Formal, Norman Win Super Trofeo Race 1 at Watkins Glen

Danny Formal and Ryan Norman hung on to take victory in the opening race of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America weekend at Watkins Glen International after surviving strong pressure from Ernie Francis Jr. behind.

The Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti duo converted pole position to a win after Formal survived an early restart and a hard charge from the TR3 Racing driver to take the checkered flag under yellow flag conditions after 50 minutes.

Formal led the 37-car field to green in his No. 1 Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2 after an extra formation lap was ordered to help drivers get their Hankook tires up to the optimal operating temperature.

Norman was able to maintain his teammate’s advantage at the head of the field, despite multiple attempts from Francis Jr. aboard the No. 88 TR3 Racing machine he shares with Giano Taurino before the second of two cautions fell.

The Pro-Am No. 21 TPC Racing entry of Nikko Reger and Shehan Chandrasoma completed the overall podium after multiple Pro class contenders fell by the wayside.

The TPC duo took the class win after a 0.537-second post-race time penalty given to Flying Lizard Motorsports’ Slade Stewart and Andy Lee for a short pit stop relegated the No. 14 pairing to fourth, despite Stewart taking the checkered flag first in Pro-Am.

Forty7 Motorsports’ Joel Miller was subsequently promoted to second in class and fourth overall with Paul Nemschoff, while Jeroen Bleekemolen completed the class podium and the overall top-five for Flying Lizard.

Pro-Am pole-sitter Tom Capizzi lost positions after a brush with the barriers amidst a battle for position after initially dropping down the order during the mandatory round of pit stops.

Forte Racing’s Patrick Liddy came home third in Pro, despite finishing 15th overall and serving a stop-and-go penalty for incident responsibility early in the race.

Liddy benefitted from ANSA’s Loris Cabirou and Kiko Porto suffering separate on-track technical issues mid-way though the running.

Cabirou went wide at Turn 1 while running third overall and limped his No. 30 ANSA Lamborghini back to pit lane with an apparent technical issue just as the race’s mandatory ten-minute pit stop window opened.

Just prior, stablemate Porto suddenly lost ground in his Pro class points-leading No. 4 entry, dropping down the order before retiring behind the wall just as the pit window closed.

The Am class saw Dominic Starkweather emerge victorious for Precision Performance Motorsports after drive-through penalties were assessed to WTRAndretti’s Anthony McIntosh and Alliance Racing’s Cole Kleck, dropping both drivers out of contention for the class win.

Meanwhile, Nick Groat inherited the LB Cup win for One Motorsports after Mark Brummond had 1.578 seconds added to his race time for a short stop.

The race fell under caution before the completion of the opening lap after a three-car incident sparked by contact from an attempted move by Liddy resulted in Jake Walker’s No. 77 Forty7 Motorsports and Scott Huffaker’s World Speed Lamborghinis hitting the Turn 6 tire barrier.

Huffaker retired while Walker was able to rejoin the order, while Liddy was handed a stop-and-go penalty for incident responsibility.

A late-race yellow for a stricken Alexandre Lima ended the race behind the safety car.

The driver of the No. 7 ANSA machine retired from the sharp end of the LB Cup class field following contact with the barriers at the bus stop chicane, after teammate David Cardenas had led the class for the entirety of his stint.

Forte Racing’s Jon Hirshberg and TR3’s Rodrigo Vales both collected ten-second post-race time penalties for jumping the start. Rocky T. Bolduc also had ten-seconds added to his race time for lining up in the wrong column when the green flag fell.

The green flag drops for Race 2 at 4:55 p.m. EDT on Saturday with live coverage on Peacock and IMSA.tv.

RESULTS: Race 1