Seventh heaven for Denning and SJM Theodore Racing in Misano

Asian motorsports team SJM Theodore Racing produced another dominant performance to secure a comfortable victory in the 11th and penultimate race in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia series in Misano.

The win was founded on a wonderful first lap by Ireland’s Alex Denning followed by a typically controlled run to the flag in the second half of the race by Macau’s Charles Leong.

Starting from third on the grid Denning made the perfect lap and despite being pushed onto the grass on the run to turn one, the Irish driver held his nerve to bring all four wheels back on track in time to the inside line for turn one.

The second-placed driver briefly held the lead by running off track through the first right hander but Denning was securely in the lead by turn two and he and the SJM Theodore Lamborghini Huracán Evo 2 were soon opening up a clear advantage to the cars behind.

After 15 minutes of the 50-minute race Denning had established a lead of eight seconds and he then settled in to manage his advantage all the way to the compulsory pit stop.

Taking over with a comfortable lead, Charles Leong soon found himself 12-seconds clear of the second-placed car and with a secure race-winning advantage. The Macau star is a master of tyre management and he applied a no risk strategy to passing lapped cars as he maintained his lead at around nine seconds all the way to the final lap.

It’s a seventh win from 11 races this year and maintains the team’s record of winning at every event this year. The squad can look forward with confidence to Friday’s second race, the final round of the Asian series where Charles Leong will start from fourth place on the grid.

Alex Denning said: “I just had my good friend Max Hart remind me that Lamborghini were once famous for making tractors so I was just testing out that functionality to see if it still had it when I got two wheels up on the grass, then it got pushed on and I was holding.

“I just kept two wheels on the white line and managed to get it stopped for turn one. The grass was a lot wetter than I thought! But yeah, I’m sure everyone was on their toes in the garage and, honestly, we couldn’t be happier. We acquired great data for the week ahead at the world finals.”

In a hectic final week of Lamborghini racing, the team will face four separate races during the event with the final two races in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia Series (LSTA) followed by next weekend’s two World Finals races against opposition from around the globe.

Having scooped the teams’ title one round early at Sepang, Malaysia last month, team drivers Charles Leong and Alex Denning are level on points at the top of the Lamborghini Asia driver’s championship and aiming to share the series spoils in Thusday and Friday’s final races in the Asia series.

No other drivers are in contention for the title and, given that they will share the SJM Theodore Lamborghini Huarcán again throughout the week, the plan is for both to share the spoils in the driver’s championship as well come Friday afternoon.

Then they will turn their attention to the two races which make up the World Finals with both drivers relishing an opportunity to test themselves against the cream of Lamborghini Super Trofeo teams from the three different continental championships.

Sunday’s second and final World Finals race is just the end of part one of a huge fortnight for Charles Leong and SJM Theodore Racing. At the conclusion of his Italian adventure Leong will head with other key team personnel to his native Macau where he is part of the three-car team line up in the Formula Regional World Cup at the 72nd Macau Grand Prix.

As always, the race format includes two 50-minute races with a mandatory driver change, following Tuesday practice and Wednesday qualifying, Race 1 gets underway on Thursday morning, with Race 2 on Friday afternoon.

After the LSTA concludes attention turns to the Lamborghini Super Trofeo World Finals event with qualifying and Race 1 on Saturday morning followed by Race 2 on Sunday where SJM Theodore Racing will continue to fly the flag for Macau on the international stage.