
How punctures, penalties, and a switchback at Turn 9 decided the 2019 Lamborghini Super Trofeo championships at Jerez
When every entrant races an identical Huracán Super Trofeo Evo, the margin between championship glory and a broken weekend shrinks to a punctured tire, a pit-stop miscalculation, or a stalled engine on the installation lap.
Imperiale Racing's Galbiati suffered a left-rear puncture just before the pit window opened in Race 2, destroying any chance he and Postiglione had of claiming a maiden European series triumph.
Bonaldi Motorsport's Kroes and Afanasiev did not need to win Race 2 — a second-place finish was enough to clinch the European crown, rewarding the pairing that absorbed pressure rather than the one that generated the most outright speed.
Puhakka carried more pace in the closing stages, but Gama Racing's Chen defended well enough to edge the win by two-tenths of a second, leaving both crews tied on 144 points before Race 2.
The Super Trofeo's structure, where every entrant races an identical Huracán Super Trofeo Evo on Hankook tires, strips away the engineering arms race that defines prototype and GT3 competition.
The Huracán Super Trofeo Evo's naturally aspirated V10 will eventually give way to whatever Squadra Corse develops next, but the 2019 results demonstrated that the format itself, not just the car, is what makes this series worth following.
Drivers who spent months accumulating points across Asia, Europe, and North America suddenly shared a paddock, a pit lane, and the same strip of Andalusian asphalt at Jerez.
After a drivethrough penalty dropped Antinucci and Lewis to fourth in Race 1, Mitchell and Amici were suddenly tied on points with third-place finisher Gdovic, and both crews sat just four points behind the leaders heading into Race 2.
VS Racing's Yuki Nemoto claimed pole and led the opening stint before handing over to Alex Au, who slipped behind both Chen and Puhakka after the mandatory stops.
Teams and drivers who built their programs around the Huracán's naturally aspirated V10 characteristics face a transition to an entirely new powerband and a different engineering philosophy as the racing ladder eventually follows the road-car shift.
Nine-time motocross World Champion Tony Cairoli and five-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Emanuele Pirro both took the start in the Pro-Am class, a reminder that the Super Trofeo draws competitors from well outside traditional single-seater or GT pipelines.