Two Poles, Two Wins, Zero Ambiguity
Emil Frey Racing turned the third round of the 2022 ADAC GT Masters season at Zandvoort into a Lamborghini showcase: both pole positions, both race victories, all delivered by the Huracán GT3 EVO. Mick Wishofer and Konsta Lappalainen controlled the Saturday opener from the front row. Jack Aitken and Albert Costa Balboa did the same on Sunday. The weekend was the kind that shifts a championship narrative, and it validated the Huracán GT3 EVO as a platform that can dominate against factory-supported rivals when a well-organized customer team extracts its full potential.
The #63 car of Aitken and Costa Balboa now sits fourth in the overall standings, nine points behind the leader with the season’s second half still ahead. For a team that arrived at the Dutch seaside circuit without a win in its debut ADAC GT Masters campaign, the turnaround was emphatic. Emil Frey Racing had previously taken two Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe victories at this same track, so the team knew the layout. Translating that familiarity into total dominance against a grid stacked with Mercedes-AMG, Audi, and Porsche entries is a different proposition entirely.
Saturday: Slicks on a Drying Track and an Eight-Second Statement
Saturday’s qualifying session unfolded in mixed conditions, the kind that rewards a team willing to gamble on setup and tire choice. Lappalainen posted the fastest time in the #14 car, putting the Huracán GT3 EVO on pole. The sister #63 was less fortunate: Costa Balboa found himself blocked twice on his fastest laps and started 14th.
Drama arrived before the green flag. The front-row-starting Mercedes crashed on the original formation lap, delaying proceedings. When the rolling start finally came, Wishofer led away on slick tires over a damp surface. He briefly lost the lead to a Mercedes through Tarzan corner on the opening tour, then took it back at the same spot one lap later. From that point, Wishofer built a gap exceeding eight seconds before handing the car to Lappalainen at the mandatory driver change. Lappalainen managed the closing stint under growing pressure from the #27 Audi, but the margin at the flag remained just over a second. Comfortable enough.
Further back, Aitken salvaged what he could from 14th on the grid, fighting through the field and pulling off a late overtaking move on Raffaele Marciello’s Mercedes to finish 12th after an early penalty lap. That pass would prove to be a preview of Sunday’s mood.
A Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo blurs past, showcasing its speed and dynamic presence on the race track.
Sunday: Aitken’s Four-Hundredths Pole and a Lights-to-Flag Win
Aitken left nothing to chance in Sunday’s qualifying, securing pole position by four-hundredths of a second. Franck Perera put the #19 Huracán GT3 EVO third on the grid, giving Emil Frey Racing two cars in the top three.
From the start, Aitken controlled the race. He built a three-second cushion over Mattia Drudi’s pursuing Audi before the pit window opened, then handed the car to Costa Balboa with the lead intact. Costa Balboa brought the #63 home with a one-second advantage. The #19 of Arthur Rougier and Perera inherited a podium finish after the Porsche running ahead of them suffered a last-lap issue, giving Lamborghini two cars in the top three. The only sour note came from the #14: the Saturday race winners retired from Race 2 with a mechanical problem, a reminder that even dominant weekends carry risk in endurance-format GT racing.
A moment of embrace between a driver and team member in the pit lane, celebrating success at the race track.
What the Points Table Looks Like Now
Nine points from the championship lead with the second half of the season still to run. That is where Aitken and Costa Balboa stand after Zandvoort, and for a team in its first ADAC GT Masters season, that trajectory matters more than any single weekend result.
Emil Frey Racing’s record with the Huracán GT3 EVO extends well beyond this series. The team claimed both the Teams’ and Drivers’ Championships in the 2019 International GT Open with eight victories from 14 races, all in Lamborghini machinery. The GT World Challenge Europe, widely regarded as the most competitive GT3 series in the world, also produced victories for the team at this same Zandvoort circuit the year before. The pattern is consistent: when Emil Frey Racing finds a circuit that suits the Huracán’s balance and their operational strengths, they do not just compete.
For anyone tracking this championship from outside the paddock, the practical takeaway is straightforward. The Huracán GT3 EVO, a car that customer teams can purchase or upgrade from an existing Huracán GT3, continues to prove competitive against factory-supported efforts from Mercedes-AMG, Audi, and Porsche. One source reports a price of $430,000 for the car, which, given the results it delivers in the hands of a well-organized customer team, represents a serious return on investment in GT3 terms.
Why Customer Racing Wins Matter for Lamborghini’s Broader Strategy
Lamborghini’s motorsport operation, Squadra Corse, built its credibility on a specific model: develop the car, hand it to customer teams, and let results speak for the engineering. The Huracán GT3 platform underpins that approach. When a customer team like Emil Frey Racing sweeps a weekend against Audis and Mercedes entries that benefit from deep manufacturer resources, it validates the product in a way no press event or specification sheet can replicate.
The timing adds another layer. As Car and Driver reports, the Lamborghini Temerario GT3 is coming to replace the Huracán GT3 Evo 2 as the brand’s factory-backed GT3 effort, marking the first race car entirely designed and developed at Lamborghini’s Sant’Agata Bolognese facility. Weekends like Zandvoort set the standard the successor must meet. Customer teams evaluating their next platform purchase will remember that the outgoing car was still winning in its final seasons, a benchmark that speaks directly to long-term competitiveness and parts support.
Lamborghini’s position in GT3 racing differs from its approach to road cars in one critical respect: the naturally aspirated V10 that defines the Huracán road car experience operates within the strict Balance of Performance regulations that govern GT3. Winning here requires the complete package of chassis dynamics, reliability, aerodynamic efficiency, and team support, not just raw power. That the Huracán GT3 EVO continues to deliver results across multiple series and multiple continents is the strongest argument Squadra Corse can make to prospective customer teams.
A Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo leads a procession of race cars in the pit lane, ready for action.
British GT: Lamborghini Podiums at Snetterton
Across the North Sea, the British GT Championship’s fifth round at Snetterton produced a pair of second-place finishes for Lamborghini entries. WPI Motorsport’s Michael Igoe and Phil Keen took the runner-up spot in Race 1, benefiting from strong second-stint pace and a puncture for the leading Mercedes in the closing stages. In Race 2, the Barwell Motorsport pairing of Adam Balon and Lamborghini Factory Driver Sandy Mitchell climbed from fifth on the grid to second.
Neither result carries the headline weight of Zandvoort’s sweep, but two podiums from two races in a competitive national championship reinforces the broader point that runs through this entire weekend of Lamborghini racing. The Huracán GT3 EVO remains a consistent threat across different series, different circuits, and different team structures. For Squadra Corse’s customer racing program, that consistency is the real metric, and Zandvoort proved the car still delivers it in abundance.
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