Taurino, Spinelli Win Portimao Race 2 as Champions Crowned

Photo: Eros Maggi/Lamborghini

Giano Taurino and Loris Spinelli won the final race of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America season at Portimao, while the championships in Pro-Am, Am and LB Cup were decided.

The Italian/South African pair took a victory of 5.5 seconds in the No. 188 Taurino Racing by D Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2 after missing out on the win in Race 1 due to a track limits penalty.

Taurino spent the first half of the race in third position behind pole-sitter Nelson Piquet Jr. and Wayne Taylor Racing’s Kyle Marcelli.

After a safety car interruption, Taurino came in to hand over to Spinelli, who emerged ahead of the No. 101 car of Danny Formal with Piquet down in third.

While Spinelli maintained a gap to a charging Formal, Piquet faded and initially lost third position to the No. 150 O’Gara Motorsport/Change Racing/USRT of Patrick Kujala.

Kujala, however, would receive a five-second penalty for track limits infringements. Piquet was promoted back to third as a result, with Kujala and Eduardo Piscopo fourth.

Bryson Lew and John Castro Dubets came from fourth on the grid to win the Pro-Am class and the class title, with Dubets overtaking teammate Sebastian Carazo late in the race.

The No. 146 Precision Performance Motorsports Lamborghini looked to lose the championship to the No. 147 sister car of Carazo and Bryan Ortiz, but ultimately lost out as Dubets and Lew came home first in class.

Ashton Harrison and Tom Long completed the podium in class, with Damon Ockey and Patrick Liddy rounding out the class.

Shehan Chandrasoma swooped in to take the Am class title with a victory as the championship-leading pair of Nikko Reger and David Staab retired.

Reger already started from the pit lane with their No. 148 PPM entry, but mechanical problems forced him to bring the car into the garage with less than 40 minutes to go.

With the championship advantage, Chandrasoma made no mistakes to take the win and the title, with Wesley Slimp and Tyler Hoffman second for TPC Racing and Alex Au for Dream Racing completing the podium.

In LB Cup, Fred Roberts completed a sweep of the weekend by winning the class, while Slade Stewart fought back against the odds to win the championship.

Stewart started from the back of the grid with a three-point lead over the No. 154 Dream Racing car of Charlie Martin and Jason Keats and four points in hand over Offir Levy and John Hirshberg.

After suffering a late axle failure in Race 1, the momentum swung back towards the No. 114 Flying Lizard Motorsports car when Keats first suffered a right rear puncture and Levy spinning into the barrier at Turn 11 mere minutes later.

As a result, the fan-favorite ‘Sparklefarts’ Lamborghini was able to finish third behind Roberts and Tiger Tari to claim the title in LB Cup.

RESULTS: Race 2

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By: Davey Euwema
Title: Taurino, Spinelli Win Portimao Race 2 as Champions Crowned
Sourced From: sportscar365.com/imsa/lamborghini-st/taurino-spinelli-win-portimao-race-2/
Published Date: Fri, 04 Nov 2022 16:48:42 +0000