Will Bamber Conquers Monza

MONZA, Italy — Will Bamber capped off the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America portion of the season in style with excellent pace and an authoritative statement drive heading into the Lamborghini World Finals at Autodromo Nazionale Monza.

Meanwhile Philippe Touchette emerged as the final champion crowned in LB Cup with a steady and smart drive from pole to win.

ProAm champs Danny Formal and Graham Doyle and Am champ David Staab completed a sweep of the North America races for the weekend as well.

Following these two 45-minute races, action at the historic Monza circuit will shift to the World Finals, where the European and Asian counterparts will race alongside the North American competitors and split into Pro/ProAm and Am/LB Cup races.

The Pro race was a tale of two stories: Bamber’s pace up front, and an epic battle for second behind them.

From pole, the driver of the No. 133 XONINE Racing Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2 expanded his lead north of seven seconds before pitting with 21 minutes remaining. It extended to 11 seconds shortly after the pit stops and while it came down to 6.1 seconds at the checkered flag, that was more due to the intense battle behind and Bamber ensuring he brought it home.

It’s been an emotional week for Bamber and the XONINE (XO9) team, with a medical emergency sidelining co-driver Darius Trinka which left Bamber to run solo. Nonetheless, Trinka has been fully engaged from the hospital, posting on social media he was still planning to debrief and keep track of data, video and lap times. Bamber’s pace Friday certainly leaves a lot of good for the group to look at.

“It’s awesome, really,” Bamber said. “I have to thank the whole XONINE (XO9) team. It’s their first year. It’s been a very up-and-down week with Darius in hospital. We’ve been in hospital at 2 a.m. Pretty drained, pretty emotional, but it’s all for him and his family back home.”

The aforementioned battle for second featured three cars: initial IMSA 3D Scholarship winner Jaden Conwright early in the No. 127 SP Motorsports Huracán, impressing in that car’s best run of the year, ahead of Nick Persing’s No. 101 Wayne Taylor Racing Huracán and newly crowned Pro champion Elias De La Torre’s No. 129 TR3 Huracán.

Conwright had the edge on the early side of the race and ran longer than Persing and De La Torre to maximize his stint before pitting and handing over to teammate Joaquin Morillo. Going for an undercut, Persing handed off to Hampus Ericsson and De La Torre to Dennis Lind.

What followed next felt more like a multi-part Verdi, Puccini or Rossini-penned Italian opera with different acts of rapid-fire bravery authored by the Swede (Ericsson) and the Dane (Lind) around Monza’s “Temple of Speed.”

With 11 minutes to go Morillo, fighting to hold back Ericsson and Lind, couldn’t quite hold either of the more experienced drivers. Ericsson darted to the outside of the second Lesmo corner, while Lind was boxed in behind Morillo on corner exit. Lind got a better exit off and swept past Morillo into the Ascari Chicane for third.

With five minutes to go, Lind threw caution to the wind trying to get past Ericsson for second. Delivering a similar send on Ericsson into the second Lesmo corner, Lind got him for second, only to run too long into the Ascari on the same lap and give Ericsson a shot to get him back.

The ensuing back-and-forth brought ProAm leader Formal, who’d gotten by Morillo, to Lind’s rear bumper. He was almost able to get past and onto the overall podium, but alas the Costa Rican had a smoother and safer drive to fourth overall with a front row seat to this Monza theatrical performance in the venerable Huracán’s last North American race.

Formal and Doyle, driving the No. 110 Wayne Taylor Racing Huracán, enjoyed a clean and trouble-free drive to their 10th win of the season – thus matching their car number for the season. They’re also first the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America drivers to get to the 10-win in a season number since Formal and Kyle Marcelli did so in their 2023 Pro class championship year.

Behind this year’s champs, Lindsay Brewer and Keawn Tandon solidified second in ProAm with their second straight runner-up finish of the weekend in their No. 177 Forty7 Motorsports Huracán.

“Lindsay did an amazing job all year and for us to get a P2 out of this means a lot,” Tandon said. “Her progression has been amazing and her times have been great.”

Brewer added, “It’s been great to make progress all year. But Keawn’s been amazing all year as has the Forty7 Motorsports team. So happy to be here, and now onto the World Finals!”

Wyatt Foster and Seth Henry impressed with Foster’s long first stint helping propel the No. 144 Kaizen Autosport Huracán from the back of the 30-car field to an 11th place overall finish, third in ProAm.

The Am race was another straightforward affair, although this time it didn’t end with a Precision Performance Motorsports podium sweep. It was still a 1-2 though, led by David Staab in his No. 148 PPM Huracán in 10th overall ahead of Cooper Broll in the No. 147 Huracán.

Dean Neuls returned to the podium for the first time since Indianapolis Race 1, third in the No. 170 TR3 Huracán.

LB Cup was the last class championship to be decided, and ended officially with 19 minutes to go, but it was trending towards Touchette all weekend.

The Canadian, who drives the No. 111 TB Autosports Huracán, put an early and important stamp on the weekend with both pole positions. As it turned out, that extra single point was looking to loom very large in the grand scheme of things.

Touchette’s rival Rocky T. Bolduc jumped to the lead on the start in his No. 199 Topp Racing Huracán and led until pitting shortly after the pit window opened. However, with Touchette running second throughout, Bolduc only would have gained three of the necessary four points he needed to overcome the deficit.

When Bolduc pitted a second time with 19 minutes to go and exited the car with another apparent mechanical issue, that ensured Touchette had a clear drive to secure the title. He didn’t need the win but grabbed it anyway following a pass of part-time driver Fred Roberts in his No. 156 Leipert Motorsport Huracán with seven minutes to go. Ray Shahi was third in the No. 165 Taurino Racing Huracán.

Touchette claimed the title with his fourth win of the season. Coupled with six runner-up finishes, Touchette was also the model of consistency with 10 top two finishes from 12 starts.

“It’s hard to describe,” Touchette admitted. “Last year when we decided to do IMSA Super Trofeo, I knew it was my first year racing, so I wasn’t sure at first how it would go. I think I was just fast enough to be competitive.

“My objective was to improve a lot which I did a lot. I never expected to win the championship, and finish with both wins on the podium at Monza. Can’t ask for anything better than that.”

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