Flying Lizard Relishes in Triple-Podium Weekend at VIR
ALTON, Vir., (August 28, 2023) – Flying Lizard Motorsports enjoyed their most successful race event of the 2023 Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America championship last weekend at VIRginia Interntional Raceway. Celebrating three podiums for three of the four Lizard entries, the professional sports car racing champions once again enjoyed success at the circuit, building strong momentum headed into the final two events of the season.
“We had another great weekend in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Series,” said Program Manager Darren Law. “All of the cars were quick this weekend and it showed. Each of our seven drivers put in great performances, earning one pole and three podium finishes. It’s great to have this kind of energy build as we go and to have two of our four cars in the championship hunt. We are carrying some good momentum from this weekend and looking forward to Indy.”
The No. 68 Lamborghini of Johannes van Overbeek led the field to green from his third-place qualifying position, with the No. 14 of Andy Lee starting fourth and the No. 41 of Paul Nemschoff in the fifth position. Tom Tait and the No. 64 started from sixth in the Am class. The field had a clean start, with van Overbeek climbing to second place, putting the No. 47 of Cole Loftsgard between him and Lee. Nemschoff stayed close behind, and the Lizard cars mostly maintained position before the mandatory 10-minute pit window opened. The No. 41 was the first to dive in, with Marc Miller taking over for Nemschoff. Lee and van Overbeek swapped places to run second and fourth respectively, while Tait came in for his mandatory stop with 26 minutes remaining. Lee and van Overbeek pitted with two minutes remaining in the pit window, allowing Slade Stewart and Chris Bellomo to take their turns behind the wheels of the No. 14 and No. 68 cars. Stewart joined the race in third, with Miller behind in fifth, and Bellomo in sixth. Miller had a strong stint, working his way through the field, getting by the third-place car, and crossing the line in second place. His finish earned the third podium of the season for him and Nemschoff. Stewart and Lee came in fourth, with a sixth-place finish for Bellomo and van Overbeek in the Pro/Am class and Tait also coming home in sixth in the Am class.
Riding the momentum from the day before, Miller led the Pro/Am class to the green from pole position on Sunday morning. Stewart started from fourth place, with Bellomo in sixth and Tait in seventh. Miller held the lead during his stint and built up a gap to the next car while Stewart temporarily lost third place to the No. 20 of Nikki Teger for fourth place. Once the pit window opened, Tait became the first driver to come in during the pit cycle. Stewart was the first of the Lizard Pro/Am cars to come into pit lane for his driver change, followed by Bellomo from sixth place. Miller then pitted from the lead with two minutes remaining in the pit window, and Nemshoff began his stint with 21 minutes remaining. Nemschoff joined the race with a 2.8-second lead over Luke Berkeley in the No. 42, with Lee in fourth, van Overbeek in sixth, and Tait in seventh. The No. 42 passed Nemschoff for the lead just before a full course caution. Hopes of a race win were dashed when the No. 41 and No. 50 cars went off course after the race went back to green. Though Nemschoff was able to continue, The No. 42 car was able to drive to victory. The incident moved Andy Lee up to third place, with van Overbeek in fourth place. A long time coming for Stewart and Lee, the third-place finish marked the first podium result of 2023 for the pink driver pairing. A post-race penalty was assigned to the second-place car, moving the Lizard Pro/Am entries up to second and third place, awarding Flying Lizard a double-podium to close out the weekend. Nemschoff came home sixth. Tom Tait had another impressive drive, just missing the podium and coming in his second fourth-place finish of the season.
With just two events and four races left in the championship, Chris Bellomo and Johannes van Overbeek are tied with Marc Miller and Paul Nemschoff for fourth place in the Pro-Am point standings. The Competitors of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America championship have just one American round left before heading to the world finals in Italy in November. The Battle on the Bricks weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway will take place from September 15 to 17, with the series again running in support of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. For more information, visit imsa.com.
2023 Race Schedule
May 12-14, 2023
Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America
WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca
Salinas, California
June 22-25, 2023
Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America
Watkins Glen International
Watkins Glen, New York
August 4-5, 2023
Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America
Road America
Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
August 25-27, 2023
Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America
VIRginia International Raceway
Alton, Virginia
September 15-17, 2023
Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis, Indiana
November 16-17, 2023
Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America
Autodromo Vallelunga Piero Taruffi
Campagnano di Roma, Italy
