The fourth season of the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo North America series kicks off this weekend, with new drivers and teams joining the world’s fastest single-make championship.
Sportscar365 caught up with Head of Lamborghini Motorsport, Giorgio Sanna, to get his thoughts on the growth of Super Trofeo in North America, as well as explore the Italian manufacturer’s new sports car ladder system on the continent.
What are some of the changes for the 2016 Super Trofeo North America season?
“This year, for the first time, we don’t have the Gallardo on the track. So we will be focused only on the Huracan Super Trofeo.
“We have the same three categories we had last year: Pro, Pro-Am and Am, plus the addition of the Lamborghini Cup, which is dedicated to beginner drivers with less experience.
“Those drivers can have the support from the factory side in terms of coaching with our drivers with the Lamborghini Corso Pilota that’s based in Las Vegas, where we can guarantee the right training to these new drivers.
“The target, like last season, is to increase step by step, race by race, the number of cars on the grid.”
What was the reason to phase-out the Gallardo?
“It was part of the strategy. In the end, we only had five or six cars last year.
“All the drivers and teams were interested to move forward with the Huracan Super Trofeo, so for us it was clear that to maintain an old car on the grid also means to have a dedicated logistics assistance and spare parts for this car that today makes no sense.
“We have to look into the future and for this reason, we’re looking to have only Huracans on the grid.”
What are your thoughts on the addition of the new street race in Boston?
“It will the first [street race for] America. But last year we did the Kuala Lumpur street race [in Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo Asia], which was a big success.
“We’re really happy to have another street race in our schedule in Boston.
“Believe me, the [sight] of seeing our Huracan Super Trofeos running in the middle of the city is wonderful. It was astonishing in Kuala Lumpur.”
What are the benefits of your partnership with IMSA, which continues to sanction the series?
“Our partnership with IMSA is giving us a lot of benefits with the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo, and also with the GT3.
“In the IMSA paddock, there’s a lot of interest to Lamborghini with our products.”
Do you think Super Trofeo provides a good stepping stone for teams and drivers to move into GT3/GTD?
“Absolutely, yes. If we look today, we have Change Racing and Dream Racing that also compete in Super Trofeo. But the basic example is in Europe, where we have several teams who started in Super Trofeo and have grown up into GT3.
“This is a good strategy that the teams share with us. It’s also a good strategy for the drivers.
“Because the positive characteristic of the Huracan Super Trofeo is we offer a car for a one-make series with the same technical features of the GT3.
“So the same drivers can start to learn the tracks and start to make experience with a car that’s not so far from the GT3 car and make their life easy for teams and drivers when they decide to go up to GT3. The gap is smaller than in the past.”