Sofronas: “Lamborghini ST is a Great Opportunity to do Spec Racing”

Photo: Jamey Price/Lamborghini

While having made its return to Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo North America competition last weekend at Virginia International Raceway, GMG Racing is planning further expansion in the series, while also evaluating GT3 options for 2016.

The Santa Ana., Calif.-based organization, which won the inaugural Am class championship in 2013, plans to field a second Huracán LP 620-2 beginning with September’s round at Circuit of The Americas, with as many as three full-season entries next year.

According to team principal James Sofronas, the burgeoning single-make championship, which featured a record grid at VIR, offers an ideal platform for GMG’s customer base.

“Lamborghini Super Trofeo is a great opportunity to do spec racing,” Sofronas told Sportscar365.

“It’s all about driver, car and setup and focusing on getting them seat time and comfortable but then having amazing hospitality, great support from Lamborghini and having the lifestyle which they really like as well.

“For us, we’re working close with Lamborghini Newport Beach. They’re starting to funnel all of their enthusiasts towards GMG, which we’re two miles down the road. Then we develop these drivers and when they’re ready, we want to put them in this series.”

Jeffrey Cheng and Rob Phillips are GMG’s two latest customers, with Cheng having made a successful podium debut alongside former open-wheel ace Matt Halliday at VIR and Phillips slated to take part in the upcoming COTA weekend.

Sofronas, who has built one of southern California’s leading service facilities for European high-performance and exotic cars, said he’s seen an increase in Lamborghini interest since the launch of the Huracán LP 610-4 last year.

“Two of my guys who want to run in the series own Huracán [road cars],” he said. “It’s the hot car on the market today, so there’s a natural progression to go [racing].

“We’re seeing a lot of street cars come into our shop and we’re modifying them… Suspension, exhaust, software, carbon bodywork, aero adds… We’re doing a lot with the street car customer and they’re excited about the brand.”

With the impending North American debut of the Huracán GT3, Sofronas said he’s been in talks with the Italian manufacturer for possible customer programs for the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and Pirelli World Challenge.

“We’ve had some interest from customers and it would be a natural progression to go into [WeatherTech Championship] because we’ll be sharing a half-dozen weekends,” he said.

“My program is customer-driven. If they want to pursue it and it fits with my business plans and it makes sense for the branding and marketing of the street tuning business, which is the driving force of GMG, we’ll definitely consider it.

“This is the silly season and we’re already talking about next year. I would say Lamborghini is on the radar for sure, as is our past manufacturer relationships with Porsche and Audi.”

Sofronas said he’s targeting up to a four-car entry in World Challenge next year, but said their GT3 effort would likely be focused on a single manufacturer.

The team had been known for its recent success with Audi, having fielded up to four R8 LMS ultras in World Challenge competition in 2014, and expanding to a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car in the GT Cup presented by MOMO class for Alec Udell this year.

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