Supercross Legend Chad Reed Makes Four-Wheel Debut in Lamborghini Super Trofeo
Barely three months after a crash that broke eight ribs, shattered his scapula, and collapsed a lung, supercross and motocross champion Chad Reed climbed into a Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO at Watkins Glen International. The date was June 28, 2019. By the end of that calendar year, he would hold a world championship title in a discipline he had never raced before. That arc, from hospital bed to the top step of a podium in an unfamiliar car, tells a story not just about Reed’s competitive wiring but about why Lamborghini’s customer racing program keeps attracting talent that other one-make series struggle to land.
Reed competed in Rounds 3 and 4 of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America series in the Pro-Am class alongside Ryan Hardwick, a GT Daytona driver and former Super Trofeo World and North American Am Class champion. Dream Racing, led by Enrico Bertaggia, prepared the car, which wore Hardwick’s Mountain Motorsports branding and Reed’s iconic No. 22. According to Reed, he only rode his dirt bike again for the first time in nearly 13 weeks the week before the Watkins Glen weekend. The Seattle supercross crash on March 23, 2019, had ended his two-wheel season entirely.
Why High-Profile Athletes Matter to Squadra Corse
The Super Trofeo series, which launched in 2009, functions as a proving ground for drivers aiming to progress toward GT Daytona and eventually GT3-level competition. Attracting a name like Chad Reed does two things simultaneously: it validates the series as a credible entry point for elite athletes from other disciplines, and it generates attention that a grid full of gentleman drivers simply cannot.
Ferrari Challenge and Porsche’s various one-make cups serve similar roles for their respective brands, funneling paying customers into racing ecosystems that double as brand loyalty engines. Lamborghini’s advantage in this particular case was something no marketing budget can manufacture. Giorgio Sanna, head of motorsport for Lamborghini, is a devoted motocross fan who considers Reed a personal hero. When Hardwick called Sanna to float the idea, the reaction was immediate. Sanna recommended a test drive, assessed Reed’s raw talent behind the wheel, and proposed pairing him with Hardwick for the Watkins Glen round. That kind of top-down enthusiasm from within Squadra Corse turned what could have been months of negotiation into a rapid, organic collaboration.
From Two Wheels to Four: Reed’s Journey and Career Pivot
Reed was not arriving at four-wheel racing completely cold. He carried prior experience from racing Supercars in his native Australia and competing in the Monza Rally, which he described as consecutive days of night and day racing across varied conditions. Those were largely testing opportunities and one-off events rather than a structured racing program, but they gave him a baseline feel for car control at speed.
The Super Trofeo debut represented something more deliberate. Hardwick confirmed that Reed specifically asked whether the series was a viable stepping stone toward GT Daytona competition, a question that signals genuine career planning rather than a weekend thrill ride. Reed openly stated his long-term interest in making a career transition into four-wheel racing, framing the motorcycle chapter of his life as finite and the appeal of data-driven car racing as a compelling next act.
The results bore out that ambition quickly. At Watkins Glen, Reed and Hardwick secured a second-place podium finish in the Pro-Am class. Following Hardwick’s season-ending knee injury later in 2019, Reed transitioned to the LB Cup class. Alongside co-driver Justin Price, he won four of eight LB Cup races and clinched the LB Cup World Championship at Circuito de Jerez in Spain. For a driver who entered his first Super Trofeo race still nursing broken ribs, winning a world championship title within the same calendar year is a result that even seasoned four-wheel competitors would envy.
Behind the Scenes: Personal Connections That Made It Happen
The mechanics of how Reed ended up at Watkins Glen reveal the informal networks that often drive motorsport deals at this level. A mutual friend connected Reed with Hardwick. Already embedded in the Lamborghini ecosystem through Paul Miller Racing, Hardwick made calls to Sanna and Bertaggia at Dream Racing. Both recognized Reed’s name instantly. Bertaggia’s team assembled the car. Sanna greenlit the pairing.
The entire process moved quickly, from initial conversation to confirmed entry, largely because every person involved already respected what Reed had accomplished on two wheels. Lamborghini’s customer racing infrastructure proved flexible enough to accommodate a high-profile crossover without bureaucratic friction. For prospective competitors considering the Super Trofeo series as an entry into GT racing, this is a practical insight: the pathway exists, but personal relationships and demonstrated talent still accelerate everything.
What Reed’s Success Signals for Lamborghini’s Customer Racing
Reed’s trajectory from debut to world championship in a single season is an unusually compelling advertisement for Lamborghini’s racing ladder. The Super Trofeo series was designed precisely for this kind of story: talented drivers, whether gentleman racers or elite athletes from adjacent disciplines, enter a controlled, well-supported environment and develop the skills needed for higher categories.
With Lamborghini now preparing the Temerario GT3 as the next chapter of its competition program, according to Autoblog, the pipeline from customer racing to factory-supported GT competition becomes even more relevant. Squadra Corse’s ability to attract, develop, and retain talent at the Super Trofeo level feeds directly into the credibility of its GT3 efforts. A two-wheel legend arriving injured, winning a championship, and demonstrating that the Huracán Super Trofeo EVO rewards genuine skill is exactly the kind of narrative Lamborghini can point to when selling the next generation of customer race cars.
The practical takeaway for buyers and aspiring competitors is straightforward: Lamborghini’s customer racing ecosystem rewards commitment and raw ability, and the people running Squadra Corse are genuinely invested in finding the right drivers, not just the wealthiest ones.
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