17th September, 2017 – Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe, Nurburgring
Polish drivers Andrzej Lewandowski and Teodor Myszkowski became the 2017 European Lamborghini Super Trofeo Am Champions at the Nurburgring this weekend. With two races still to go their impressive tally of five wins, four second places and one third place secured them the Championship.
Thirty-two Lamborghinis took part in the fifth round of the European Lamborghini Super Trofeo Championship at the Nurburgring this weekend. VSR was present with three cars: a Pro entry for Abbate-Nemoto, a Pro-Am entry for Dreyspring-Liang and an Am entry for Lewandowski-Myszkowski.
Friday’s free practice sessions were held in mixed conditions with the Nurburgring proving to be as unpredictable as ever. Dreyspring was particularly impressive, setting the second fastest time in the damp afternoon session. The sun shone for qualifying but track temperatures hovered around thirteen degrees. Out in the first session were Nemoto, Liang and Myszkowski. Nemoto went second fastest on his first flying lap. The rapid Japanese driver then set a record in sector one and was set to improve his time and wrest pole away from Spinelli when the session was red fagged. Restarted with five minutes left a second stoppage made it impossible for further improvements and Nemoto had to settle for a spot on the front row. Liang qualified on row four, third fastest in Pro-Am and Myszkowski, third quickest Am, took a spot on row six.
At the start of race one Spinelli got the jump on Nemoto who went into the first corner sandwiched between Tweraser and Breukers, losing a place to the latter. A two lap Safety Car intervention then neutralised the race which resumed with forty minutes to go. At the restart Nemoto was quickly past Breukers for second and spent the rest of his stint harrying Spinelli. Liang ran comfortably in seventh, whilst Myszkowski was involved in a fierce dice with Giannoni, Bartels and Abkhazava just outside the top ten. When the pit window opened Liang and Myszkowski dived in to hand their cars to Dreyspring and Lewandowski and Nemoto, running less than a second behind the leader, followed a lap later leaving Abbate to fight for the win. As the pit window closed drops of rain started to fall around the circuit and on lap twenty Abbate slipped down to third, his pace affected by a technical problem. Behind him the man on the move was Dreyspring, often the fastest man on track in the final laps. The German youngster passed Giraudi for the Pro-Am lead on lap seventeen and never looked back. He took the chequered flag in fourth place overall, one place ahead of Abbate who was hit from behind at the final corner by Jeffries and tapped into a spin which cost the Brazilian a podium finish. Lewandowski finished twelfth overall, second in the Am class to Giannoni, the only mathematical rival for the Am Championship.
Qualifying for Sunday’s race saw both Abbate and Dreyspring set the pace. Abbate went fastest with ten minutes left and, after improving his time twice more, was never headed. Dreyspring looked set to join him for an all VSR front row until Championship leader Postiglione demoted him to third place. The German driver still claimed the Pro-Am pole by a gigantic seven tenths. Lewandowski was the sixth quickest Am, qualifying on row eight.
Rain began to fall just as the drivers began the formation lap so race two was started behind the safety car. With the cars on slicks the conditions were treacherous and when racing started there was an exciting fight for the lead between Abbate, Postiglione and Dreyspring. The experienced Postiglione eventually got the upper hand and the two VSR cars continued to scrap amongst the leading group as the track began to dry and the pit window approached. Abbate pulled in straightaway to give his Huracan to Nemoto and was followed by Lewandowski who had survived a grassy excursion but slipped down the order. Myszkowski took over the Am entry for the run to the flag. Dreyspring stayed out until just before the pit window closed and when Liang took over was running 2nd in Am. A misunderstanding with a Pro car left Liang with damaged steering and a ten second penalty which would result in him being classified fifth in Pro-Am at the end of the race. As the race drew to a close Myszkowski was working his way through the Am field as up front Nemoto was gaining on leader Spinelli. When the chequered flag fell he had reduced the gap from just under ten seconds to 1.1 seconds and Myszkowski had reached 3rd in class, enough to secure the 2017 Am Championship for himself and team-mate Lewandowski.
The final round of the Championship will take place at Imola in November, two days before the Lamborghini Super Trofeo World Final. With the Am Championship already secured VSR are still in the fight for both the Pro-Am and Pro titles. Dreyspring-Liang lead the Pro-Am battle by just one point and Abbate-Nemoto lie 4th in Pro, twelve points off the leaders.
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