New Hankook Tire Set for U.S. Debut in Watkins Glen

It’s hard to believe, but the third stop of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America campaign at Watkins Glen International this weekend marks the halfway point of the season for Rounds 5 and 6 of the 12-race schedule. Teams have a new Hankook tire they’ll be racing this weekend as the championship battles begin to take shape at the 3.4-road course in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York.

The North American championship debuts the new Hankook L63H tire this race, following the tire’s debut in Europe at Paul Ricard earlier this year.

Teams had the opportunity to test the new tire at official late May Lamborghini test days and other subsequent private testing.

Enhanced durability should be in play with teams indicating rear tires that are more compliant and offering better grip compared to the predecessors.

That said, while most teams have tested, Watkins Glen will be the first full weekend for the 37-car field (nine Pro, nine Pro-Am, ten Am, nine LB Cup) to get on top of the new tire.

In 2025, Wayne Taylor Racing (four Pro, two Pro-Am, three Am), Rearden Racing (one Pro-Am), Flying Lizard Motorsports (one Pro-Am), Precision Performance Motorsports (one Am), One Motorsports (three LB Cup) and MLT Motorsports (one Am) have visited victory lane across the four classes and four races.

WTR enjoyed a perfect start to the season at Sebring. Drivers Danny Formal and Hampus Ericsson swept the Sebring weekend in their No. 1 Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2 with both poles and both race wins. Both podiums were identical with the No. 29 TR3 entry (Will Bamber, Elias de la Torre IV) and No. 22 World Speed Lamborghini (Scott Huffaker, Jaden Conwright) finishing second and third in both races.

The team achieved its second straight weekend sweep in Pro in Monterey, but with its other Pro class entry. Nick Persing, in the No. 8 Lamborghini, took the top spot in Saturday’s first race when the Formal/Ericsson car slowed with mechanical issues.

Then Persing followed it up on Sunday with a dramatic win in a photo finish by just 0.006 seconds over Formal. In Race 1, RAFA Racing scored its first Pro podium of 2025 with Cameron Lawrence and Werner Neugebauer sharing the No. 68 Huracan ahead of the No. 22 World Speed entry of Huffaker and Conwright. Behind the WTR pair is Race 2, Lamborghini Squadra Corse Young Driver Enzo Geraci and Colin Queen finished third in their No. 4 ANSA Motorsports Lamborghini.

With the four combined wins, WTR’s two cars hold the top two spots in the championship. The Ericsson/Formal pairing leads Persing by four points, 48-44.

Also of note, Ernie Francis Jr., who won four Pro races in 2024 with TR3 Racing, makes his series return this weekend alongside Luke Berkeley in the No. 28 Alliance Racing Lamborghini. Berkeley steps up from Pro-Am to Pro this race.

Pro-Am was the only class to split its wins between two teams at Sebring. WTR’s pair of Brendon Leitch and Anthony McIntosh (No. 69 car) won Round 1 while Rearden Racing’s Darius Trinka and Tadas Karlinskas (No. 33 Lamborghini) won Round 2.

In Monterey, Andy Lee and Slade Stewart broke through in Round 3 in the No. 14 Flying Lizard Motorsports Lamborghini while Leitch and McIntosh scored their second win of 2025 in the No. 69 entry in Round 4.

Trinka and Karlinskas have switched teams for a second straight race; after racing in Monterey with Kaizen Autosport, they’ll now join the MLT Motorsports team in Watkins Glen aboard the No. 11 Lamborghini.

Karlinskas and Trinka sit atop Pro-Am by three points, 38-35 over McIntosh and Leitch.

This class’ top four pairings are separated by only seven points heading to Watkins Glen, so either of these two or potentially Marc Miller and Paul Nemschoff (No. 41 Flying Lizard Motorsports Lamborghini) or Conrad Geis and Jason Hart (No. 67 TR3 Racing entry) could move into the lead coming out of the Watkins Glen weekend.

As in Pro, WTR opened Am with a weekend sweep in Sebring. Glenn McGee and Graham Doyle shared the spoils in the No. 10 Huracán. David Staab stopped the WTR win streak in Am with a win in Monterey’s Round 3 in his No. 48 Precision Performance Motorsports Huracán. McGee and Doyle reclaimed the top spot in Round 4 in their No. 10 Lamborghini.

McGee and Doyle lead the Am class by seven points, 52-45, over Staab. The all-female lineup of Jem Hepworth and Lindsay Brewer are third in points courtesy of two podium finishes in their No. 2 RAFA Racing Lamborghini.

One Motorsports’ Nick Groat opened his LB Cup championship defense with a pair of wins in Sebring in his No. 57 entry. Groat added a third win to kick off the Monterey weekend, while in Round 4, Adrian Kunzle took the top spot in his No. 42 MLT Motorsports machine.

Groat has the biggest championship lead among the four classes thus far, a ten-point gap in LB Cup of 49-39 over Mark Brummond (No. 52 Forty7 Motorsports Lamborghini).

Teams have two 45-minute practice sessions Thursday before qualifying Friday morning. Races are at 3:00 p.m. EST Friday and 4:10 p.m. ET Saturday, streaming on Peacock, IMSA.TV, the IMSA Official YouTube channel and Lamborghini Squadra Corse YouTube channel.