Salonen, Tuomaala Take First Win in Sole Barcelona Race

Leipert Motorsport’s Matias Salonen and Henri Tuomaala claimed their maiden Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe victory in a chaotic sole race at Barcelona on Sunday, after wet weather forced the opener to be canceled.

Uniq Racing’s Jerzy Spinkiewicz crossed the line first in a safety car affected race, however a 20-second post-race penalty for a short pit stop meant the all-Finnish crew of Salonen and Tuomaala came out on top.

DL Racing’s Simone Iaquinta had secured pole and he maintained the lead at the start of the race, which was soon neutralized behind the safety car following a multi-car incident.

Iaquinta continued to lead upon the restart, with Jonathan Cecotto (Invictus Corse) heading a quartet of Pro-Am class cars running in the top-five.

The leader was one of the last to make a mandatory stop, eventually handing over to Kevin Gilardoni, who was able to remain comfortably ahead.

But the race then turned on its head when the safety car was deployed again after a collision between Nathanael Berreby (Rexal Villorba Corse) and Euan Hankey (VSR) at the first corner.

This wiped out Gilardoni’s advantage and he was immediately under pressure from Spinkiewicz when racing resumed with ten minutes left.

It was clear that Gilardoni was struggling with his DL machine as he twice went off track and this seemingly handed Spinkiewicz the victory.

But his subsequent pit stop penalty dropped him to eighth and promoted Salonen and Tuomaala to a landmark first success, with Silas Loven Rytter and Patrik Fraboni — who had scored an extra point by snaring pole for the axed Race 1 — taking second for Oregon Team.

Gilardoni nursed his car home in third to ensure that he and Iaquinta head into the Monza finale later this month with a one-point lead over Rytter and Fraboni.

The Pro-Am battle went right down to the wire as Oregon’s Pietro Perolini crossed the line first after a late lunge on Bronislav Formanek at turn 10 on the final lap.

Officials, however, handed Perolini a one-second penalty that reversed the order, giving Formanek and Anthony Pretorius (Micanek Motorsport) the victory.

Renaud Kuppens and Jakub Knoll made it two class wins for the Czech squad in Am, while Peder Demant M­­oller and Nina Ostergaard (DC Motorsport) claimed the win in Lamborghini Cup.

The season will now conclude at Monza on Oct. 21-23 as part of the Lamborghini World Finals event.