29.07.2019 – Imperiale Racing has claimed two podiums in a weekend that has certainly been tougher than expected on the iconic circuit of Spa-Francorchamps (B) that has staged the fourth round of Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe 2019.
The Italian team fielded three Lamborghini Huracàn Super Trofeo Evo: the #44 car driven by Vito Postiglione (ITA) and Kikko Galbiati (ITA), the #8 by Karol Basz (PL) and Bartosz Paziewski (PL), both in PRO, and the #88 car driven by Hans Fabri (NL) in LC.
Imperiale Racing drivers posted very good times since the first free practice sessions of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe that has been the support event to the prestigious Total 24 Hours of Spa. The same strong performance was then repeated in qualifying. Postiglione claimed the pole position in Q1 completing his best lap in 2’20.395s, while behind him, an effective Basz locked out the front row for Imperiale Racing with his fastest lap in 2’20.933s. Fabri was fourth in LC in 2’28.765s. In the tight Q2, the third time went to Galbiati on the #44 car in 2’21.762s, while Paziewski qualified the #8 in seventh place in 2’23.122s. Fabri claimed P5 in LC in 2’31.394s instead.
Race one has been quite challenging. A sudden power drop forced poleman Postiglione to concede some positions. The Italian was resolute to bounce back though and was involved in a contact with Anthony Lambert at La Source hairpin, which forced him to retire.
Basz got the lead of the race on the #8 car after the start and led it until the pit stop. The challenge was heated up in the second part of the race as Paziewski lapped on a good pace claiming another podium in P3.
Fabri ran a good race in LC. The Dutch driver ended in fact at the feet of the podium in P4 of the category.
Race two has been more positive. Galbiati decided to keep the #44 car away from dangerous contacts early on conceding some positions but then ran a good stint. The perfect pit strategy allowed Postiglione to start his stint in a good moment. Thanks to some spectacular overtaking moves he climbed up to the final second place.
The #8 car also ran a comeback race AS Paziewski first and Basz then got most of all the occasions they got and closed their effort in P5. Fabri secured another fourth place in LC recovering one place from his starting position and ending once again at the feet of the podium.
Luca Del Grosso (Imperiale Racing, Team Manager):
“As I said at the beginning of the weekend, Spa-Francorchamps does not award anything and the balance can be drawn only at the end. We demonstrated speed and competitiveness but collected less than what we would have expected especially in race one. Our performance on the single lap on Thursday and Friday showed we could have fought for the win, but some episodes forced our drivers to recover some ground and things did not always go as planned. We now have some time to analyze all the data during the summer break. We will certainly get back on track at Nürburgring with renewed motivation”.
The Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe will switch engines on in one month time. The classic round at the Nürburgring (GER) will in fact take place on August 30st – September 1st.
