Francis Jr., Taurino Come Out on Top in Dramatic COTA Race 1

Photo: Jamey Price/Lamborghini

A late-race mistake by Ryan Norman handed the opening Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America race of the weekend at Circuit of The Americas to Ernie Francis Jr. and Giano Taurino.

Norman, who took the race’s second restart in the lead in the No. 1 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2, ran wide into Turn 1, making way for Francis Jr.’s No. 88 TR3 Racing entry to take the top position.

Francis Jr. withstood a late-race last-lap restart to take a 2.058-second win over the No. 29 TR3 entry of Elias De La Torre after a final-lap spin by Norman that dashed his hopes of a runner-up finish.

Norman dropped down to a 15th place overall result and fifth in the Pro class after his spin.

Francis Jr. and Taurino provisionally take the Pro class points lead as a result of their third victory of the season.

Pro-Am class honors went to the No. 8 WTRAndretti Lamborghini of Nick Persing and Nate Stacy, which finished third overall in the chaotic race.

Glenn McGee and Anthony McIntosh, meanwhile, picked up a double win for WTRAndretti in their No. 69 Lamborghini in the Am class.

TR3 also claimed two wins on Saturday, with Rodrigo Vales taking the LB Cup win in the No. 34 entry.

The 50-minute race, which started under the safety car due to featuring an extra pace lap, featured three yellows, all for accidents in Turn 3.

The first came with a single-car incident for Tim Pappas, who spun his No. 54 Flying Lizard Motorsports Pro-Am class entry.

Teammate Slade Stewart had a similar off-course incident following the closure of the pit window that brought out a second yellow with less than 20 minutes to go.

Pro-Am class points leader Stewart, however, managed to get the car back to the pit lane.

Ray Shahi, meanwhile, crashed his No. 65 Forte Racing entry in the closing ten minutes that set up for the one-lap shootout to the finish once barrier repairs were made.

The second race of the weekend gets underway Sunday at 9:50 a.m. CDT with live coverage on Peacock and IMSA.tv.

RESULTS: Race 1

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