Amici and Janosz Celebrate 5th Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia Victory in Shanghai

Shanghai / Hong Kong, 24 Sep, 2018 – FFF Racing Team by ACM drivers Andrea Amici and Artur Janosz celebrated a fifth victory in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia, with a win at the Shanghai International Circuit. A strong start and an early lead allowed them to build an unassailable advantage, the championship points leaders proving unbeatable, taking the chequered flag by more than 11 seconds.

Jack Bartholomew and James Pull in the #19 sister car made it a 1-2 finish for FFF Racing Team by ACM, while Hojust Racing’s Takeshi Matsumoto and Toshiyuki Ochiai were third overall, and taking home top Pro Am honours. Fourth across the line and third on the Pro podium was the Leipert Motorsport duo of Ben Gersekowski and Richard Muscat, while yesterday’s Race 9 winners Kei Cozzolino and Afiq Yazid of Clazzio Racing rounded out the top five.

With this Race 10 marking the Asian finale, Amici and Janosz have extended their lead in the Pro classification as the series prepares for the final two races of the season and Lamborghini Super Trofeo World Final in November at Vallelunga, Italy. The Italian and the Polish driver are on 124 points, 25 points ahead of their teammates Bartholomew and Pull. Gersekowski is third in the standings.

In the ultra-competitive Pro Am category, Leipert Motorsport’s Mikko Eskelinen and Juuso Puhakka and Gama Racing’s Evan Chen and Akihiro Asai are tied for the lead on 120 points, with Matsumoto and Ochiai third.

Bobby Buncharoen of True Visions Motorsports Thailand celebrated another victory in the Am class to extend his lead in the category, while the Hong Kong duo of Paul Wong and Clement Li made it two wins in as many races to cement their position atop the Lamborghini Cup standings ahead of GDL Racing driver Gabriele Murroni.

As the lights turned green, pole-sitter Yazid dropped back, while Puhakka, who had started alongside the Malaysian, stormed into the lead. Janosz was behind in third, followed by Yazid and Muscat, who had moved up from eighth on the grid at the start. However, the lead was not to last for Puhakka who was judged to have had a false start and handed a drive-through penalty.

When Puhakka served his penalty on Lap 5, Janosz inherited the lead and took full advantage of the clear track to begin building a gap from Yazid and Muscat. Two laps later, Yazid made an error and spun on Turn 9 and, while he regained control, Yazid had lost valuable time and dropped down in the order to seventh behind Janosz, Muscat, Pull, Chen, Ochiai and Aylezo Motorsports driver Max Wiser. Desperate to recover from the error, Yazid was also forced to defend against a determined Puhakka, who was trying to climb back up the order following his penalty.

In the early stages of the race, Buncharoen led his Am class rivals, while Li was leading the Lamborghini Cup class and doing his best to build a gap to his category rivals.

By Lap 8, Janosz had already built a seven-second gap to his closest challenger, while Pull was catching Muscat as the pit window opened. Muscat handed over to fellow Australian Gersekowski, while Pull stayed out longer before handing over to Bartholomew. When the pit window closed, it was Bartholomew who had edged ahead of Gersekowski, with Amici, having taken over from Janosz, now with a commanding 10-second lead. Cozzolino took over from Yazid but was sixth, 26 seconds behind the race leader.

As the second half of the race began to take shape, a furious battle for Pro Am honours ensued between Asai, in fourth, and Matsumoto. Matsumoto piled on the pressure and tore past the Gama Racing driver on Lap 17, and then set his sights on Gersekowski. Two laps later, Matsumoto pulled alongside Gersekowski, making a successful move past the Australian.

In the closing stages, Cozzolino caught up to Asai, getting past him to take fifth with just two laps to go. A hard-charging Cozzolino then caught Gersekowski and the pair went nose-to-tail in a battle for fourth. Gersekowski, however, managed to hold on to the position as they came out of the final turn on the last lap to finish just shy of the podium.

With Race 10 marking the final Asian showdown this season, the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia next heads to Italy’s Vallelunga track for the final rounds of the championship and the highly-anticipated Lamborghini Super Trofeo World Final.

Driver Quotes:

Artur Janosz #63 FFF Racing Team by ACM – Pro Winner Round 5, Race 2
“It was an excellent day for us. The start was not easy, but I gained two places before the middle of the opening lap. The car in front of me had a drive-through penalty and so I backed off a little bit and then I just had a clear track in front of me, which was easy to drive. I knew I had to save tyres for Andrea, so I was not pushing 100 per cent. I also knew there were fast drivers behind me so I was concentrating 100 per cent, but still thinking about Andrea."

Andrea Amici #63 FFF Racing Team by ACM – Pro Winner Round 5, Race 2
“For me, it was just managing the gap that Artur made. I think this was his best race of the year. He did an excellent job so in my stint I was quite relaxed and I just had to bring the car home. Thanks to the team who improved the car from yesterday, but mega thanks to Artur for the great first stint.

“We’ll do the last round in Vallelunga – my home track – thinking not to take risks and in working towards the World Final. We want to try and finish this championship in the best way possible.”

Toshiyuki Ochiai #38 Hojust Racing – Pro Am Winner Round 5, Race 2
“Today we were fast, but our competitors were also strong. Matsumoto was faster though. For me, I drove the first stint and I had six Pro drivers in front of me, which was a lot of work and very tiring. Matsumoto was the second driver and he did a very nice stint.”

Bobby Buncharoen #59 True Visions Motorsports Thailand – Am Winner Round 5, Race 2
“Our plan for this round was to drive safely and to think about the championship points. Today we wanted to keep our position and then we got lucky.”

Paul Wong #44 852 Challengers – Lamborghini Cup Winner Round 5, Race 2
“It was a very exciting race, especially in the final stages. My amazing partner [Clement Li] gave me a spectacular time gap and I held the advantage. A very good race! Amazing!”