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Maiden Victory for Dreyspring and Liang as Lewandowski and Myskowski extend Championship lead

25th June, 2017 – Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe, Paul Ricard

The third round of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe Championship saw Dreyspring and Liang claim their first Pro-Am class win and follow it up with second place in race two. Run-away Am leaders Lewandowski and Myszkowski extended their Championship lead with victory number four and second in race two.

Paul Ricard was a new circuit for Abbate and Nemoto, drivers of VSR’s number 6 Pro entry, whilst the drivers of the Pro-Am 46 car, Dreyspring and Liang, had some experience of the track from testing. Dreyspring was immediately impressive, topping the Pro-Am times in both practice sessions. Lewandowski and Myszkowski, leaders of the Am Championship in the number 66 car were once again on form, posting the quickest Am time on Friday afternoon and ending the session 7th overall.

There was some respite from the searing heat on Saturday as qualifying took place early in the morning. Abbate recorded his best result of the season so far, setting the 3rd quickest time, less than half a second off the pole. Liang qualified 11th, third in Pro-Am, while Myszkowski put the Am entry on row eight and was 4th in class. At the start of the race Breukers barged his way past Abbate to steal 3rd from the Brazilian who quickly came under pressure from Afanasiev. The VSR driver held him off for ten laps before slipping down to 5th place. The man on the move in the early stages was Myszkowski who passed Bartels, Obuchowski and Jenny before the pit window opened to move into 14th overall, 3rd in Am. Liang was the first VSR driver to pit, bringing in the number 46 from 13th place, 4th in Pro-Am. Dreyspring took over and a lap later Abbate handed his Lamborghini over to Nemoto. Last to stop was Myszkowski, whose speed was such that Lewandowski exited the pits 2nd in class. Up front Nemoto looked to have the pace to chase down a podium finish until news came of a drive through penalty for the car for speeding in pit entry. As he pitted there was drama for the 46 car as Dreyspring spun, losing three places and slipping down to 4th in class. Neither Nemoto or Dreyspring were deterred by their bad fortune and immediately started to push. Nemoto, the fastest man on the track in the latter stages of the race, grabbed 6th place on the last lap whilst Dreyspring caught and passed the Pro-Am drivers ahead of him. After despatching Galbiati on the penultimate lap he harried Vanneste, passing him on the final lap to finish 8th and claim a maiden class victory for himself and team-mate Liang. There was more joy for the team as in the dying moments of the race the Am leader slowed allowing Lewandowski to sail past and take the fourth win of the season for himself and Myszkowski. 

Nemoto added another point to his Championship standings by taking a fine pole position for race two with a lap that was 0.461 seconds faster than everyone else. Dreyspring was once again mighty, taking the Pro-Am pole and setting the 5th fastest time of the entire grid. Lewandowski qualified 11th overall, third in Am. Nemoto led the field of twenty-eight on the formation lap and made a perfect start, easing ahead of everyone when the lights went green to lead comfortably into the first corner. He immediately began pulling away, setting the fastest lap of the race on lap four. By the time the pit window opened he had built up a five second margin. Dreyspring, having lost two places in the opening lap soon regained his confidence and ran at the tail of the group battling for fourth place. Myszkowski was motoring and on lap four passed Obuchowski for 2nd in class. He was the first VSR driver to pit, handing his car to Lewandowski who took it to the chequered flag in 10th place, 2nd in Am. Dreyspring pitted next, giving his Lamborghini to Liang. The Chinese driver diced with Pro-Am leader Galbiati for most of his stint before tangling with the Italian, an action which would result in a post-race penalty demoting him from 1st to 2nd in class. Last to pit was Nemoto. Abbate took over the lead of the race but by the end of his out lap had been caught by Spinelli and Postiglione. Car 6’s unlucky weekend continued when Spinelli pushed Abbate off the road at the last corner, damaging his right rear wheel. As the Brazilian attempted to nurse the car home he was attacked five laps later by Breukers who spun him around in his attempt to pass. Abbate finished in 4th place, salvaging valuable Championship points,

The next round of the Championship will be at Spa in July, supporting the prestigious 24 Hour Race. VSR heads to Belgium with Abbate/Nemoto 3rd in Pro, Dreyspring/Liang 2nd in Pro-Am and Lewandowski/Myszkowski 1st in Am.

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