Lamborghini Super Trofeo 2024 - Round 6 Jerez Race 1
On November 13th and 14th, the annual finale of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia Challenge officially kicked off at the Jerez circuit in Spain. The Madness Racing Team went all out on the first race day at Jerez and hit the front row. The No. 288 team, Andre Couto and Francis Chen (formerly: Jason), continued their strong momentum and won the runner-up in the Pro-Am class; the No. 277 team, Stephen Hong and Harry He, encountered despite the accident and loss of ranking, he turned the tide and returned to fourth place in the Am category.
Free practice and qualifying will be held on November 13. Since this is the team’s first visit to the Jerez circuit, becoming familiar with the layout and characteristics of the track will be the team’s focus during the practice session. The four crew members took the field in two practice sessions one after another to familiarize themselves with the track conditions. At the same time, they also accumulated more than 30 laps of mileage, laying a solid foundation for subsequent optimization of car performance adjustments.
After a short rest, the team immediately entered the qualifying competition. In the first qualifying session, Andre Couto ran a lap time of 1:44.848, helping the No. 288 team to rank among the top four; Stephen Hong made breakthrough progress. He lapped 1:45.382 in a duel with a number of powerful drivers. His lap time stood out and he won the pole position in the Am class! This is also the first class pole position for car No. 277 this season!
Entering the second qualifying session, Harry He and Francis Chen took over. Harry He also performed well in the 20-minute qualifying session. He made a personal fastest lap of 1:49.722 in the limited track time, once again obtaining the top ten starting positions for the No. 277 team. Francis Chen unfortunately encountered a car failure in the second qualifying session and was unable to further improve his performance. The No. 288 car group will pursue the pursuit from behind in the second round of the race.
At the start of the first round of the race, Stephen Hong, the starting driver of the No. 277 car group, firmly maintained the leading position in the Am group, and at the same time surpassed two cars in a row, rising to third place in the race. Andre Couto was affected by tire heating issues and was slightly delayed at the start. However, the No. 288 team benefited from Couto's experienced driving and still maintained the second position in the Pro-Am class.
Soon after, one car lost control and spun into the gravel area, triggering the safety car. Madness Racing's two cars were also able to narrow the gap with the car ahead. Andre Couto returned to fourth place with his outstanding performance, while Stephen Hong ranked second in the Am category.
In the following race, Andre Couto turned on the pursuit mode. This powerful veteran even set a new personal fastest lap in the race with 1:59.684, fully challenging for the leading position in the class. Stephen Hong ran second in the group with a stable long-distance rhythm.
During the half-way pit stop, the team members efficiently completed the driver replacement work. Francis Chen and Harry He will be responsible for the second driving. An accident on the track caused the safety car to be deployed again, which turned the late stages of the first round into a 10-minute sprint race.
After the restart, Francis Chen drove steadily, closely following the competitors in front, and constantly looking for opportunities to overtake with the help of his opponents' struggles. In the end, the No. 288 car crew ranked second in the Pro-Am class, and Francis Chen and Andre Couto received their ninth podium of the season.
In the final stage of the race, Harry He started a fierce battle with a number of riders in the same category. Unfortunately, the No. 277 car was hit by another car while fighting for position. It spun out of control and lost a lot of rankings. But Harry He did not give up. This gentleman driver made great efforts after returning to the competition and joined hands with Stephen Hong to finish the race in fourth place in the Am category.
The second round of the Jerez station will kick off on Friday afternoon. The Madness Racing Team will review in detail the experience gained in the first round of the race and make every effort to prepare the cars to help the four drivers challenge for the podium again. We look forward to the wonderful performance of the four drivers tomorrow!