A Last-Lap Flyer and a Foe’s Time Penalty Add up to Victory for the No. 1 Huracán
June 23, 2023
By Mark Robinson
IMSA Wire Service
Unofficial Race Results
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – The opening race of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America weekend at Watkins Glen International featured a bit of everything: hard racing, a dash of rain, a decisive time penalty and a dramatic late restart. When the dust settled, Kyle Marcelli and Danny Formal had captured their third overall and Pro class win in as many tries in 2023.The reigning class champions in the No. 1 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport, Lamborghini Palm Beach, Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo Evo2 crossed the finish line just behind the No. 88 TR3 Racing, Lamborghini Palm Beach Huracán shared by Giano Taurino and Lucas Petersson. But the No. 88 fell short of the minimum time for its mandatory pit stop, and with that penalty of 1.767 seconds assessed, it handed the win to Marcelli and Formal by 0.423 seconds.Formal was the closing driver in the No. 1 and trailed Petersson in the No. 88 by 2.406 seconds as they took the white flag for the final lap in the 50-minute race. Knowing he needed to shave some seven-tenths of a second off the deficit, Formal clicked off the fastest lap of the race by any driver (1 minute, 47.854 seconds) on the 3.4-mile, 11-turn road course.“I’ve been doing Super Trofeo now for three seasons and that last lap was the hardest I’ve ever pushed in my career in IMSA,” Formal said. “Just had to nail everything. … I just launched it into the Bus Stop, launched it into Turn 1, launched it into Turn 6 and I got the fast lap of the race on the last lap when it mattered. The car was fantastic!”The victory was the 11th for the duo in North American Super Trofeo competition. Formal credited Marcelli for turning the car over to him in prime condition, with enough tire life left to compete for the win. Marcelli, meanwhile, marveled at his co-driver’s dramatic last-lap dash.“When you’ve got that rabbit in front of you to chase and there’s something on the line,” Marcelli said, “you just find something else and he did that today. He just dug deep and found that extra six-tenths. Hell of a last lap!” All class winners on Friday were repeats from the most recent race last month at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. JCD Dubets and Tom Capizzi took the ProAm victory in the No. 46 Precision Performance Motorsports, Lamborghini Palm Beach Huracán, despite Capizzi spinning when light rain began to fall with 16 minutes left in the race. Their teammate, David Staab, won in the No. 48 PPM, Lamborghini Palm Beach Huracán despite earning a pit time penalty himself. Mark Wilgus won for the third straight time in LB Cup, driving solo in the No. 50 Forte Racing Powered by US RaceTronics, Lamborghini Rancho Mirage Huracán.Dubets started from the ProAm pole and second overall in the 34-car field, building a comfortable cushion before Capizzi hopped in the No. 46. Soon after, however, Capizzi spun in the wet conditions and stalled in Turn 8. Fortunately, he got going and retained the class lead before a full-course caution waved with 13 minutes remaining after Todd Coleman spun in the No. 96 TR3 Racing, Lamborghini Miami Huracán and made contact with a Turn 1 barrier.The green flag waved again with just under eight minutes left and Capizzi hung on by 0.790 seconds over Marc Miller in the No. 41 Flying Lizard Motorsports, Lamborghini Newport Beach Huracán.“Spun and won!” a relieved Capizzi said with a laugh. “Worked real hard after the spin, brought it home. Really close racing after the restart and a little dicey but we got through cleanly. I’m really happy about that.”Staab was assessed a 0.483-second penalty for a short pit stop in the No. 48, but he wasn’t even aware of it as he closed in on the Am class finish.“I didn’t know I had the penalty; we were having some radio issues,” he admitted. “Just kept it flat out, so drove it the same as if we’d known that there was a penalty.”Even with the penalty, Staab won by 1.685 seconds over Anthony McIntosh and Glenn McGee in the No. 69 Precision Performance Motorsports, Lamborghini Palm Beach Huracán.“We were pretty far off in Practice 1,” Staab said, “and then collectively we decided to make some pretty big swings going into Practice 2, and it really got the car in the window. By the time we got to qualifying, it just really felt perfect and it felt perfect the entire race out there.”Racing for the first time at The Glen, Wilgus led in LB Cup when the caution period began and benefited from being just ahead of the overall leader No. 1. He received the wave-by to the rear of the field, giving him a full lap’s lead at the checkered flag.“This is all kind of new to me and it’s a fun, flowy track,” Wilgus said. “I just went out there and drove and caught a couple guys, made a couple passes and I got that crazy split with the pace car. That’s just luck, so then there was no pressure for the rest of the race.”Race 2 streams live on IMSA.com/TVLive at 11:10 a.m. ET Saturday. |
