NEWS
DOUBLE VICTORY AT SPA FOR BASZ & LEWANDOWSKI
Jul 31, 2021
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PRESS RELEASE: 31st July 2021
Double Spa victory for Basz and Lewandowski
European Lamborghini Super Trofeo, Round 4
The iconic Spa-Francorchamps circuit hosted the fourth round of the European Lamborghini Super Trofeo Championship this weekend and VSR entered an unchanged line-up for the double header event. The number 6 Pro car was raced by Michael Dörrbecker and Mattia Michelotto, Pro-Am Championship leaders Karol Basz and Andrzej Lewandowski were once more at the wheel of the number 16 Lamborghini and Kumar Prabakaran drove the number 23 Huracán in LB Cup.
Qualifying for Saturday’s race was undertaken by Dörrbecker, Basz and Prabakaran. Basz took the Pro-Am pole for the fourth time this season, qualifying on row three, with Dörrbecker three rows further back and Prabakaran on row fourteen. A frantic opening lap saw Dörrbecker jump up to seventh place and Basz move into fourth after rubbing door-handles with Oosten at La Source. By lap two Basz was harrassing Balthasar for third and a lap later he made it past. When the Race Director judged that his move had been made beyond the track limits he was forced to give back the place but the penalty was academic as Basz immediately retook third. On lap four Dörrbecker lost out in a battle with Guzman and fell straight into fighting with Cola – a duel which would last until the pit window opened on lap nine. Both he and Prabakaran pitted immediately for the obligatory stops and Michelotto took over the number 6 Huracán. Basz pitted three laps later, just as the pit window was closing, and as Lewandowski entered the race in the Pro-Am leading car a nasty crash by Watt at Blanchimont bought out the Safety Car. The race remained neutralised until there were just two laps left. At the restart Lewandowski fought hard to keep the Pro-Am lead and took the chequered flag just 0.4 seconds ahead of Zaruba. Michelotto finished sixth despite a penalty for a pit-stop infringement and Prabakaran jumped ahead of Dvoracek at the end of the race to finish fifth in LB Cup.
Race two saw Michelotto start from the third row with Lewandowski on row six, the fourth fastest Pro-Am car, and Prabakaran on row thirteen. Michelotto became straightaway embroiled in a battle with Zaruba and after trading places several times there was contact between the two drivers. Zaruba’s race ended immediately but Michelotto was able to continue with damage to the front left of his Huracán. On lap four rain started to fall and Ciglia was the first victim of the slippery track, spinning down the order and promoting Lewandowski to fourth in class. As the rain increased an excellent stint from Lewandowski saw him move up to ninth overall, second in Pro-Am, by the time the pit window opened on lap nine. Prabakaran pitted immediately for wets and was then involved in an incident at pit-exit with Kroes in which the VSR driver was without fault. A lap later both Michelotto and Lewandowski pitted. As the capricious rain had stopped again VSR split their tyre strategy and Dörrbecker exited with wets on the number 6 whilst Basz continued on slicks. The pit window closed on lap twelve and the Safety Car was bought out whilst several abandonded cars were recovered. The race resumed with ten minutes to go. Basz was leading Pro-Am and was fifth overall, five seconds back from the leader and with lapped cars blocking his path to the front, whilst Dorrbecker ran in sixth. It took one lap of green flag racing for Basz to reach Weering and pass him for fourth and another for the VSR driver to take third from Guzman. On the final lap he caught up to Oosten, snatching second from the Dutchman at the final chicane and taking the chequered flag just 0.7 seconds behind the winner. Dörrbecker hung on to sixth, despite suffering on his rain tyres as the track dried, and Prabakaran finished sixth in LB Cup limping home with damage to his car sustained in his clash with Kroes. Basz and Lewandowski’s second win of the weekend leaves them with a commanding thirty-one point lead in the Pro-Am Standings.
The Championship now takes a break for the rest of the summer before reconvening for the fifth round at The Nurburgring early in September.
ENDS
