Portimao Weekend Notebook

***BDR Competition’s Amaury Bonduel took overall victory in the opening Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe of the weekend ahead of the Target Racing duo of Marzio Moretti and Milan Teekens. Oregon Team pairing Lewis Williamson and Massimo Ciglia completed the overall podium, securing the Pro-Am title in the process. Andrzej Lewandowski took class victory in the Am class.

***Loris Spinelli and Max Weering closed off their title-winning campaign in style by winning Race 2, beating out the pole-sitting Iron Dames duo Doriane Pin and Michelle Gatting. Karol Basz and Bronek Formanek won Pro-Am after a late spin for Milane Petelet. Andrzej Lewandowski swept the weekend in Am and secured the class championship, with Francois and Benoit Semoulin victorious in the LB Cup class.

***Gerard van der Horst sealed the LB Cup title during Race 2, making him a four-time champion after previously winning the championship from 2016-18. The Dutchman won the title in his first full season back in the series since an accident at Barcelona in 2020.

***Pin made history on Thursday with pole position during Super Trofeo Europe Qualifying 2. The French racer becomes the first female driver in series’ history to take overall pole.

***Lamborghini’s annual end-of-season event has gone through a name change compared to previous years. It has now been named the Grand Finals, where it was known as the ‘World Finals’ for all previous editions. A Lamborghini spokesperson told Sportscar365 that the name change is due to the absence of the Asian series, which means the Super Trofeo series can not be considered a world championship.

***With Super Trofeo Asia series set to return next year after a three-year hiatus, it leaves the door open for the event to potentially revert to the World Finals moniker in 2023.

***Portimao is the 49th different circuit to host Lamborghini’s single-make series since the championship was introduced in 2009.

***Seven circuits preceded the Mediterranean venue as host for the Grand Finals. Last year’s edition was held at Misano, which followed Jerez, Vallelunga, Imola, Valencia, Sebring and Sepang.

***The 2022 edition of the event is the first for the EVO2 variant of Lamborghini’s Huracan Super Trofeo platform. The first EVO specification was raced at last year’s Misano event, after which the EVO2 was introduced for the current season.

***All competing cars were gathered for a pre-event photo shoot on Portimao’s main straight on Wednesday (pictured above), with the Iron Dames car for Michelle Gatting and Pin front and center flanked by the championship-winning Pro cars from Wayne Taylor Racing (North America) and Bonaldi Motorsport (Europe).

***Bonaldi driver Spinelli, who was crowned European Pro champion alongside Max Weering at Barcelona, is pulling double duty at the event, also driving the No. 188 Taurino Racing by D Motorsports entry in the North American races.

*** When asked which car he will be driving in the Grand Finals races, Spinelli told Sportscar365: “Unfortunately, I cannot drive both cars. I already have an agreement with Max, so I keep going with him for the Grand Finals.”

*** Spinelli and Weering dominated the European season this year, winning nine races en route to the Pro class title. The Italian expressed a hope that the duo can continue to team up together next year, regardless of which championship.

***Spinelli said: “I would like to continue with him. I don’t know his program or my program yet for 2023, but if we have the opportunity to do a championship in GT3 or even to continue in Super Trofeo, for me it’s good.”

***One other Pro class driver is competing in both series: Edoardo Liberati teams with Martin Ryba at Brutal Fish Racing Team in Super Trofeo Europe, while he shares the North America-entered No. 127 Dream Racing car with Dario Capitanio. The Italian will remain with his compatriot for the Grand Finals.

***Iron Lynx has brought its own hospitality unit to the circuit. The white makeshift structure, which was previously seen at FIA World Endurance Championship and Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS events, has been placed next to Lamborghini’s VIP hospitality building not far from the paddock entrance.

***Former motorcycle racer Dani Pedrosa returns to the cockpit of the No. 10 Rexal FFF Racing Team car this weekend to complete his three-race program with Antonin Borga. Pedrosa, a former winner of the Portuguese Grand Prix in MotoGP, has not competed at Portimao previously. This is in contrast to co-driver Borga. The 35-year-old has raced here in a variety of series, including the European Le Mans Series, Michelin Le Mans Cup and Hankook 24H Series.

***Pedrosa told Lamborghini’s official broadcast: “For sure it’s very different. Driving the car is very different, also the procedure for the race start, how you communicate for the box and all the rules with safety cars and so on. Every time it’s more common for me, but it is still very new.”

***Flying Lizard Motorsports has brought its fan-favorite, Slade Stewart-driven ‘Sparklefarts’ car to Portimao as part of its two-car effort. The team recently announced a giveaway contest of a kids’ car to mark the occasion.

***Many drivers coming over from the North America series are visiting Portimao for the first time, including the likes of Wayne Taylor Racing’s Kyle Marcelli. Marcelli’s co-driver, Danny Formal, has previously visited Portimao. The Costa Rican contested the 2012 Rotax Max Grand Finals when he was still in karts, a race that was won by recently crowned European Le Mans Series LMP2 Pro/Am champion Charlie Eastwood.

***Formal can become the first-ever Costa Rican Lamborghini Super Trofeo world champion, should he come out on top this weekend. WTR last won the title in 2017 with Trent Hindman and Riccardo Agostini.

***Ashton Harrison contested her last Super Trofeo North America races with Wayne Taylor Racing on Friday, with the American driver not returning to the series next year. When asked by Sportscar365 about her 2023 plans, Harrison declined to comment. She won the Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS Pro-Am class title this year in an Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 and also took part in a one-off appearance at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in March with the Acura.

***Lamborghini factory drivers Andrea Caldarelli, Mirko Bortolotti and Sandy Mitchell are all present at the event, as is Jordan Pepper. Pepper has been active as a driver coach for Pedrosa this season. Additionally, IMSA President John Doonan is also attending, similarly to last year’s edition at Misano.

***Lamborghini has brought no less than 14 examples of its Essenza SCV12 to the event for customers, complete with dedicated support trucks and garage spaces. The track-only hypercar also recently appeared during GT1 Sports Club by Curbstone sessions at the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup finale at Barcelona.

***With all regular championship rounds for both Europe and North America completed, the focus now turns to the Grand Finals races on Saturday and Sunday featuring a combined grid from both regions. Like last year, champions will be decided based on cumulative points across the weekend using the usual Super Trofeo distribution system.

***Races are split between Pro/Pro-Am and Am/LB Cup. The first Am/LB Cup contest starts on Saturday at 3:40 p.m. CEST (8:40 a.m. ET), followed by the Pro/Pro-Am contest at 5:05 p.m. CEST (10:05 a.m. ET).

***Lamborghini Palm Beach is hosting a Brunch and Super Trofeo Livestream event on Saturday. The Florida-based dealership is represented on the North American grid by six cars (two from Taurino Racing by D Motorsports, three from Precision Performance Motorsports and one from MCR Racing).

***Sunday will then see the conclusion of the event with another set of races to crown the Super Trofeo world champions with Am/LB Cup at 1 p.m. CEST (6 a.m. ET) and the Pro/Pro-Am conclusion starting at 3:50 p.m. CEST (8:50 a.m. ET). Races will be streamed live on the official Lamborghini Squadra Corse YouTube channel, with commentary from David Addison.