ProAm, Am Titles Come Down to the Wire as Persing Scores Overall Win
By Tony DiZinno
MISANO, Italy – The temperatures in the air and on track were cool while the temperatures on the computer were hot crunching the numbers to see who would take the two remaining Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America class titles in Friday morning’s season finale at Misano World Circuit.
Ultimately, Glenn McGee and Graham Doyle hung on by a thin margin to secure the Am class title while in ProAm, Jason Hart and Conrad Geis completed a come-from-behind title win that came courtesy of a late-race pass affecting their closest title rivals.
With the Pro title clinched on Thursday, Danny Formal and Hampus Ericsson could enjoy a pressure-free drive and with the LB Cup title secured in Indianapolis, Nick Groat has been taking in this week’s proceedings from home.
And in the 50-minute race itself, the overall win swung based on a time penalty for track limits. There was no shortage of action or story lines to cap off the 2025 North America rounds before the Lamborghini World Finals begin on Saturday.
Pro
Nick Persing scored his third win of the season and first since WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in May aboard his No. 108 Wayne Taylor Racing, Lamborghini Palm Beach, Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo Evo2 from pole after a strong start and a steady final pursuit to stay within range to capitalize on his closest rival’s mistake.
Persing led from the start until pitting within the mandatory pit window, where he’d lose time by way of the rule requiring single drivers to spend three extra seconds in pit lane. That time loss enabled Colin Queen, who’d taken over from Enzo Geraci at the pit stop, to exit the pits ahead in his No. 104 ANSA Motorsports, Lamborghini Orlando, Huracán.
It appeared the Queen/Geraci entry had successfully jumped Persing for the lead in the pits, but the joy was short lived when the No. 104 entry was assessed a five-second post-race time penalty for exceeding track limits on too many occasions. Though Queen took the checkered flag on the road, the penalty dropped him to third behind Persing and Formal, who took over the No. 101 WTR Huracán from Ericsson.
“The team fed me the information, although I knew we had pace anyways,” Persing said. “We got mixed up in lapped traffic which put me in a weird position. I was more focused too on towing Danny along too to bring him to P2. Running solo in these cars is not easy. Big thanks to Wayne Taylor Racing; the car was phenomenal. We went to work and got it done!”
ProAm
The ProAm race featured the final crescendo in the season-long battle between Geis and Hart and championship rivals Tadas Karlinskas and Darius Trinka, with the final chapter of their story written within the final five minutes.
In a year where parity had reigned in the class – seven different pairings had won in the first 10 races before Misano – Geis and Hart and Karlinskas and Trinka only had one win apiece as pairings, so the theoretical tiebreaker entering the weekend was the number of runner-up finishes, of which Karlinskas and Trinka had four to Geis and Hart’s two.
But when Geis and Hart in their No. 167 TR3 Racing, Lamborghini Miami, Huracán took a pivotal ProAm win on Thursday, they gained three points on Karlinskas and Trinka in the No. 11 MLT Motorsports, Lamborghini Greenwich, Huracán with Antoine Comeau and guest driver Nico Jamin third in the No. 130 ANSA Motorsports, Lamborghini Orlando, Huracán. Jamin’s return to the championship played a major role in deciding the championship.
Trinka had the pole for Friday’s race and offset his strategy by running long to near the end of the maximum stint before pitting and handing to Karlinskas for the final 20 minutes, while TR3’s pairing did the opposite with Geis starting today and then pitting at the earliest possible opportunity to hand off to Hart for the remaining 30 minutes.
Hart proceeded to get to the lead in ProAm after passing both Paul Nemschoff (No. 141 Flying Lizard Motorsports, Lamborghini Newport Beach, Huracán) and Karlinskas on-track. With Karlinskas in second and Jamin third, the title battle came down to whether Karlinskas could hold back the experienced veteran driver.
Jamin charged several seconds in the waning laps to make the pass for second. That pass was enough to bring Geis and Hart ahead in the championship, and with three wins to Trinka and Karlinskas’ one over the course of the season has secured them the title.
“I had no radio so I was just navigating,” Hart said. “Conrad had a mega opening stint, and I had to respect it.”
Geis added, “I couldn’t have a better coach or team since I started racing last year.”
Am
The Am class also nearly had a come-from-behind title win, courtesy of an excellent and dynamic start from Jem Hepworth in the No. 102 RAFA Racing, Lamborghini Austin, Huracán before handing off to Lindsay Brewer. The all-female pairing won their second race of the season after Hepworth gained five spots from the start of the race to lead by Lap 3 once polesitter Mateo Siderman (No. 163 TR3 Racing, Lamborghini Miami, Huracán) was assessed a drive-through shortly after the start.
Brewer noted pre-race they expected to maximize their tire life and race pace compared to qualifying and also figured Hepworth would make a strong start, which she did.
“Jem and I both struggled in qualifying and maximizing potential on new tires, but we had great pace as the tires wore on later in the race,” she said. “It’s so cold but I trust Jem to get the job done. I’m hoping Jem passes them in her stint – Glenn’s a super quick driver. Also gotta make sure to avoid track limits, push the maximum and be as consistent as always.”
Brewer then took over and brought the car home to the finish, but with second place, Graham Doyle and Glenn McGee ensured they held on to secure the title in their No. 110 Wayne Taylor Racing, Lamborghini Palm Beach, Huracán. It’s McGee’s third successive Lamborghini Super Trofeo title, all in Am.
“Super stoked for this; third championship in a row,” McGee said. “And it’s my second with Wayne Taylor Racing, and first with Graham Doyle. His first championship and he’s been improving so much, what a great driver he’s become. It was down to Graham and I to put the results in. We could do whatever we wanted.”
Despite not wanting to forecast things, Doyle nailed what happened as the race materialized: “I’m not one to call the future, but I knew I was happy where I was after my stint. Our closest rival most of the year was David Staab, and I kept him behind, and Glenn’s in front of him. So long as we stay P3 if Lindsay and Jem (win), I think we’d tie on points and we’d have more wins. It was a hectic start, so I had a first-person view of all the craziness, but the mindset today was about the championship, not the win.”
Dean Neuls completed the Am class race podium in his No. 170 TR3 Racing, Lamborghini Miami, Huracán with the third title-eligible driver, David Staab, ending a hard-luck fourth on-track in his No. 148 Precision Performance Motorsports Lamborghini Palm Beach, Huracán.
LB Cup
Rocky T. Bolduc’s two North American race results in Misano were as sweet and savory as the Bolduc Maple Farms syrup livery adorning his No. 199 RAFA Racing, Lamborghini Greenwich, Huracán. Bolduc followed his Thursday win in LB Cup with a second successive authoritative performance.
“Both races and the whole season was amazing from this whole RAFA team,” Bolduc said. “It’s so special having my wife and kids here; Corey Lewis is a heck of a coach, and this double win is awesome.”
From here, teams shift focus to the Lamborghini World Final races along with their European and Asian counterparts.
The combined World Finals races then are split into Am/LB Cup and Pro/ProAm from around the regions. The Am/LB Cup races are Saturday at 7:30 a.m. ET (1:30 p.m. local time) and Sunday at 6:00 a.m. ET (noon local time) with the Pro/ProAm races running Saturday at 10:15 a.m. ET (4:15 p.m. local time) and Sunday at 8:15 a.m. ET. (2:15 p.m. local time)
Points are awarded on the same scale (15 for winning a race down to one for 10th place, plus pole position points), with the team collecting the most points across the two races declared World Finals class champions. All races stream via the Lamborghini Squadra Corse YouTube channel.
Photos courtesy of respective teams, Wayne Taylor Racing, TR3 Racing, RAFA Racing