Basz, Michelotto World Champions after Second Win

Karol Basz and Mattia Michelotto completed their domination of the Lamborghini World Final by winning Sunday’s Pro/Pro-Am race to become the manufacturer’s 2021 global champions.

The drivers of the No. 6 Vincenzo Sospiri Racing Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO triumphed in both legs of the two-part World Final at Misano to come away with the highest aggregate score in the top Pro class.

The World Final combined the grids of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe and North America regional championships, which held their separate season finales at the Italian circuit earlier in the weekend.

After dominating Saturday evening’s 50-minute race in dark conditions, Basz and Michelotto took a commanding lights-to-flag Race 2 victory from pole position.

The pair only contested the World Final together, after Basz ran the European season alongside Andrzej Lewandowski while Michelotto teamed up with Michael Doerrbecker.

Michelotto finished the second Pro/Pro-Am race 10.4 seconds ahead of triple North American champion Richard Antinucci who took second in both World Final races to earn the same position in the aggregate rankings.

Despite a 1.263-second time penalty for undercutting the minimum pit stop time, Michelotto and Basz were able to capture the title for Vincenzo Sospiri’s team.

Stevan McAleer held off Antinucci’s Dream Racing Motorsport teammate Dario Capitanio and Wayne Taylor Racing’s Kyle Marcelli in the closing stages to seal third alongside his Change Racing co-driver Jeroen Mul who started Race 2 from 13th on the grid.

Basz controlled proceedings at the start, leading away from Antinucci who overtook Capitanio into the first right-hander.

An early safety car period for an opening-lap incident at Turn 13 that eliminated Max Weering, Kikko Galbiati and Super Trofeo Europe champion Kevin Gilardoni prevented Basz from drawing clear of Antinucci.

However, the Polish driver was able to build up an advantage over the remaining stint time once the field returned to racing conditions with 11 minutes of the 50 completed.

Basz stood three seconds ahead of Antinucci, who needed to beat the VSR Lamborghini, when the pit window opened after 20 minutes.

Antinucci and Capitanio, running third ahead of Pro-Am leader Loris Spinelli, pitted earlier than the other front-runners.

When the pit stops shook out, Michelotto held a 6.5-second edge over Antinucci that would increase by four seconds over the course of the second stint.

After Mul climbed seven positions to sixth in the opening stanza, McAleer moved ahead of both Capitanio and Marcelli during the pit window to take fourth.

The U.S-based Scot then overtook Spinelli’s co-driver Claudinei Senhoreti to assume the final podium spot, despite pressure from his fellow North America series competitors.

Marcelli ultimately ceded fifth to Glenn van Berlo in the Target Racing Lamborghini started by Raul Guzman.

Jacob Eidson and reigning Am class champion Steven Aghakhani took seventh overall for US RaceTronics, ahead of Leipert Motorsport’s Sebastian Balthasar and Seb Morris.

Brandon Gdovic and Bryan Ortiz clinched the Pro-Am world title by finishing second in an exciting class contest behind the Pro field.

Dan Wells and Oscar Lee took the win, but the combination of Gdovic and Ortiz’s Race 1 victory and a podium in Race 2 gave the 2021 North America Pro-Am champions the edge in the aggregate scores.

They finished on a total of 27 points, three points more than Wells and Lee who were in turn a single point clear of Spinelli and Senhoreti.

Spinelli gave Senhoreti an advantage of around 10 seconds in the opening stint, but an inspired charge from Wells enabled the No. 51 Leipert Motorsport car to climb past.

Gdovic/Ortiz and Spinelli/Senhoreti were tied on points when Wells overtook Senhoreti, with the former pairing poised to clinch the global championship on countback. 

However, Gdovic ensured that he established a definitive World Final-winning points margin by muscling past the Italian flag-liveried MCR Racing machine at the end.

RESULTS: Pro/Pro-Am Race 2 / Aggregate Results