Racing and Hospitality Collide at Watkins Glen
Lamborghini’s second Super Trofeo North America round of 2017 was never meant to be just a race weekend. At Watkins Glen International, the program delivered a double act: competitive one-make racing that produced a genuinely historic result, and a curated hospitality operation designed to pull dealer clients and prospective buyers into the brand’s motorsport orbit. Together, the two halves revealed a company treating its single-marque series as something far more deliberate than a weekend diversion.
The racing itself was compelling enough on its own merits. Trent Hindman and Riccardo Agostini claimed their first overall and Pro class victory of the season from pole position. An 18-year-old ProAm driver hunted down the leaders in the closing laps. And Ashley Freiberg, in only her fourth Super Trofeo start, became the first woman to reach an overall podium in any worldwide Lamborghini Super Trofeo series. Meanwhile, dealer clients received what the company calls world-class hospitality, and guests participated in the IMSA Hot Lap Experience, riding passenger in a Lamborghini at racing speed around one of North America’s most storied circuits. The strategy is transparent and effective: let potential customers feel the brand’s competition DNA firsthand, then let the cars on track do the selling.
Ashley Freiberg’s Podium: What the Milestone Actually Means
Freiberg’s third-place overall finish deserves more attention than a line in a results table. Lamborghini says she became the first woman to stand on the overall podium of any worldwide Super Trofeo series, a distinction that spans the European, Asian, and North American championships. She accomplished it driving the No. 30 DAC Motorsports entry, representing Lamborghini Palm Beach, after leaping from fourth on the grid to second at the green flag and holding that position for much of the race.
The 25-year-old eventually yielded second place to Austin Versteeg’s charge but brought the car home third overall and second in the Pro class. Four starts into her Super Trofeo career, Freiberg demonstrated pace that belongs at the front of the field, not just within her class.
For Lamborghini, the significance extends beyond the sporting result. One-make series live and die by the quality and diversity of their grids. A milestone like Freiberg’s broadens the series’ appeal and reinforces the idea that the Super Trofeo is a genuine proving ground, not a gentleman-driver parade. Ferrari and Porsche both run their own one-make championships, and both compete for the same pool of talented privateer drivers. A headline-grabbing achievement like this one gives Lamborghini’s series visibility that money alone cannot buy.
The Huracán Super Trofeo: 620 Horsepower, Rear Drive, and a Purpose-Built Philosophy
Every car on the Watkins Glen grid ran the same hardware: the Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo, a dedicated race car derived from the road-going Huracán LP610-4 but sharing very little of its street-car compromise. The naturally aspirated 5.2-liter V10 produces 620 horsepower, channeled exclusively to the rear wheels through a sequential gearbox. The car is not street-legal, and that is entirely the point.
The rear-wheel-drive layout is a deliberate engineering choice. By removing the front axle drive, Lamborghini forces drivers to develop throttle management and car control skills that translate directly to GT3 racing. The Super Trofeo functions as a development ladder: gentleman drivers learn racecraft, talented amateurs prove themselves for professional seats, and the entire ecosystem feeds into Squadra Corse’s broader competition programs.
Brembo/PFC brakes handle stopping duties, while a Motec control unit manages the engine. One source reports a dry weight of 1,270 kg (2,800 lb), which, combined with 620 horsepower, yields an aggressive weight-to-power ratio. The Huracán Super Trofeo EVO features Öhlins suspension, and the cars run on Pirelli rubber. The result is a machine that rewards precision and punishes laziness, exactly what a driver development series should deliver.
The recently unveiled Temerario GT3 represents Lamborghini’s first competition car to be entirely designed, developed, and built in-house. The Super Trofeo series, which began with the Gallardo and matured through the Huracán era, built the infrastructure and the customer base that makes an in-house GT3 program viable. Drivers who cut their teeth in the Super Trofeo’s rear-drive V10 cars are the same drivers who will fill GT3 grids when the Temerario program goes live.
Race Day at the Glen: Winners, Penalties, and a Championship Shakeup
Hindman and Agostini’s victory came with the kind of late-race drama that keeps one-make racing interesting. Agostini qualified on pole and built a gap during his stint, but after the mandatory pit stop, Hindman found himself under intense pressure from Versteeg. The 18-year-old DXDT Racing driver, representing Lamborghini Dallas, lost positions early in the Esses but clawed back through traffic, setting a string of fast laps that cut Hindman’s advantage to less than a second by the checkered flag.
“I was definitely hanging on at the end,” Hindman said, “but overall I’m just so happy to end the weekend on a high note and move on to Road America with a win.”
Versteeg’s second-place overall also secured his second ProAm class victory of the season, following a strong opener at Circuit of The Americas. At 18, he is one of the youngest drivers in the series and clearly one of the quickest.
Brian Thienes earned the Amateur class win after a redemption drive. He started from pole in both races but lost positions at the green flag each time. In Race 2, he recovered to battle Patrice Brisebois for the class lead, prevailing on Lap 19 and holding the position to the finish.
The LB Cup result required a calculator. Ryan Hardwick crossed the line second to J.C. Perez but inherited the victory when Perez received a 1.5-second penalty for a pit stop that fell short of the minimum time requirement. The winning margin after the penalty: 0.081 seconds. Hardwick, who drives the No. 2 Dream Racing Motorsport entry representing Lamborghini Atlanta, doubled up on LB Cup victories for the weekend without even knowing the penalty had been applied.
Richard Antinucci, the 2015 series champion and Race 1 winner, finished 16th overall and fifth in Pro after encountering problems from the outside of the front row. His perfect streak of three consecutive wins ended, though he still leads the Pro championship in provisional points. The depth of the field proved sufficient to keep the title fight honest through the remaining rounds.
The Client Experience: Why Lamborghini Brings Buyers to the Paddock
The hospitality program at Watkins Glen illustrates a strategy that few competitors execute as aggressively. Lamborghini invited dealer clients and guests into the race weekend, offering paddock access and participation in the IMSA Hot Lap Experience. A passenger ride at speed around Watkins Glen International, in a Lamborghini, on a live race weekend, is a more persuasive sales pitch than any showroom brochure.
This approach serves multiple commercial purposes simultaneously. For existing owners, it deepens brand loyalty by connecting them to the competition side of the company they already buy from. For prospective buyers, it collapses the distance between the road car in the dealer showroom and the race car on track. For Lamborghini’s dealer network, it provides an exclusive experience to offer high-net-worth clients that competing brands struggle to replicate at the same scale.
Porsche runs a similar model with its Carrera Cup hospitality, and Ferrari offers client programs at its Challenge series events. What distinguishes Lamborghini’s approach is the integration: the Super Trofeo is structured around three continental championships that culminate in a World Final, creating a season-long narrative that gives clients a reason to return. The hot laps and hospitality are not bolted on as afterthoughts. They are part of the series architecture, reinforcing the same thesis the racing results already prove: the Super Trofeo is built to develop drivers, engage customers, and strengthen the brand in a single, continuous loop.
Where Super Trofeo Fits in Lamborghini’s Competitive Playbook
The Super Trofeo North America series moved next to Road America for August 4-6, continuing a six-event calendar that would close with the World Final at Imola. For buyers and enthusiasts watching from outside the paddock, the practical takeaway from Watkins Glen is straightforward: Lamborghini’s one-make series remains the most direct way to experience the brand’s competition DNA, whether as a driver, a spectator, or a client guest.
The Huracán Super Trofeo’s naturally aspirated V10, rear-wheel-drive formula represents the final chapter of a specific era in Lamborghini’s racing history. The Temerario, which replaces the Huracán as the brand’s entry-level supercar, is a plug-in hybrid. Its GT3 derivative will carry that electrified architecture onto the world’s racing circuits. Drivers developing their skills in the current Super Trofeo cars are learning fundamentals that will serve them well regardless of what powertrain sits behind them next.
Freiberg’s podium, Hindman and Agostini’s breakthrough win, and Versteeg’s relentless charge all made for compelling racing. Yet the deeper story at Watkins Glen was Lamborghini demonstrating, in real time, how a one-make series can simultaneously develop drivers, engage customers, and build brand equity. The checkered flag is only part of the business model.
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