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Pair of WTR Cars Win Pro, Am Classes; Rearden Takes ProAm; ONE Captures Am
March 14, 2025
By Tony DiZinno
IMSA Wire Service
SEBRING, Fla. – Two of Wayne Taylor Racing’s three Thursday winners doubled up in Friday’s second of two Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America races at Sebring International Raceway. Since the two cars had drivers celebrating their birthdays the same day, they had their cake and got to eat it, too.
Hampus Ericsson (Pro) and Graham Doyle (Am) enjoyed their birthdays in Sebring victory lane with their co-drivers, Danny Formal (Pro) and Glenn McGee (Am). Both pairings swept their respective classes during the two-race weekend to kick off the 2025 season.
Nick Groat (LB Cup) also doubled up after winning Thursday, although enjoyed a less straightforward race on Friday. The one new winner on Friday came in ProAm, as Rearden Racing’s pair of Darius Trinka and Tadas Karlinskas emerged on top from a frenetic race in class.
In Pro, Ericsson and Formal in their No. 1 Wayne Taylor Racing, Lamborghini Palm Beach, Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo Evo2 enjoyed a near perfect weekend. The No. 1 Huracán led both practice sessions, qualified on pole for both races, won both races, and set the fastest lap in both races (Ericsson both times). The only marginal blemish on their weekend came in Friday’s Round 2, as they lost the lead during pit stops, but still led 18 of 21 laps in this race and a total of 40 of the 43 laps completed this weekend.
Ericsson started Friday’s race from pole and led until making the mandatory pit stop, building the lead to more than four seconds over Elias de la Torre in the No. 29 TR3 Racing Huracán. Formal cycled back to the lead by more than five seconds after the stop was complete, although a full-course caution negated that margin. The race finished under caution following a single-car incident in Turn 14.
“I think it’s my best birthday ever,” Ericsson laughed. “It’s my first week and everyone just welcomed me in with warmth. We achieved the maximum with winning both races from pole positions and setting the fastest laps. I think we executed the whole week perfectly.”
The No. 29 TR3 entry of de la Torre and Will Bamber finished second ahead No. 22 World Speed Huracán of Jaden Conwright and Scott Huffaker in third. The Pro class had an identical podium from Round 1 to Round 2.
ProAm had three different leaders, and a fourth contender falling out just shy of the finish. RAFA Racing’s Kiko Porto led from class pole in the No. 81 Huracán until pitting on Lap 11 and handing off to Nick Monteiro. Flying Lizard Motorsports’ Marc Miller briefly inherited the top spot before his own stop in the No. 41 Huracán, at which time Monteiro resumed the lead.
But with a 10-second time penalty looming for a false start at the beginning of the race, the No. 81 car was doomed to drop down the order. The No. 69 Wayne Taylor Racing Huracán was poised to take over the top spot, but Anthony McIntosh spun in Turn 14 and hit the tire barrier. With McIntosh out, the Trinka and Karlinskas No. 33 Rearden Racing, Lamborghini Palm Beach, Huracán leapt into the lead and the victory.
“I was really close to him and he just ended up losing the car, the second part of the Bishop’s Corner (Turn 14),” Trinka explained. “I didn’t have to avoid him or do anything. It’s unfortunate for them, and I feel really bad because I think that would have created a great, great battle for the end of the race.”
Conrad Geis and Jason Hart were second in ProAm in the No. 67 TR3 Racing Huracán, with Seth Henry and Wyatt Foster third in the No. 44 Kaizen Autosport Huracán.
Doyle and McGee doubled up in Am in their No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing, Lamborghini Palm Beach, Huracán, although they only led the last eight laps in class after starting in pole. Jackson Lee led from pole in class in his No. 88 Forty7 Motorsports Huracán but an incident for his co-driver after a tough pit stop put the race under full-course caution. McGee positioned the No. 10 car for success after climbing from fourth to second before pitting, then handing off to Doyle who took the lead post pit-stops.
“Glenn did an awesome job for us at the start, and I just hopped in and raced from there,” said Doyle, the second WTR birthday winner. “To start the season this way is total polar opposite to last year. I started last year here with a DNF, and now this year starts with a pole and two wins.”
Groat, too, atoned for a tough 2024 Sebring with a 2025 Sebring double in LB Cup. The driver of the No. 57 ONE Motorsports, Lamborghini Newport Beach, Huracán, was in the right place at the right time after passing both Friday leaders, Mark Brummond (No. 52 Forty7 Motorsports) and Rocky T. Bolduc (No. 99 RAFA Racing) after a restart. They finished second and third.
“I was able to take the beating and keep it on track, and at the end, that’s pretty much the only thing I had I could do,” Groat said. “I said it yesterday and will say it again – this weekend means the absolute most of any I’ve had so far in Super Trofeo.”
The Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America season resumes at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca for Rounds 3 and 4, May 9-11.
