MACHAVERN REBOUNDS IN WET CONDITIONS IN CANADA
BOWMANVILLE, Ontario (July 13, 2014) – Victor Gonzalez earned his first victory of the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo North America season, winning Round 8 in rainy conditions Sunday, July 13 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
Gonzalez earned the top honor in his No. 99 Gallardo LP 570-4 Super Trofeo representing Lamborghini Carolinas and fielded by Change Racing with a victory of 7.536 seconds over first-time series co-drivers Aaron Povoledo and Corey Lewis in the No. 76 Musante Motorsport entry representing Lamborghini Boston.
Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo Europe driver Thomas Pichler rounded out the top three finishers in the Lamborghini Dallas entry fielded by Jota Corse.
“I love Canada,” Gonzalez said. “That’s the only thing I can say while I’m here. I had a great moment and great result, and the hard work from everyone on the team really paid off. This is only my second time in the series, and the car worked perfect.
Championship leader Kevin Conway finished fourth in the No. 29 Change Racing entry representing Lamborghini Carolinas. He leads John Farano, 88-58, with four rounds remaining.
Round 7 winner Dillon Machavern finished first in the Amateur class in the No. 07 Lamborghini fielded by Mitchum Motorsports. Machavern started on the pole but was pushed out in Turn 8 early on the first lap. Gonzalez, who started second, then led the rest of the way except for the mandatory pit stop cycle.
Gonzalez led by 29 seconds with 20 minutes remaining in the 50-minute race and managed his lead carefully over the closing laps.
The No. 88 Lamborghini Vancouver entry driven by David Welch and fielded by GMG Racing finished second in the Amateur class, followed by Lee Carpentier in the No. 80 Lamborghini Palm Beach fielded by Mitchum Motorsports.
While it was Gonzalez’s first win of the season in only his second weekend with the series, he is no stranger to the podium. He finished second in Round 7 yesterday at CTMP and second in Round 6 in late June at Watkins Glen. The win today propelled him to third in the points standings with 45 points.
Rounds 9 and 10 of the series are scheduled for Aug. 22-24 at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia.
The two rounds at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park continued a busy stretch of action worldwide for the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo championship, which continues to reach new levels of success at every round in Europe, North America and Asia. The Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo North America and Europe competed during the final weekend of June at Watkins Glen International and Circuit Paul Ricard, respectively.
The next round of the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo Europe is July 25-26 at Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium. The Asian Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo championship resumes Aug. 30-31 at Fuji Speedway in Oyama, Japan.
The Lamborghini Gallardo LP 570-4 Super Trofeo car is the ultimate single-make race car and the only four-wheel drive GT racer in the world. The 570-horsepower, V10 Gallardo LP 570-4 features impressive technology such as paddle shift E-gear transmission, Öhlins race shocks, Brembo brakes, a carbon fiber aerodynamic package that includes a rear wing with 10 adjustable positions, MTA data acquisition, air jacks, center wheel locks and more.
ROUND 8 POST-RACE QUOTES:
VICTOR GONZALEZ (Winner, No. 99 Lamborghini Carolinas): “I love Canada. That’s the only thing I can say while I’m here. I had a great moment and great result, and the hard work from everyone on the team really paid off. They did an unbelievable job. This is only my second time in the series, and the car worked perfect. I never thought the all-wheel drive would be good. I never thought the Pirelli tires would hold until the end, but they did. Thanks to Robby Benton and Eddie Littlefield for giving me the opportunity, to all the guys on the crew and to Lamborghini Super Trofeo for having me here.”
COREY LEWIS (Second, No. 76 Lamborghini Boston): “Never having been here in the wet, I didn’t know what to expect driving-wise and car-wise. But the Musante team did a fantastic job setting the car up for us. The first opening laps were a lot more entertaining than I ever expected. We just kept pushing and got ourselves up to second. I handed the car off to Aaron (Povoledo), and he drove his butt off to get us back up to second. All in all, a great team effort. I love the series, and it’s a blast to drive these cars. I hope to be able to continue on and do the rest of the season, if possible. Awesome series and thank you to them for letting me be here.”
AARON POVOLEDO (Second, No. 76 Lamborghini Boston): “My stint was an absolute riot. But I do have to apologize to the entire team for probably costing us the win today. I thought we had to wait two minutes in the pits, and the rule is a minute, 30 seconds. So I came out of the pits with the gap to the leader plus those extra 30 seconds. In the end, we chased them down, but we probably should have won. I had to learn really quick what the track was like. All the other drivers had been out there for 30 minutes and knew the conditions. On one hand, I’m elated to be finishing on the podium in our first weekend here for the team from Musante/Courtney Racing, but at the same time I’m disappointed we didn’t get the win because I think we proved we deserved one. The entire team did a killer job.”
THOMAS PICHLER (Third, No. 1 Lamborghini Dallas): “The race was good, but in the last four minutes I had problems with the gearbox. I had to stay in third gear for two laps and ended in third place. This was my very first time with this car, and I needed the time to get used to it. Yesterday was good, but today I felt more comfortable with the car. It was a good weekend here with Lamborghini.”
DILLON MACHAVERN (First Amateur, No. 07): “Well, I started P1 overall but unfortunately got pushed out in Turn 8. So from there I was just humming through slower traffic. The car wasn’t as good as yesterday, being in the rain today, and we had a push that we weren’t expecting. Still P1 in Amateurs, so I’m happy with that. Overall, the weekend was great, and I really enjoyed it. Mitchum this weekend was sponsored by G1 Tour, which takes supercars like Lamborghinis and helps people realize their dreams. Seventy to 80 percent of its fleet are Lamborghinis, so it was a natural progression to partner with them. We wanted to come out here and promote them on their home soil and were able to bring home a couple of wins for them.”
DAVID WELCH (Second Amateur, No. 88 Lamborghini Vancouver): “It’s the first time I’ve raced in the rain in 16 years, and I’ve never driven one of these in the rain. I was just patient and let the race play out. GMG gave me an awesome car. I’ve got to thank Lamborghini of Vancouver for giving me the opportunity, and hopefully we’ll be in Virginia.”
LEE CARPENTIER (Third Amateur, No. 80 Lamborghini Palm Beach): “Awesome job by Mitchum Motorsports, West Palm Beach Lamborghini. Really good job. Again, really tight racing. We had really heaving rain that tapered off at the end. We were leading the race in the Amateur class for about 90 percent of the race until we got taken out in the last corner and ended up being P3 in class. It’s hard to swallow but still a good result for the team. Overall weekend, two podiums – can’t be mad about that."
