Jamin and Porto Sweep Overall Victories in the No. 4 Ansa Motorsports Lamborghini Huracán
By Mark Robinson
MONTEREY, Calif. – The Nico and Kiko Show kept rolling on Sunday at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, as the Ansa Motorsports duo completed a weekend victory sweep of Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America races.
Nico Jamin and Kiko Porto drove Ansa’s No. 4 Lamborghini Broward Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2 to the overall and Pro class victory in another caution-interrupted 50-minute race. They’ve now won three of the first four races in the 2024 season and taken the class points lead.
“It’s awesome,” Porto said. “This is my first year in Lamborghini, my first year in GT cars, so everything is very new for me. To be able to be with these guys, learning every single weekend, to accelerate my learning process in these kind of cars, it’s awesome. It’s a pleasure to be here.”
Porto started from the pole position on Sunday but was passed by Patrick Liddy (No. 72 Forte Racing, Lamborghini Beverly Hills Huracán) on the opening lap in Turn 2. The No. 4 recovered the class lead during the round of mandatory pit stops and Jamin held strong to the finish that ended under the third full-course caution of the day.
“The whole team at Ansa Motorsports is doing a really phenomenal job,” Jamin said. “I’m so proud of this team and so proud of Kiko – new to this series, coming as a rookie and he’s been amazing. He’s really fast, we make a good pair, we get along super well, and I guess that’s what you need to make a team successful.”
With the two wins this weekend, Jamin and Porto moved into the Pro class lead, unofficially 15 points ahead of Giano Taurino and Ernie Francis Jr. (No. 88 TR3 Racing, Lamborghini Miami Huracán).
Stacy, Persing Find Way Back to ProAm Victory Lane
Nick Persing and Nate Stacy took advantage of a timely pit stop and a late spin from the class leader to secure the ProAm win in the No. 8 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti, Lamborghini Palm Beach Huracán.
Persing dove into the pits just before a full-course caution that split the 10-minute pit window in half, giving Stacy excellent track position when racing resumed. Stacy was running second overall and in ProAm to AJ Muss (No. 66 Forty7 Motorsports, Lamborghini Philadelphia Huracán) until Muss spun exiting Turn 11 with eight minutes to go.
“WTRAndretti gave us a great car and it made navigating traffic a lot easier,” Stacy said. “Nick Persing did an awesome job, kept it clean in the first stint, handed off a great race car. Honestly, there was a lot going on out there. It was kind of survive; I wasn’t really worried about moving forward or backwards, I was just trying to not get sent off track. Did that and ended up winning the race.”
In addition to the class win, Persing and Stacy finished second overall. It’s their third Super Trofeo win together and first of 2024.
“This is my home track so I’ve got all my friends and family here,” Persing said. “It’s an amazing feeling to bring one home for the home crowd. … We just kept our nose clean and I did my job. I handed it off to Nate and he was able to bring it in.”
Jeroen Bleekemolen and Tim Pappas, co-drivers of the No. 54 Flying Lizard Motorsports, Lamborghini Newport Beach Huracán, retained the unofficial ProAm points lead, one better than Flying Lizard teammates Andy Lee and Slade Stewart in the No. 14 Lamborghini Newport Beach Huracán.
McIntosh, McGee Awarded First Am Win of Season
Anthony McIntosh and Glenn McGee crossed the finish line second in the Am class Sunday, co-driving the No. 69 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti, Lamborghini Palm Beach Huracán. They were elevated to the class win when the No. 28 Alliance Racing, Lamborghini Palm Beach Huracán shared by Cole Kleck and Al Morey was penalized in postrace technical inspection for a ride height infraction.
Coupled with their ninth-place finish in Saturday’s race, McIntosh and McGee have taken the class points lead after four races.
Staab Completes LB Cup Weekend Sweep
Michael Staab enjoyed his first professional race win on Saturday so much that he decided to repeat it Sunday in LB Cup in the No. 48 Precision Performance Motorsports, Lamborghini Palm Beach Huracán. Staab started third in class, made the pass for the class lead 20 minutes into the race, opted to make his pit stop early and then held the LB Cup competitors at bay to the finish.
“It was a great weekend,” Staab said. “I’m hoping this is a pattern that’s going to keep happening. It was a hard battle out there. At the start I knew I had to get up and get around those two guys (for the class lead), and from there I just kept going. It hasn’t set in yet that it’s two-for-two but it feels pretty good.”
Staab unofficially moved within three points of LB Cup leader Jon Hirshberg (No. 86 Forte Racing, Lamborghini Rancho Mirage Huracán) in the standings.
The third doubleheader round of the 2024 Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America season takes place June 20-23 at Watkins Glen International.