COTA Weekend Notebook

Photo: Jamey Price/Lamborghini

***Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America has returned to Circuit of The Americas for the first time since 2017, when it was part of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship weekend at the Texan circuit. The 2017 event also served as the opening round of the season.

***2021 marks the ninth season for the single-make series in North America, which had its debut race at Lime Rock Park in 2013.

***All 30 cars taking part in this weekend’s record-breaking entry lined up Friday morning for a group photo on the front-stretch (pictured above). The series is part of the inaugural EcoPark Texas Grand Prix NASCAR weekend at the circuit.

***The defending championship-winning entry from Change Racing is carrying primary sponsorship from Bud Light. 2020 Pro class champion Madison Snow is joined by Stevan McAleer in the No. 16 Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo Evo.

***In addition to the confirmation of Nelson Piquet Jr. and Sergio Jimenez in the No. 44 ANSA Motorsports entry, there have been several other changes to the entry list since its initial release last week. 

***The Pro-Am class grows to six entries with the No. 53 Wayne Taylor Racing entry of Jordan Missig being moved from LB Cup. Victor Gomez, meanwhile, has been confirmed in the No. 29 Change Racing Lamborghini.

***Gomez steps up to Pro-Am class competition after winning all ten races and the Am class title last year.

***Former series entrant O’Gara Motorsport has returned in a partnership with fellow California-based outfit US RaceTronics. O’Gara had previously fielded multiple entries, as well as a Lamborghini Huracan GT3 in the 2016 Rolex 24 at Daytona prior to filing for bankruptcy protection.

***O’Gara/USRT has a total of four entries, including the No. 6 car of Steven Aghakhani and Jacob Eidson, who finished runner-up in the Pro class championship last year by three points to Snow. Aghakhani and Eidson led the ten-race season with four wins and six poles.

“The way we look at it, last year is history in the books right now,” Aghakhani said. “We have done an extreme amount of testing and practicing to the point where our goal is to drive and not look in the mirrors at what is going on behind us or what has happened in the past. We are going to drive forward, drive the track and work hard to get the results we know we are capable of achieving.”

***Max Weering, who won the opening round of Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe at Monza with Johan Kraan Motorsports, is set to pull double duty between both championships this year. The 20-year-old Dutchman is driving for MCR Racing in North America, which is one of four new teams to the series.

***Another driver with Super Trofeo Europe experience, Loris Spinelli, makes his North America return in the No. 51 Taurino Racing entry. Spinelli was last on the North America grid in 2018, winning the Pro-Am title with P1 Motorsports.

***Scott Andrews, who was part of Riley Motorsports’ LMP3 class-winning effort in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, is making his Super Trofeo debut alongside LMP2 ace Nico Jamin in the No. 13 ANSA Lamborghini.

***There have been no major changes to the technical or sporting regulations this year, which Automobili Lamborghini America motorsport senior manager Chris Ward believes has been “part of the success” of the championship’s record car count in North America. 

***The only change of note is the allowance of single-driver lineups in Pro-Am. Previously, two-driver pairings had been required.

***As was the case last year, all solo drivers competing will be given a 3-second pit stop time penalty that’s aimed to compensate for the advantage of knowing current track conditions over a co-driver that would be getting into the car fresh.

***The pit stop delta this weekend at COTA is 91 seconds for two-driver lineups and 94 seconds for single drivers. 

***Lamborghini is unveiling a “refreshed” hospitality unit this weekend, which will be on-site at all five North America rounds this year. COVID restrictions impacted the level of hospitality offered during the shortened 2020 season.

***While featuring a record 30-car entry this weekend, Ward told Sportscar365 that there could be a few more entries arriving later in the season. It includes the potential series debut of CrowdStrike chairman Gerhard Watzinger, who is currently in a testing program with Performance Tech Motorsports.

***Lamborghini unveiled plans this week to hybridize all of its production cars by 2024 as part of the “Direzione Cor Tauri” (Towards Cor Tauri) roadmap to decarbonization all models and of the Sant’Agata Bolognese site based on a “holistic approach” to its environmental sustainability strategy.

***Automobili Lamborghini President and CEO Stephan Winkelmann presented the company’s targets to reduce CO2 emissions by 50 percent by the beginning of 2025, with its first fully-electric model targeted for the second half of this decade.

***Watch all of the race action from this weekend’s season-opening rounds on Lamborghini.com. Qualifying for both races takes place at 8 a.m. ET on Saturday. Race 1 starts at 7 p.m. ET Saturday, with Race 2 going green at 12:10 p.m. ET Sunday. A weekend recap airs June 2 at 2 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John