The season opener of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe went with ups and downs: Brendon Leitch scored the overall pole for the #70 with partner Gerhard Watzinger in the 38-car field, Gabriel Rindone #21 was double winner of the AM class, Krebs/Müller #97 delivered solid performances and David Serban #18 impressed with two top five results. Brunot/Li #87 retired in both races after collisions. In the GT World Challenge, an unfortunate race accident also prevented them from crossing the finish line.
The 2022 racing season started for Leipert Motorsport in northern Italy last weekend. At the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, the team from Wegberg celebrated the first double event of the year.
Two pole positions and two class wins in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo
The well-established team started the weekend exactly where the season ended last year: Right at the front! It was Brendon Leitch who claimed the fastest lap time of the entire field in the second qualifying session. Together with his teammate Gerhard Watzinger, he finished sixth in the Crowdstrike Lamborghini in the first race and seventh in the second race (PRO-AM). The previously established comfortable lead in the second race was wiped out by a safety car phase after the pit stop window.
Gabriel Rindone was able to build on last year’s performance and, after clinching the first pole position of the year, also took the wins on Saturday and Sunday. He thus leads the 11-car AM class in a commanding manner.
Strong performance by a youngster – bad luck for Brunot/Li – good performance by Krebs/Müller
Leipert Motorsport young talent David Serban, who has moved up from GT4 and is racing in the Lamborghini for the first time, impressed with fast pace: with consistent lap times and a flawless performance, he was listed twice in the top five ranks of the PRO classification with fourth and fifth places.
Bad luck for the #87 Lamborghini: two retirements after unfortunate race accidents prevented a successful debut for the Brunot/Li duo in the Pro-Am category. The driver duo Krebs/Müller with the #97 showed a solid performance in the AM class: 7th place in race 1 and 5th place in race 2 mean championship position 6 on their comeback in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo.
GTWC season opener ends prematurely after uncaused collision
The team from Wegberg, supported by MOTUL, was particularly looking forward to their return to the GT World Challenge. The Leitch/Witt/Fetzer trio started the three-hour race from P17 in the Silver Cup. While starting driver Dennis Fetzer successfully avoided the initial collisions and made up 12 positions, the Leipert Motorsport Lamborghini was itself affected a little later: During a safety car phase at the end of the second hour of racing, Jordan Witt was hit on the rear by a rival behind him.
The damage was vehement, so that a further drive was not possible and the race was ended prematurely without a finish.
Team bosses Marcel Leipert & Marc Poos:
“In the Super Trofeo we had a very good start. All drivers as well as the team did a flawless job and we scored well-deserved points. We will test again until the next race weekend and build on the positive start.
The GTWC opener, on the other hand, was mixed. Dennis’ start stint was promising and we were well on our way to the points. Unfortunately, we had to park the car after the rear-end collision in the safety car phase, which was completely unnecessary and we were taken out of the race through no fault of our own. We learned a lot and have a good basis for the next event in Paul Ricard after the two official test days.”
Before the next rounds of the Fanatec GTWC Endurance Series 1000 kilometre race at the Circuit Paul Ricard in the south of France at the beginning of June (04-06.2022), where the next rounds of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo will also take place, the team will head to the Ardennes rollercoaster at Spa-Francorchamps for the 12h race on 20-24.04.22 as part of the 24h Series.