Ericsson Wins Pro/Pro-Am Race 1 After Formal, Bonduel Collide

Hampus Ericsson secured his first win in Lamborghini single-make racing by coming out on top in the Pro/Pro-Am Race 1 at the Jerez World Finals, which notably featured an opening lap collision between Danny Formal and Amaury Bonduel.

The Swedish racer, the younger brother of 2022 Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus, steered his No. 31 Target Racing Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2 to victory with a margin of 2.715 seconds over ANSA Motorsports’ Bryson Morris and Loris Cabirou.

Ericsson started the race from second place but was able to jump into the lead when polesitter Bonduel was spun into the gravel after a hit from the No. 101 Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini of Formal at the first corner.

Bonduel retired, while Formal was able to continue with a damaged car. He and co-driver Ryan Norman initially went on to finish fourth behind the No. 43 Iron Lynx entry of Edgar Maloigne and Georgi Dimitrov.

However, the No. 101 was given a ten-second penalty for the contact with Bonduel, dropping it to 14th.

In the wake of the penalty, Egor Orudzhev was promoted to fourth in the No. 57 ART-Line Lamborghini ahead of the No. 188 TR3 Racing car piloted by Ernie Francis Jr. and Giano Taurino.

Oliver Soederstroem picked up sixth in the No. 9 Target Racing machine he shares with Largim Ali, capturing the position after completing a pass around the outside of Iron Lynx driver Jesse Salmenautio at the final corner late in the race.

Salmenautio and Giorgio Amati classified seventh with Kiko Porto and Nico Jamin eight in their No. 104 ANSA Motorsports Lamborghini

Brendon Leitch and Anthony McIntosh took the Pro-Am class victory in 14th overall aboard the No. 99 Leipert Motorsport after late drama for Flying Lizard Motorsports.

The American squad looked to be heading for class honors after its Sparklefarts-liveried No. 114 Lamborghini started in the overall top ten and ran as high as second with Andy Lee at the wheel.

The car began to drop back once Bronze-rated Slade Stewart took over, but was still in a position for victory, especially when Vincenzo Sospiri Racing driver and Pro-Am rival Andrea Frassineti ended up in the Turn 11 gravel with 25 minutes to go.

However, Stewart’s hope of a class win were dashed when he was turned around by the No. 15 Real Villorba Corse Lamborghini of Benedetto Strignano at Turn 10.

This triggered a multi-car incident that also resulted in damage for Leipert’s Sebastian Balthasar and Oregon Team driver Paul Levet.

Stewart eventually dropped to fifth in class, with Wayne Taylor Racing’s Nate Stacy and Nick Persing taking second ahead in class of ASR pairing Milos Pavlovic and Alessio Ruffini.

RESULTS: Race 1 (updated)