Target Racing Sweeps Nürburgring Weekend

Target Racing completed a weekend sweep during the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe round at the Nürburgring, with the team’s two Pro entries picking up an overall victory each.

Guido Luchetti, driving solo aboard the No. 10 Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2, overcame a five-second penalty on Saturday to claim his maiden victory in the series, while a decision to start on slicks in damp conditions allowed Patrik Fraboni and Giacomo Pedrini to lead a 1-2 for the team on Sunday.

Luchetti started Saturday’s opening contest from second place, only behind Georgi Dimitrov’s Pro-Am entered No. 13 CMR machine.

The Italian remained there until he was able to overtake Dimitrov’s newly installed co-driver Stephan Guerin after the pitstops.

However, with lapped cars in the way just before the pitstops, both the No. 10 and No. 13 machine had dropped behind the No. 72 DL Racing Lamborghini driven by Diego Locanto.

After dispatching Guerin, Luchetti set off in pursuit of Locanto and attempted to overtake him at Turn 8, only to make contact and receive a five-second penalty.

Luchetti was subsequently able to pull a large enough gap over the chasing pack to still claim victory, which marked his first win in both the series as well as any kind of motorsport, having debuted in Italian F4 just two years ago.

The opening weekend of the contest came to a premature end as a result of a red flag, which came after a collision between Locanto and the No. 99 Leipert Motorsport Lamborghini of Silas Rytter in the closing stages.

Enzo Geraci and Josef Knopp finished second aboard the No. 36 Oregon Team Lamborghini, with Rexal Villorba Corse driver Benedetto Strignano completing the podium.

In the Pro-Am ranks, Dimitrov and Guerin saw their strong run from the first half of the season, which had seen them win five out of six races, come to an end when Guerin was left in the gravel after contact from BDR Competition’s Kikko Galbiati.

Instead, the No. 11 Micanek Motorsport Lamborghini of Stefan Rosina and Bronislav Formanek claimed the class victory upon their return to the series.

Massimo Ciglia and Pietro Perolini took their No. 61 Oregon Team car to victory in the Am category, while Rexal Villorba Corse celebrated a 1-2 in LB Cup as Karim Ojjeh led home Claude-Yves Gosselin.

The second and final race of the weekend, held on Sunday morning, kicked off in damp conditions as a result of some light rain in the preceding GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup qualifying session.

Target Racing opted for both of its cars to start on slicks, which saw Luchetti struggle early on as he slid wide at Turn 1 on the opening lap.

While polesitter Egor Orudzhev initially managed to open up a gap of nearly five second aboard the No. 12 Art-Line Lamborghini, the track soon began to dry out.

This played into the hands of the cars on slicks, with the No. 9 Target Lamborghini of Fraboni storming into the lead with the Pro-Am-entered No. 2 Boutsen VDS car of Renaud Kuppens in tow.

Target soon assumed a 1-2 formation at the head of the field as Luchetti, having recovered from his opening lap slide, moved into second behind the sister car as the rest of the field came in early to switch from wets to slicks.

Pedrini, now installed aboard the No. 9 car, remained ahead of Luchetti even through a late Full Course Yellow following a collision between Pablo Schumm and Gerhard Watzinger.

The No. 9 Lamborghini would go on the cross the line with a margin of 4.643 seconds over the sister car, while Knopp and Geraci completed the overall podium in third in the No. 36 Oregon Team entry.

Kuppens and Hugo Bac captured the Pro-Am victory in fourth overall, taking their first class win of the season.

The Am and LB Cup classes both saw weekend sweeps as the No. 13 Oregon Team Lamborghini of Ciglia and Perolini won both races in the former while Ojjeh remained unbeaten in the latter.