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The second Lamborghini Blancpain Super
Trofeo encounter took place at Norisring,
Germany, this weekend, where Jens Klingmann
of Lamborghini München Team Holzer secured
three wins in his debut Super Trofeo race
meeting. |
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The
second Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo
encounter took place at the Norisring, Germany,
over the weekend, where Jens Klingmann of
Lamborghini München Team Holzer secured three
wins in his debut Super Trofeo race meeting.
Qualifying
Klingmann qualified on pole for round four of
the Super Trofeo series after setting a fastest
lap of 51.535. The competition remained close
throughout the 30-minute session, in which
Lamborghini München Team Holzer, Petri Corse and
Bonaldi Motorsport all topped the time sheets.
Klingmann set his fastest lap with four minutes
remaining on the clock, benefitting from a
yellow flag being thrown in the closing laps.
Bonaldi Motorsport’s Davide Amaduzzi secured the
front row position alongside Klingmann with a
best qualifying time of 51.778. Behind, Petri
Corse’s Fabio Babini set the third fastest time,
with Maximilian Götz fourth.
“The Holzer team gave me a good car and we were
P2 in practice this morning, so I’m very
satisfied with the way things are going,” said
Klingmann. “We just pushed hard in the last 10
minutes, and that was it. I was a bit lucky
because for the last three laps there was a
yellow flag, so nobody else could try to improve
their time.”
Round four
Klingmann managed to pull out a good lead from
second-place man Amos at the start. In the
chasing pack, a four-way battle for third place
erupted between Achim Winter, Jarek Janiš,
Rossetto and Albert von Thurn und Taxis. Janiš
managed to find his way through for third, pass
Amos for second and begin to reel in Klingmann,
but was unable to catch him by the chequered
flag and finished the race in second place.
Babini took over the #22 Petri Corse Super
Trofeo from Rossetto in fifth place and made a
determined push for the podium. However, Babini
was unable to catch third-placed Amaduzzi, who
was building on team-mate Amos’ strong opening
stint. In the final laps Janiš managed to close
the gap between himself and the leader, but
Klingmann remained just out of reach and secured
the win. Janiš secured second place with
Amaduzzi completing the podium.
Janiš commented: “It was a tough race for me.
The heat and humidity in the car makes the full
race stint quite tricky, but it was fun as it
was still wet in places on the track and we were
on slick tyres. After the pit stop I tried to
catch Jens [Klingmann] but wasn’t able to
achieve the same speed, so slowed down just a
little to make sure I finished the race on the
podium.”
Round five
Race two of the weekend saw Klingmann claim his
second victory. His closest rival, the #69
Bonaldi Motorsport Super Trofeo of Amaduzzi and
Amos, dropped to the back of the field after an
extended pit stop, allowing Klingmann to
maintain his lead. Having fought his way through
the field after a poor start, Janiš secured a
second-place finish, with Schoolmaster’s Arjen
van de Zwaan claiming the last podium position
after starting 12th on the grid.
“I had the perfect start,” said van de Zwaan. “I
got on the throttle just at the right time and
managed to gain half a car length on the drivers
around me; the car then continued to work
perfectly throughout the race. Norisring is a
beautiful track: it’s the first time I’ve been
here and it suits my style of driving 100 per
cent!”
Round six
Sunday’s final race saw Klingmann complete his
hat trick of victories. Janiš and Klingmann
entered the first corner side-by-side but it was
the #66 of Klingmann who claimed the lead, and
began to create a gap. Babini led the chase, and
the Petri Corse Super Trofeo secured the lead
after the pit stops. However, Rossetto crossed
the yellow line at the pit exit after taking
over from Babini, earning a drive-through
penalty, resulting in a fifth-place finish. Götz
in the #4 managed to climb through from 10th on
the grid to third place, and team-mate Winter
was able to hold on to the final podium position
despite pressure from Ferruccio Bellini in the
closing laps. Janiš finished ahead for second
place.
“It wasn’t an easy last race: I had a 15-second
penalty added to my pit stop, so had to push
really hard every lap,” said Klingmann. “Unlike
the other two races, when I came out of the pits
I was not in the lead, so had to push even
harder as I wanted to catch Claudio [Rossetto].
But his penalty worked in my favour. This was
the best start I could have hoped for. I think
driving the Super Trofeo race car with
Lamborghini München Team Holzer was a great
choice, and we’re in discussions about me coming
back to drive for them during the season.”
Lamborghini’s Director of Brand and Design,
Manfred Fitzgerald, said: “The atmosphere this
race weekend has been outstanding. Once again
we’ve seen fantastically close competition from
drivers of mixed abilities, demonstrating that
the series’ format is something that allows
everyone to be competitive. Having a young pilot
like Klingmann do so well is extremely exciting
to see, as it illustrates the driveability of
the Super Trofeo race car. The next meeting at
Spa, one of the world’s most famous and
demanding race tracks, will be a fantastic
challenge for the competitors.”
Qualifying results
1. Klingmann (#66), Lamborghini München Team
Holzer 51.535
2. Amos/Amaduzzi (#69), Bonaldi Motorsport
51.778
3. Babini/Rossetto (#22), Petri Corse 51.794
4. Götz/Winter (#9), Lamborghini München Team
Holzer 52.046
5. Hayek/Kox (#24), Reiter Engineering 52.057
6. Bellini (#3), Bonaldi Motorsport 52.095
7. Frei/Cochet (#11), Autovitesse 52.160
8. Janis (#77), Lamborghini Racing Eastern
Europe 52.195
9. von Thurn und Taxis/Stuck (#1), Automobili
Lamborghini S.p.A 52.229
10. Bassetti/Venica (#6), Petri Corse 52.358
11. C. Leimer/H. Leimer (#63), Autovitesse
52.790
12. Charouz/Scheublein, (#88) Lamborghini Racing
Eastern Europe 53.172
13. Sanna/Westerhoff (#2), Automobili
Lamborghini S.p.A 53.296
14. Dijkstra/van de Zwaan (#16), Schoolmaster
53.546
Round four results
1. Klingmann (#66), Lamborghini München Team
Holzer 40:16.968
2. Janiš (#77), Lamborghini Racing Eastern
Europe +06.666
3. Amos/Amaduzzi (#69), Bonaldi Motorsport
+38.643
4. Babini/Rossetto (#22), Petri Corse +47.997
5. Götz/Winter (#9), Lamborghini München Team
Holzer +48.639
6. von Thurn und Taxis/Stuck (#1), Automobili
Lamborghini S.p.A +52.294
7. Frei/Cochet (#11), Autovitesse + 1 lap
8. Sanna/Westerhoff (#2), Automobili Lamborghini
S.p.A + 1 lap
9. C. Leimer/H. Leimer (#63), Autovitesse + 2
laps
10. Bassetti/Venica (#6), Petri Corse + 2 laps
11. Hayek/Kox (#24), Reiter Engineering + 3 laps
12. Dijkstra/van de Zwaan (#16), Schoolmaster +
9 laps
Not classified
Bellini (#3), Bonaldi Motorsport +12 laps
Round five results
1. Klingmann (#66), Lamborghini München Team
Holzer 40:06.213
2. Janiš (#77), Lamborghini Racing Eastern
Europe +10.413
3. van de Zwaan (#16), Schoolmaster +31.517
4. Babini/Rossetto (#22), Petri Corse +36.941
5. Bellini (#3), Bonaldi Motorsport +48.396
6. von Thurn und Taxis/Stuck (#1), Automobili
Lamborghini S.p.A + 1 lap
7. C. Leimer/H. Leimer (#63), Autovitesse + 1
lap
8. Sanna/Westerhoff (#2), Automobili Lamborghini
S.p.A + 1 lap
9. Bassetti/Venica (#6), Petri Corse + 2 laps
10. Amos/Amaduzzi (#69), Bonaldi Motorsport + 3
laps
Not classified
Götz/Winter (#9), Lamborghini München Team
Holzer + 15 laps
Hayek/Kox (#24), Reiter Engineering + 39 laps
Frei/Cochet (#11), Autovitesse + 41 laps
Round six results
1. Klingmann (#66), Lamborghini München Team
Holzer 40:50.984
2. Janis (#77), Lamborghini Racing Eastern
Europe +19.898
3. Götz/Winter (#9), Lamborghini München Team
Holzer +38.429
4. Bellini (#3), Bonaldi Motorsport +38.619
5. Babini/Rossetto (#22), Petri Corse + 1 lap
6. Hayek/Kox (#24), Reiter Engineering + 1 lap
7. C. Leimer/H. Leimer (#63), Autovitesse + 1
lap
8. Bassetti (#6), Petri Corse + 1 lap
Not classified
von Thurn und Taxis/Stuck (#1), Automobili
Lamborghini S.p.A + 25 laps
Amos/Amaduzzi (#69), Bonaldi Motorsport + 42
laps
Sanna/Westerhoff (#2), Automobili Lamborghini
S.p.A + 43 laps
The Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo features
the Lamborghini Super Trofeo: a lightweight
version of the Gallardo LP 560-4. The Super
Trofeo is equipped with a reworked chassis and a
power output of 419 kW (570 hp) from its V10,
‘Iniezione Diretta Stratificata’ engine. The
race car features Lamborghini’s permanent
four-wheel drive, making the Super Trofeo the
only one-make, all-wheel-drive motorsport
series. The Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo
is running over six European race weekends,
alongside other prestigious series such as the
FIA GT Championship, DTM and the British F3 and
GT Championships. Either one or two drivers per
car can register for the series; each race
weekend comprises free practice, qualifying
session, and three 40-minute races. The next
Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo race weekend
will be held at Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, on
23-25 July 2009.
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