Emil Frey Racing takes clean sweep of poles and victories courtesy of Wishofer-Lappalainen and Aitken-Costa

Sant’Agata Bolognese/Zandvoort, 26 June 2022 – Lamborghini took a clean sweep of victories in the third round of the ADAC GT Masters season at Zandvoort courtesy of Emil Frey Racing. Mick Wishofer and Konsta Lappalainen dominated the opening race from pole position while Jack Aitken and Albert Costa Balboa did likewise in the second to vault into championship contention. The result for the #63 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO was particularly significant as it moves Aitken and Costa Balboa to fourth in the overall standings, just nine points adrift of the leader ahead of the next round in August.

Arriving in the Netherlands with high hopes, having taken a pair of Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe victories at the same circuit last year, the team was keen to make the most of a promising yet unrewarded start to the GT Masters campaign.

All three of its Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVOs started the weekend strongly, setting good times in free practice on Friday before the #14 of Konsta Lappalainen and Mick Wishofer posted the fastest time in a dry-wet qualifying session on Saturday morning. The #19 of Arthur Rougier and Franck Perera was 10th quickest after having to abandon their best lap as the rain intensified. For the #63 of Albert Costa Balboa and Jack Aitken, however, their efforts were spoiled after Costa Balboa was blocked on his fastest lap twice, ending up 14th on the grid.

Wishofer started the race – delayed after the front-row-starting Mercedes crashed on the original formation lap – and led off the rolling start. The Austrian, with slick tyres on a drying track, lost the lead to another Mercedes around the outside of Tarzan corner for the first time but regained the lead at the same corner on lap two.

From then, Wishofer opened up a lead of over eight seconds before handing over to Lappalainen at the mandatory driver-change pit-stop. Lappalainen maintained the #14’s advantage in the second stint, albeit dropping time to the chasing #27 Audi as the race entered its closing stages. The gap came down to just over a second at the finish, but Lappalainen and Wishofer had done enough to secure the victory.

Perera and Rougier finished eighth after a solid race, while Costa Balboa and Aitken were 12th following an early penalty lap for Costa Balboa being out of position at the start of the race. The #63 battled all race long and was rewarded late on when Aitken pulled off a superb overtaking move on Raffaele Marciello’s Mercedes in the closing minutes.

Sunday’s second qualifying session finally showcased the Lamborghini’s potential around the Dutch circuit, as Aitken stormed to pole position by four-hundredths of a second. Perera was third quickest in the session

From the start, Aitken held onto his lead ahead of the chasing Audi of Mattia Drudi and opened up a three seconds margin before the pit window opened. After changing with Costa Balboa, the #63 remained in control of the race in the second stint, despite the lead gap coming down to just over a second entering the final stages.

Costa Balboa, therefore, came home to take the win by a second while the #19 car of Rougier and Perera was handed an unexpected second podium of the season following a last-lap issue for the Porsche in front. Meanwhile, there was disappointment for the race-winning #14 of Lappalainen and Wishofer who had to retire following a problem.

British GT at Snetterton

The fifth weekend of the British GT Championship took place at Snetterton, with Lamborghini keen to make amends for a difficult previous round at Donington. WPI Motorsport’s Michael Igoe and Phil Keen took a close second place in the opening race of the weekend, profiting in from strong second stint speed and a puncture for the leading Mercedes in the closing stages. In race two, the Barwell Motorsport duo of Adam Balon and Lamborghini Factory Driver Sandy Mitchell claimed second place, after making their way through from fifth on the grid.