Taurino, Francis Jr. Extend Points Lead With Race 2 Win at IMS

Giano Taurino and Ernie Francis Jr. extend their Pro class championship points lead with victory in the second Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America race of the weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Francis Jr. made up two positions at the start in his No. 88 TR3 Racing Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2 to pressure pole-sitter Joel Miller, who led the opening half of the race in his Pro-Am class No. 66 Forty7 Motorsports machine.

The TR3 driver assumed the lead and took his Lamborghini to a 2.772-second victory over ANSA Motorsports’ Kiko Porto after Miller lost time in the pits handing the car over to co-driver AJ Muss.

Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti’s Danny Formal and Ryan Norman stood on the final step of the podium, with Scott Huffaker of World Speed finishing fourth.

Luke Berkeley made a daring pass on Muss in his No. 64 MLT Motorsports Lamborghini on the final lap claim victory in Pro-Am and finish fifth overall after closing in on the Forty7 driver in the closing stages.

The Pro-Am class No. 9 Precision Performance Motorsports machine of Tyler Hoffman missed the mandatory ten-minute pit stop window, resulting in a drive-through penalty, taking the car out of contention for a class win.

WTRAndretti’s Glenn McGee and Anthony McIntosh took a comfortable win in Am after leading from start to finish.

In LB Cup, Rodrigo Vales won after making his way to the lead past pole-sitter Nick Groat to bring the No. 34 TR3 Racing entry at the start.

Chaos in pit lane cost multiple contenders time during their stops when the No. 29 Am class TR3 entry of Martin Fuentes held up stablemate Francis Jr. by stalling his Lamborghini while exiting his pit box.

As Fuentes got going again, he was hit by the Formal’s WTRAndretti who had already committed to entering his pit stall just ahead.

Race 1 winner, Bryson Morris suddenly lost pace with just over half and hour remaining, pulling his No. 30 ANSA machine into the pits to retire the car.

Jake Walker, meanwhile, collected a ten-second post-race penalty in his No. 77 Forty7 machine for changing lanes at the start while running second in Pro and third overall in the first half of the race.

Seth Lucas’ No. 24 Pro class ANSA entry suffering an apparent mechanical failure, forcing the Ohio native to retire his Lamborghini for the second race in a row.

This weekend’s action at The Brickyard serve as the final U.S.-based rounds before the North American championship heads to Jerez de la Frontera for the final two races of the season at the World Finals.

RESULTS: Race 2