Sant’Agata Bolognese, 5 August 2020 – The Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe championship returns to action this weekend for the opening round of the 2020 season at Misano Adriatico in Italy, with two 50’ races scheduled on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.

The Misano weekend will be, for many of the drivers and teams, the first competitive race since the Super Trofeo World Finals last year, which took place at Jerez de la Frontera. Therefore, the new campaign is eagerly anticipated as a mix of youthful and experienced line-ups (23 in total) are set to do battle on track.

Veteran drivers and debutants

Headlining the Pro class for Imperiale Racing is Super Trofeo veteran and twice runner-up in the standings, Vito Postiglione who is joined by 2019 team-mate Kikko Galbiati. The pairing claimed four race wins last season but missed out on the title at the final round.

Also returning for 2020 is Leipert Motorsport, who will field a new line-up of German driver Sebastian Balthasar and Norwegian Marcus Påverud. The latter already has some experience of a Super Trofeo car, having taken victory in the 24 Hours of Barcelona in 2018 and Dubai last year. Påverud is also the reigning European GT4 Champion in the Pro-Am class.

Indeed, Leipert will enter a total of four cars, the largest of all teams in Super Trofeo Europe this season. Finnish duo Mikko Eskelinen and Elias Niskanen will compete in Pro-Am while Yury Wagner and Panagiotis Takis Spiliopoulos are in the Am class. Jake Rattenbury and Spaniard Guillem Pujeu Beya complete the line-up.

The 2014 Super Trofeo Europe champion Miloš Pavlović also returns, lining up in the Pro-Am class alongside promising young Mexican Raul Guzman at Target Racing. Reigning Danish Super GT champion Kevin Rossel will be in the other Target car, with the experienced and rapid Alberto di Folco joining him in the Pro class. Other series newcomers include Johan Kraan Motorsport’s Max Weering and Bonaldi Motorsport’s Dean Stoneman.

GSM and Oregon join the grid as VS Racing and Konrad return

As for the teams, there is also a mixture of new and returning outfits. Among them is Monaco-based team GSM Racing, who will run one car for the talented Venezuelan Jonathan Cecotto and one of the rising stars of the Super Trofeo North America scene, Patrick Liddy.

The second new team for 2020 is Oregon Team, which will field one car in the Pro and Pro-Am class. Former single seater driver Dorian Boccolacci will team up with Italian Kevin Gilardoni in the #11 Pro car, while Damiano Fioravanti and the experienced Lorenzo Bontempelli will dispute the Pro-Am category in the #14 Huracán.

After a season on the sidelines, Vincenzo Sospiri’s VS Racing is back with two cars in both the Pro and Pro-Am classes. Polish partnership Karol Basz and Andrzej Lewandowski look to add the European Pro-Am title to their World Finals win from last year, while former touring car racer Olli Parhankangas teams up with Edoardo Liberati in Pro.

Konrad Motorsport is also back for a full-season campaign with a car each for Vincent Schwartz and Martin Lechman.

Am and Lamborghini Cup

There are four cars entered in the Am class for this weekend’s opening encounter, with Autovitesse’s Cedric Leimer back for another season. The Swiss, partnered by compatriot Laurent Jenny, will be up against some new faces this year, but the competition is expected to be just as strong.

Leipert Motorsport will field Luxembourg’s Yury Wagner and Panagiotis “Takis” Spiliopoulos from Greece. Established GT team Boutsen Ginion has recruited Claude-Yves Gosselin and Giuseppe Fascicoto, while Massimo Mantovani will race for Target Racing.

In the LB Cup, Hans Fabri returns for another crack at the title with Imperiale Racing, with the Micenek Motorsport ACCR duo of Libor Dvoracek and Kurt Wagner the only other confirmed class entry for the moment.

How the weekend looks

Race 1, which is scheduled to start at 20:45 on Saturday 8^th. Race 2 is on Sunday 9^th August and begins at 13:20 CEST. Both races, which include a mandatory pit-stop, last for 50 minutes and are streamed live on the Squadra Corse YouTube channel and Facebook page.

Lamborghini Super Trofeo – 2020 Calendar

Round 1: Misano Adriatico, 7-9th August

Round 2: Nürburgring, 4-5th September

Round 3: Barcelona, 9-11th October

Round 4: Spa-Francorchamps, 20-24th October

Round 5: Circuit Paul Ricard, 13-15th November