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LST

Lamborghini Super Trofeo: Pole position and two victories in the ProAm

15. October 2024

The fifth event of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe 2024 (LSTE) took place at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya (Spain). Leipert Motorsport entered two Lamborghini Super Trofeo EVO 2 cars on the grid. In addition to Sebastian Balthasar/Jacob Riegel (Germany), Brendon Leitch/Anthony McIntosh (New Zealand/USA) drove in the Pro-Am classification for the first time in a new constellation. Three races were held last weekend, as the cancelled round of the third event in Le Mans (France) had to be made up. Balthasar/Riegel had an unfortunate weekend, missing out on points after a strong performance. Leitch/McIntosh celebrated a successful debut and won twice in the ProAm classification for the MOTUL-supported team from Wegberg.

45 Lamborghini Super Trofeo EVO 2 cars competed in Barcelona. The practice sessions on the Grand Prix circuit went off without any major difficulties for Leipert Motorsport. The Leipert drivers achieved consistently good lap times.

However, the weekend was anything but easy for the German duo Balthasar/Riegel (Pro classification, #70). In the first race, Riegel started from 9th on the grid and stayed in the leading group for almost the entire time. After a final safety car phase shortly before the end, Riegel/Balthasar were in an excellent 6th place. During a duel, however, the #70 went off the track on the penultimate lap and was only classified in 14th place.

After an unfortunate qualifying session, which was affected early on by the onset of rain, Balthasar was left with only grid position 16 for the second race. A difficult starting position in the strong field of Pro cars. The German duo did their best and were able to work their way up to 11th place by the end, but remained just outside the points.

There was no qualifying for the third race and the starting grid from the second Le Mans race remained valid. Balthasar/Riegel started from 10th on the grid and after a serious accident on the starting lap, the safety car was deployed for around 30 minutes. The German Leipert duo was in 6th place, but ten minutes before the end of the race the #70 was given a stop-and-go penalty for a collision. As the field was very close together due to the safety car phase, the duo dropped back to a hopeless 32nd place and finished the race outside the points.

Leitch/McIntosh (ProAm classification, #99) drove together for the first time this weekend. As Leitch, the reigning champion of the PRO category, is classified as a professional, the team started in the ProAm class. The New Zealander put the Lamborghini on Pole position for the first race. At the halfway point of the race, he handed over the #99 in first position to McIntosh, who maintained the lead to the finish with a faultless drive.

McIntosh started the second race from a strong 4th place on the grid. He defended this position against the other competitors without any problems until he handed the Leipert-Lamborghini over to Leitch. The fast Kiwi soon improved to the top spot in the ProAm and confidently took the team’s second win of the weekend.

McIntosh completed the rescheduled Le Mans race alone, as a starter in the AM classification, as Leitch was not at the start in France. For the US American, the end came after the fifth corner of the starting lap. Through no fault of his own, he was involved in a heavy accident in which the vehicle was extensively damaged.

Managing Directors Marcel Leipert & Marc Poos:

‘The weekend in Barcelona was characterised by highs and lows. The return of Brendon Leitch, who formed a successful duo with Anthony McIntosh, and their victories in the first two races were outstanding. Surprising and less positive was the fact that our German driver pairing Balthasar/Riegel failed to score any points in Barcelona. They were both very unlucky. The team did a great job and the conditions were good, but sometimes things don’t go as planned. The accident involving US American Anthony McIntosh was a shocking final moment. Now we are preparing intensively for the last LSTE races and the world finale in Jerez (Spain). There we will do everything we can to bring the world championship title home!’

The sixth weekend of the LSTE and the Lamborghini World Final will take place at the Circuito de Jerez-Ángel Nieto (14-17 November) in Spain.