soon on track for the second round of the championship:
“Stay tuned on SquadraCorse.Lamborghini.com and www.SarahBovy.com in view of the next round in Silverstone on May 14 and 15. That will be a great show again!”, Sarah promises !
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