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16th November, 2018 – European Lamborghini Super Trofeo, Vallelunga
Kasai and MacBeth finished the European Lamborghini Super Trofeo Championship on a high, taking a podium in the final race which allowed Kasai to finish third in the Pro-Am Championship. Lewandowski took the runner-up spot in the Am Championship, losing out by just two points after a day when luck just wasn’t on his side.
VSR entered four cars for the final round of the European season – a Pro entry for season-long partners Ortiz and Tujula, two Pro-Am cars for Liberati/Koller and Kasai/MacBeth and an Am entry for Lewandowski and Necchi. Lewandowski headed into the final round leading the Am championship and aiming for his second consecutive title whilst Kasai was fighting for a top three spot in Pro-Am.
Two frantic sessions of free practice, the second topped by Liberati, were followed almost immediately by qualifying for the European finale. Necchi drove in the first Am session and took a place on the third row despite only setting one flying lap in a session marred by two full course yellow periods and two red flags. Lewandowski took pole in the second session but then suffered a run of bad luck which would ultimately deny him his second Championship in a row. In race one Necchi crashed out trying to pass Bruck and the damage to the VSR car was so severe that it could not take part in race two. With his Championship lead reduced to just nine points Lewandowski was given a final chance when his VSR team-mates Ortiz and Tujula sacrificed their own final race to allow him to race their car. The chassis change meant he lost his pole position and started from the back of the grid. By lap eleven Lewandowski was back inside the top six and needed to finish fifth to take the title if rivals Lauck and Scholze won. The pit window opened on lap thirteen and Lewandowski stayed out until the sixteenth tour. During the driver change a seat-belt problem cost the team over twenty-seconds and left Necchi in eighth place. Roda’s retirement pushed him up to seventh but it wasn’t enough for Lewandowski who finished runner-up in the Championship, just two points behind Lauck and Scholze.
In the Pro and Pro-Am qualifying sessions Liberati took his third overall pole of the season and led race two in convincing style until the pit stops. Team-mate Koller bought the car home in fourth place in Pro-Am just behind VSR team-mates Kasai and MacBeth. They finished fourth in race one and took a fine podium in race two giving Kasai a tidy points haul which allowed him to consolidate third in the Pro-Am Championship.
With the European Championships now concluded attention turns to this weekends World Final. VSR will run three cars, a Pro entry for Ortiz and Tujula and two Pro-Am cars for Kasai/MacBeth and Lewandowski/Liberati.
ENDS
