Porto, Jamin win the eventful Race 1 in Monterey – Sportscar365

Photo: Jamey Price/Lamborghini

ANSA Motorsports drivers Kiko Porto and Nico Jamin emerged victorious in an incident-filled first race of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

Porto took the checkered flag behind the safety car ahead of Ryan Norman and Danny Formal’s No. 1 Wayne Taylor Racing Andretti Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2.

ANSA benefited from an efficient pit stop that moved the winning No. 4 Lamborghini from third to first when the pit window opened following the second of three cautions throughout the route.

The No. 88 TR3 Racing Lamborghini of Ernie Francis Jr. and Giano Taurino ended up on the final step of the podium despite leading the race before the delayed mandatory pit stops.

The #30 ANSA machine of Loris Cabirou and Bryson Morris took fourth place, while Scott Huffaker rounded out the World Speed ​​top five.

Forte Racing’s Patrick Liddy led the 40-car field on green and immediately fended off a retirement from Danny Formal into the Andretti Hairpin.

A few corners later, Taurino fought his way past Liddy and took the overall lead, pushing the Forte driver wide open at the exit of Turn 9 and dropping to fourth. A later spin during the first safety car restart saw Liddy fall back in the rankings and ultimately see the checkered flag in eleventh place.

Slade Stewart and Andy Lee took their first Pro-Am class win in the #14 Flying Lizards Motorsports car in a controlled drive that saw the duo lead the entire race.

Cole Kleck took the win at Am in the No. 28 Alliance Racing Lamborghini shared with Al Morey.

The #69 WTRAndretti entry inexplicably went off track during the pit stop before rejoining the field, meaning Anthony McIntosh would relinquish the Am class lead that Glenn McGee had claimed in the pits .

Meanwhile, the LB Cup was dominated by Michael Staab, who led from start to flag for Precision Performance Motorsports.

An early spin by Raymond Davoudi’s No. 11 Topp Racing Lamborghini briefly resulted in the first yellow period as the car was recovered from the Turn 9 gravel trap.

Less than a lap after the restart, the safety car came out again when Sam Shi drove his No. 98 Flying Lizard machine off the track in Turn 3. At the same time, Liddy turned his Forte Lamborghini around, pushed out of Turn 6 and rejoined the field near the rear.

While behind the safety car, Christopher Tasca struck the tire barriers in Turn 1, extending the overall caution period on track and delaying the opening of the race’s mandatory ten-minute pit stop window.

The race resumed after 23 minutes and the pit window opened immediately upon restart.

The race ultimately ended under caution as marshals pulled Ray Shahi’s No. 65 Forte machine out of the Turn 1 gravel drain.

A record-breaking 41 cars were entered for this weekend’s event at Laguna Seca, but a pre-race technical issue meant that Ken Dobson’s No. 27 Am-class Forte Lamborghini did not receive the green flag, reducing the number of cars available for racing 1 dropped by one.

Race 2 begins Sunday at 9:40 a.m. PDT (12:40 p.m. EDT) with live coverage on Peacock and IMSA.tv.

RESULTS: Race 1

Jonathan Grace is the host of Sportscar365’s Double Stint Podcast and a contributor to the site’s IMSA-sanctioned racing coverage.