Spinelli, Taurino Take Third Consecutive Win

Photo: Jamey Price/Lamborghini

Loris Spinelli and Giano Taurino have claimed a dominant victory in the opening Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America race of the weekend at Virginia International Raceway.

The Taurino Racing by D Motorsports duo picked up their third consecutive overall win, in a race that brought early trouble for the Pro class points-leading No. 1 Prestige Performance with Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2 of Kyle Marcelli and Danny Formal.

Formal and the No. 27 Dream Racing Motorsport entry of Dario Capitanio got together at the start, sending both cars down the running order and giving clear sailing to pole-sitter Spinelli.

The Italian driver extended his gap to more than 15 seconds over new teammate Luke Berkeley in the No. 23 entry prior to the mid-race pit stops and driver changes.

Taurino then took over and drove the No. 88 Lamborghini to a 8.136-second win over the No. 50 O’Gara Motorsport/Change Racing/USRT entry of Edoardo Piscopo and Patrick Kujala, which finished second.

WTR’s Marcelli and Formal, meanwhile, rebounded to come home third overall and in the Pro class, ahead of Richard Antinucci, who drove his No. 23 Taurino with D Motorsports entry to fourth alongside race starter Berkeley.

Pro-Am class honors went to the No. 46 Precision Performance Motorsports pairing of John Casto Dubets and Bryson Lew, who provisionally take over the points lead after late-race issues for the No. 25 WTR Lamborghini of Tom Long that saw Long park the car after running second in class.

MCR Racing’s Shehan Chandrasoma picked up top class honors in Am, while the No. 13 O’Gara/Change/USRT entry of Ofir Levy and Jon Hirshberg claimed the LB Cup class win in a late-race battle.

Series debutant Anthony McIntosh came home six-tenths behind in second, in a class that saw multiple spins and incidents throughout the 50-minute contest, which ran caution-free.

Race 2 is scheduled to get underway Sunday at 11:35 a.m. ET 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