Anticipation Builds Ahead of Lamborghini Huracán U.S. Debut

This weekend’s opening round of the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo North America series at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca serves a dual purpose.

It’s the kickoff to the series’ latest season, and it also marks the U.S. debut of the new Lamborghini Huracán LP 620-2 in the one-make championship.

While the Lamborghini Gallardo LP 570-4 Super Trofeo was the standard car for a while, Lamborghini is confident the new car is an all-around better package.

Drivers in the paddock have hailed the stability and all-around performance enhancements.

Lamborghini Head of Motorsport Giorgio Sanna noted that improving the Huracán was not the only task compared to the Gallardo, but also being able to build a whole new fleet of cars in a compressed time frame was also a challenge.

“We are very satisfied first of all,” Sanna told Sportscar365. “The challenge was to produce all the cars and start in three different regions, for a new season.

“We started in Monza two weeks ago. For us it was very important to start in (Mazda Raceway) Laguna Seca, because it is one of the most iconic racetracks in the world.”

The car count is north of 20 this weekend, with 21 set to race after 22 were listed on the initial entry list. More are expected as the year progresses to join the mix of primarily Huracáns, but also a handful of Gallardos still running.

“We are happy to be here with all the cars present on the grid,” Sanna said. “We have increased the number of cars on the grid compared to last year. We have 21 this weekend compared to 18, which was the maximum last year.

“I’m confident to arrive at over 25 cars during the season. We are growing in all the three regions. We have a lot of demand for the new Huracán Super Trofeo.”

Sanna relayed the driver and customer feedback he has received about the new car.

“It’s a big improvement,” he said. “Consider the internal performance; the car is amazing.

“Immediately in the first session, we ran a second and a half faster compared to the pole position of GTD last year in Laguna Seca (Richard Antinucci clocked in this morning at 1:24.384; Spencer Pumpelly took the 2014 GTD pole at 1:26.695).”

Corey Lewis, who will join two-time defending team champion Change Racing this year, noted the enhancements year-on-year from a driving perspective.

“It’s exciting to finally go racing in the Lamborghini Huracán this weekend,” said Lewis, who will drive the No. 29 Monster Energy-backed Lamborghini. “We had a productive test last week and learned a lot about our new car. I think that is going to be a very competitive and fun series.

“There are a lot of good drivers and teams for sure. But, we feel good with where we are at in the process. Being with a team like Change Racing with their championship experience is something that I believe will be valuable, especially in this first weekend for the 2015 season.”