Lally Takes Checkered Flag in Season Debut at Watkins Glen International

In his first start of the season, Andy Lally won Round 3 of the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo North America series at Watkins Glen International.

 

Sports car veteran Lally joined the series last season for the final two rounds at Road Atlanta and made his return this weekend for Change Racing in the No. 99 Lamborghini Huracán LP 620-2 Super Trofeo representing Lamborghini Carolinas, capturing a victory by .745 of a second over Richard Antinucci.

 

“This was a lot of fun!” Lally said. “These cars are pretty wild, and this was a blast. I had a lot of pressure from (Edoardo) Piscopo and then Antinucci at the end. I had an incident coming into the apex of Turn 9, and I had to rim-shot the corner and he (Antinucci) gained a bunch of time on me, but I was able to hold on. It was a really good time.” 

 

After starting second behind Edoardo Piscopo, Lally took the lead when Piscopo made his mandatory pit stop and never relinquished it.

 

Antinucci finished second in the No. 50 Lamborghini Huracán fielded by O’Gara Motorsport and representing Lamborghini Beverly Hills for his third podium result of the season. The duo of Kevin Conway and Enrique Bernoldi followed in their No. 1 Prestige Performance Huracán representing Lamborghini Paramus.

 

Piscopo ended the race in fourth place overall. Lally’s Change Racing teammate, Corey Lewis, rounded out the top five and was first in the Huracán Pro-Am division in the No. 29 Huracán representing Lamborghini Carolinas. 

 

Angel Benitez Jr. and Nicholas Dickson found the podium for the first time this season, finishing second in the Pro-Am class in the No. 26 Avid Motorsports Huracán representing Lamborghini Miami, followed by Round 2 winner Cedric Sbirrazzuoli and his co-driver Lawrence DeGeorge in the No. 07 fielded by STR and representing Lamborghini Dallas.

 

In the Huracán Amateur division, Ryan Ockey took first in the No. 89 O’Gara Motorsport machine representing Lamborghini Vancouver.

 

The father-son duo of Jim and Josh Norman earned their third straight podium finish by placing second in the Amateur division, followed by Ryan Ockey’s brother Damon in the No. 09 O’Gara Motorsport Huracán representing Lamborghini Calgary.

 

Mitchum Motorsports, the reigning team champion, swept the Gallardo podium for the second time this season. Dylan Murcott took the win in his No. 84 Gallardo LP 570-4 Super Trofeo followed by teammates Brandon Gdovic and Todd Snyder.

 

Gdovic was the top Gallardo Amateur finisher in his No. 46 Lamborghini representing Palm Beach, followed by Snyder. Joe Chan and Paul Taylor rounded out the top three Amateur finishers in the No. 15 Paragon Competition Gallardo representing Lamborghini Toronto.

 

Tape-delayed coverage of Round 3 will air at 10 p.m. (ET) Wednesday, July 8 on CBS Sports Network. Coverage will include live commentary on both the broadcast and live streams.

 

Lamborghini and its dealers entertain VIP guests at every Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo North America event at the Lamborghini and Blancpain Village, featuring lavish hospitality and amenities.

 

ROUND 3 POST-RACE QUOTES:

 

ANDY LALLY (No. 99 Lamborghini Carolinas, winner): “This was a lot of fun! These cars are pretty wild, and this was a blast. I had a lot of pressure from (Edoardo) Piscopo and then Antinucci at the end. I had an incident coming into the apex of Turn 9, and I had to rim-shot the corner and he (Antinucci) gained a bunch of time on me, but I was able to hold on. It was a really good time.” 

 

RICHARD ANTINUCCI (No. 50 Lamborghini Beverly Hills, second): “We had everything go wrong in qualifying. Third and fourth is really good damage limitation, for a starting point. I was sleeping on the first restart, so I apologize to the team. I think we had the chance to win it, but considering where we started from, second is nice.” 

 

KEVIN CONWAY (No. 1 Lamborghini Paramus, third): “Conditions did change quite a bit from qualifying to the first race, but we had a decent qualifying effort. Everybody on the whole Prestige Performance team has worked really hard; we’re making gains. This is a whole new team, all new people that came together just before the start of the season. So we’re excited about how this is coming together. It’s a good day for Lamborghini Paramus. We’re starting to get our footing with this new Huracán, and we’re excited about that. Enrique (Bernoldi) drove an awesome second stint. Hopefully we’ll be in good shape tomorrow. We’ll see what the weather does. Overall, solid day, and I’m proud of everybody at Prestige Performance and Lamborghini Paramus.”

 

ENRIQUE BERNOLDI (No. 1 Lamborghini Paramus, third): “I like this track. I’ve raced here before with IndyCar back in 2008. I really enjoyed this track. We had problems during practice and during qualifying. I think to be on the podium and to be close to the leaders has been a big improvement for us. Tomorrow if it rains I think it will be fun, and I’m looking forward to the race.”

 

EDOARDO PISCOPO (No. 69 Lamborghini Beverly Hills, fourth, pole winner) “It’s my first race in a Huracán and my first race at Watkins Glen. I couldn’t dream of anything better. I was leading in the race, but we had some trouble with the pit stop and we lost five seconds. So out of the pit lane I was fourth. And here it is really hard to overtake, so I couldn’t overtake. I am happy about the fastest lap of the race, and tomorrow I have the pole again, so we will bring it home again tomorrow.”

 

COREY LEWIS (No. 29 Lamborghini Carolinas, fifth, first Pro-Am): “Finally got the win we always wanted. We were fighting so hard at Laguna and now to come to my home track, lot of family and friends here, it was great. The team has worked so hard the off weekends to prep the car, so thank you to Change Racing, Lamborghini Carolinas, Monster Energy, GoPro and everyone involved. And for Andy (Lally) to win overall makes it an amazing race weekend for Change Racing, and hopefully we can make it a repeat tomorrow in the rain. The Pirellis held up great. I think it was a good idea to do the mandatory four-tire change. It just gives us drivers a little more peace of mind knowing we have fresh tires under us in such high-speed corners. Hats off to Pirelli for helping us out with that.” 

 

ANGEL BENITEZ JR. (No. 26 Lamborghini Miami, sixth, second Pro-Am): “I am actually really tired.  It’s been a long two days of practice sessions and qualifying, and I have had to really work a lot.  It’s fun to get back to the Lamborghini, but we still need to try more with the car. Test more. We are missing something. But we are happy, and we are trying our best. The team is improving. We as drivers are improving. So it’s just going to get better, and we are really happy to be here. So thanks to Lamborghini and their partners, as well as my team AVID and IMSA, for making this possible.”

 

NICHOLAS DICKSON (No. 26 Lamborghini Miami, sixth, second Pro-Am): “The team was fabulous and on top of it. We were practicing the tire changes like 20 minutes before the race. That yellow happened right in front of me, and all I could think about was ‘Days of Thunder,’ but it slowed us down a little bit. But it kept everyone in line we started back up again. We got the car in quick. I had a little error when I came in. I stalled it in a gear, but we managed to get around it.”

 

CEDRIC SBIRRAZZUOLI (No. 07 Lamborghini Dallas, seventh, third Pro-Am): “Overall I’m happy because unlike in Laguna, I’m here with my teammate Larry (DeGeorge), and this is his first race ever. First race, first podium – we couldn’t have a better start. Then obviously these were not the best conditions for me because I didn’t do the free practice because I was still in Europe. Honestly, I’m really happy about how everything went today. We got a little bit lucky with the safety car, but that’s racing, and sometimes it’s for you and sometimes it’s against you. Again, congratulations to the team and my teammate. Everyone did a great job today, and that’s why we ended up on podium. Maybe we’ll climb higher on the steps in the second race.”

 

LAWRENCE DeGEORGE (No. 07 Lamborghini Dallas, seventh, third Pro-Am): “The team prepared the car perfectly. Its unfortunate about some of the yellows, but we were able to maintain good position and keep it in a good spot. After the driver change, Cedric (Sbirrazzuoli) was able to move up a few places and we were able to get on podium, so it was a great first start.”

 

RYAN OCKEY (No. 89 Lamborghini Vancouver, first, Amateur): “It was a great race. We had a great pit stop and timed it perfectly. We were in P2 and came out in P1. Had a good drag race in the last corner to finish in P1, just ahead of the father-and-son duo. A little scary on that second lap when that guy spun right in front of me; he must have missed me by a couple inches. That was frightening. After that I settled in and had a great race. It was fun.”

 

JIM NORMAN (No. 71 Lamborghini Palm Beach, second, Amateur): “It was a great race, and I am really proud of how Josh (Norman) did. He’s never been here before and he’s come up to speed very quickly, and he’s putting everyone here on notice. By the end of the year, he’ll be going for overall podiums. The kid is fast.” 

 

JOSH NORMAN (No. 71 Lamborghini Palm Beach, second, Amateur): “I like the uphill Esses. It’s a very scary corner, and it took me a long time to get used to it. Even after a couple dozen times going through there, I am still tiptoeing and on edge. I am very comfortable in the car now, but all the tracks we go to except VIR I haven’t been there before. I am comfortable in the car, but I have to learn all the tracks.”

 

DAMON OCKEY (No. 09 Lamborghini Calgary, third, Amateur): “The track was great. When we were lining up for the pre-grid, I couldn’t get my car into gear, so I had to start from the back of the pack. So I started dead last, made up about six spots on the first lap, and then there was a full-course caution. Made up a few spots after that, ended up P3. The race was great other than a couple guys spinning on their own. I think it was a pretty clean race, and the conditions were perfect.”

 

DYLAN MURCOTT (No. 84 Lamborghini, first, Gallardo): “That was a crazy race. I had a teammate lose a wheel right in front of me, and I almost hit him. I got around him, though. I was able to nurse it home, and it was a good points day. I’m glad to get back on the top step of the podium.”

Adam Sinclair