Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia opens the 2019 calendar with night race
A certain way to inject plenty of action in a racing series with two or more drivers per car is to mix their skill levels. Take for example the Lamborghini Super Trofeo series, where the driver pairing may consist of a Professional and gentlemen driver in one team. So once the green lights go off – and also once the pitstops are all done with – the racing order will change as quickly as the cars go.
That’s exactly what happened again during the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia 2019 opening round at Sepang. Pirelli was gracious enough to extend an invite and it sure didn’t disappoint. There are some ‘stars’ among the drivers, one in specific being Chris van der Drift from the Australian Supercar series. Let’s not forget Malaysia’s own Afiq Yazid, who has seen the top step of the podium more than a few times previously.
And it was these two – among others – which provided plenty of on-track action during the race. Just as the 50-minute, 21-lap night race under lights at Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit was preparing to get underway, the skies opened and rain began to pour down. While many of the teams opted for wet weather tyres, Gama Racing took a gamble by starting van der Drift on slicks – a decision which later helped them to a 6.499 second victory by the chequered flag.
Second across the line was the Hojust Racing duo of Toshiyuki Ochiai and Afiq Yazid, the pair claiming victory in the Pro-Am category. Third overall, and second in the Pro-Am class, was series newcomer Alex Au and Edoardo Liberati of Vincenzo Sospiri Racing Srl.
The second race on Sunday was no less intense, although bone dry conditions meant that the non-pros could post stronger times when battling against the professionals. Even then, Chris van der Drift and Even Chen still managed top podium position again. It followed a riveting last few minutes when the New Zealander was hunting down Hong Kong’s Alex Au and managed to grab the lead at the very last lap for the win.
Second across the line and 1.3-seconds adrift were Au and Edoardo Liberati, with the Vincenzo Sospiri Racing duo also taking the honours in the Pro-Am category. Third overall and second in the Pro-Am class was Hojust Racing’s Afiq Yazid and Toshiyuki Ochiai.
As the official tyre partner of the racing series, Pirelli cheekily provides only two types of tyres – slicks and full wets. No intermediates and certainly no multiple slick compounds, the reason being ‘we don’t want to make it easy for the drivers.’ Well, there’s no arguing with that looking at what happens on the track especially when rain gets into the picture.
