New Zealand drivers Brendon Leitch and Will Bamber claimed a double podium in the opening race of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo World Finals at Monza, Italy, while fellow Kiwi Liam Sceats narrowly missed the podium.
Leitch and co-driver Nicolas Stati finished second overall, with Bamber completing the podium in third after holding off a late challenge from Sceats, who finished fourth alongside Gustaw Wiśniewski.
Meanwhile, Chris van der Drift and Todd Kingsford made an impressive recovery from 33rd on the grid to finish fourth in the Pro-Am class.
Qualifying
Fresh off securing the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America Pro Championship, Elias De La Torre and Dennis Lind carried their strong form into the World Finals, with Lind taking pole for Race 1.
Lind set a 1:45.430 in the #129 TR3 Racing Lamborghini, edging out Leitch by just 0.099 seconds, with the Kiwi securing a front-row start in the #70 Leipert Motorsport entry.
Bamber qualified third, three-tenths off pole, with 2024 Lamborghini Super Trofeo champion Giano Taurino lining up alongside him in fourth. Wiśniewski qualified seventh overall and sixth in the Pro class in the #206 VSR Racing Lamborghini he shares with Sceats, setting a 1:46.079.
The Pro-Am pairing of van der Drift and Kingsford faced a tougher opening qualifying session, starting from 33rd on the grid.
However, the second qualifying session produced a much stronger result for the Kiwi contingent. Van der Drift secured outright pole position for Race 2 with a 1:46.064, beating Bamber by just 0.015 seconds to set up an all-Kiwi front row.
Sceats also impressed, qualifying sixth overall and fourth in the Pro class, just three-tenths off the fastest time. Stati qualified ninth overall and seventh in class, while De La Torre could only manage 13th overall and tenth in Pro.
Race 1
Lind made the better start from pole, beating Leitch into the opening corner as the Kiwi settled into second, with Bamber immediately applying pressure from third.
Further back, Wiśniewski lost three positions on the opening lap, dropping from seventh to tenth. The opening stages were far from straightforward, with contact between Taurino and Simone Ianquinta at Turn 1 on the second lap sending Taurino into a spin.
Anthony Pretorius and several others were forced to take evasive action, while Taurino dropped to 12th. Ianquinta was later handed a ten-second penalty for causing the collision.
The incident allowed Wiśniewski to recover several positions, moving into sixth behind Wayne Taylor Racing’s Danny Formal. Moments later, Paolo Biglieri was stranded in the gravel, bringing out the race’s first Safety Car.
Racing resumed with just under 38 minutes remaining, and Leitch wasted little time putting pressure on Lind, keeping the gap under a second early in the restart.
Bamber remained third, 1.9 seconds behind Leitch, while Wiśniewski was involved in a close battle with Formal and Kyle Marcelli, eventually getting past Marcelli for fifth. As the race approached the halfway mark, Lind began extending his advantage, opening a 1.8-second gap over Leitch.
Bamber had fallen 2.9 seconds behind his fellow Kiwi but faced increasing pressure from Formal, who closed to within 0.05 seconds of the #133 XONINE Racing Lamborghini.
Running solo after a medical emergency involving co-driver Darius Trinka, Bamber also faced an additional challenge in the pits, as solo drivers had to serve a mandatory stop three seconds longer than two-driver crews.
The pit window opened with 25 minutes remaining, although the leading Pro runners elected to stay out.
Bamber was the first of the top three to stop, entering the pits with 20 minutes remaining. Leitch followed a lap later, handing the #70 Lamborghini over to Stati, while Wiśniewski pitted on the same lap to hand over to Sceats.
Race leader Lind remained out for another lap before pitting with 18 minutes remaining, handing over to De La Torre.
Once the stops had cycled through, De La Torre emerged with a comfortable four-second lead over Stati, with Bamber holding third ahead of Sceats in fourth and Graham Doyle, who had taken over from Formal, in fifth.
Speaking after his stint, Leitch was pleased with the car’s performance and confident Stati could continue pushing for the win.
“The car felt amazing, honestly. It was nice to have a clean start down into Turn 1, as it can be interesting sometimes, so it was nice to get through there nice and cleanly for everybody and then I just settled into a nice rhythm. I was pushing as hard as I could; that’s all we had. I was really happy. Nicolas is flying out there, so I have all the faith in him that he can bring the car home at the front; let’s see what happens when he gets closer. He’s an amazing young talent, and I’m super excited to see how it goes,” said Leitch.
With 11 minutes remaining, Stati was closing in on De La Torre, cutting the gap to 3.2 seconds after taking half a second off the race leader on the previous lap.
Bamber remained third, 6.4 seconds behind Stati, but had Sceats closing in behind, with just 1.2 seconds separating the two Kiwis.
By the final four minutes, Stati had reduced De La Torre’s advantage to 2.2 seconds, while Bamber had also closed the gap to second to 4.7 seconds. However, the battle for the final podium spot provided much of the late-race excitement.
Sceats continued to close on Bamber, getting within six-tenths as the pair fought for third. Despite the pressure, Bamber held his ground, keeping Sceats behind him through the closing stages.
Out front, De La Torre held on to secure victory alongside Lind, with Leitch and Stati crossing the line second, 4.1 seconds behind. Bamber completed the podium in third, narrowly beating Sceats to the line by just two-tenths of a second in a thrilling finish.
It was another frustrating near miss for Sceats and Wiśniewski, who had narrowly missed out on the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia Pro Championship by just three points the previous day, despite winning the first race of the weekend and securing a podium finish in the season finale.
Nevertheless, fourth place marked a strong World Finals debut for Sceats, who has made an impressive transition into Lamborghini racing after switching from single-seaters.
For Bamber, the podium continued an emotional but successful week at Monza.
The Kiwi finished his North American championship campaign with a pole-to-win in the final race of the season the previous day, securing the Pro Championship runner-up position.
He has been competing alone this weekend after co-driver Trinka was hospitalised following a medical emergency.
Despite being unable to race, Trinka has remained involved from hospital, sharing on social media that he intends to keep reviewing data, onboard footage and lap times with the team.
Bamber’s third-place finish, despite the additional time required during his mandatory pit stop, was another strong result under difficult circumstances.
Van der Drift and Kingsford also delivered an impressive opening World Finals race, recovering from a difficult qualifying session to finish fourth in the Pro-Am class.
The reigning Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia Pro-Am champions started from 33rd overall in the #298 VSR Racing Lamborghini, leaving them with plenty of work to do. Kingsford completed the opening stint, running tenth in class with 30 minutes remaining, before handing the car over to van der Drift during the mandatory pit stops.
The Kiwi continued their recovery, moving into eighth in class with 11 minutes remaining, although the pair were still 26 seconds behind Pro-Am leader Bronislav Formanek.
Van der Drift kept improving in the closing stages, eventually bringing the car home 19th overall and fourth in Pro-Am. The result marked a 14-position gain from the start, narrowly missing a class podium after an impressive recovery drive.
Anthony Pretorius and Formanek secured the Pro-Am victory, with Wyatt Foster and Seth Henry in second, and Josef Knopp and Pietro Perolini completing the class podium.
With van der Drift securing outright pole for Race 2, the Kiwi and Kingsford will look to go one better and challenge for victory in the final race of the weekend.
The Lamborghini Super Trofeo World Finals conclude with Race 2 at Monza, with the Kiwi drivers well placed to fight for further podium finishes. Van der Drift and Bamber will share the front row of the grid, while Sceats starts sixth overall and Stati ninth.
After two New Zealanders reached the podium in the opening race, more Kiwi success is possible in the final outing.
Race 2 gets underway at 2:45am Monday morning (NZT).
Header Image: Lamborghini Squadra Corse
