Leipert Motorsport entered two Lamborghini Super Trofeo EVO 2 cars at the start of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe (LSTE) season at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola (Italy). The Wegberg-based team, supported by MOTUL, secured a total of three podium finishes. Both driver pairings – the Germans Sebastian Balthasar/Jacob Riegel and the Americans Glenn McGee/Anthony McIntosh – impressed straight away.
A total of 52 Lamborghini Super Trofeo EVO 2 cars competed in Italy, and the traffic on the five-kilometre circuit in Imola was correspondingly heavy. The Leipert drivers showed a very good performance right from the start and were able to secure good grid positions in qualifying.
Podium finishes in races 1 and 2 in chaotic weather and safety car interruptions
The German duo Sebastian Balthasar/Jacob Riegel (Pro classification, #70) put in a strong performance in their first start. Balthasar put the Lamborghini in 6th position on the grid in qualifying despite traffic, while Riegel started from 11th position in race 2. Black clouds appeared in the sky at the start on a still dry track. After about 20 minutes, the race was taken over by the safety car due to thunderstorms. After the obligatory pit stop, which the team completed confidently and changed to rain tyres, Balthasar/Riegel improved to 2nd place. When the race was stopped a little later due to the onset of heavy rain, the #70 crossed the finish line in 2nd place and thus secured its first podium finish. In the second race, starting driver Riegel moved up from 11th to 7th place within the first two laps. Balthasar then crossed the finish line in 6th place.
The Americans Glenn McGee/Anthony McIntosh (AM classification, #99), newcomers to Europe from the US Lamborghini Super Trofeo, showed their class straight away, even though the track was new territory for them. McGee put the Leipert Lamborghini on pole position in the AM classification at its first appearance. Partner McIntosh took 4th position for the second race. In the first race late on Saturday afternoon, the duo lost two places due to the weather chaos despite a quick pit stop including a change to rain tyres, as two competing cars remained on slick tyres and hoped for a race stoppage. This then materialised and the #99 was classified in third place. In the second race, the two US-Americans once again delivered a faultless performance and secured another podium finish in a hard-fought race in 2nd place.
Managing Directors Marcel Leipert & Marc Poos:
“We are delighted to leave the opening event with 3 out of 4 possible podium places. We are happy to have built on last year’s strong performance and will give our all to continue to achieve the best possible results. The first appearance of both driver pairings was very good and we would like to thank everyone involved for a very successful start to the season.”
The next LST-E race weekend will take place in Belgium on the traditional Spa-Francorchamps circuit (9-11 May), once again as part of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC).
