Kuala Lumpur. (April 13, 2018) – A fascinating, 26-strong international line-up of drivers representing fourteen different nations and territories will descend upon Malaysia’s 5.543km Sepang International Circuit this weekend for the season-opening double-header of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia 2018.
The crews, amongst them two recently-announced Lamborghini GT3 Junior drivers Andrea Amici and Cédric Sbirrazzuoli, will begin the battle to capture four separate championship titles over the course of the six-round, 12-race season: Pro, Pro-Am, Am and the Lamborghini Cup – as the new Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO makes its championship debut.
Newly-crowned Lamborghini Super Trofeo Middle East Pro champions, British teenage talents Jack Bartholomew and James Pull, lead a formidable two-car entry from FFF Racing Team. Artur Janosz of Poland, Pro vice-champion in the Asian series last year, joins 2016 GT Asia Series champion and Squadra Corse driver Andrea Amici of Italy in the second FFF Racing car.
An equally potent challenge for Pro honours comes courtesy of Leipert Motorsport which enters the young Australian duo of Ben Gersekowski, a former Formula 3 star at home and fourth in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia last season, and former Australian GT champion and current Super2 Series driver Richard Muscat.
From India comes the intriguing pairing of the hugely experienced Armaan Ebrahim, fifth in last year’s Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia, and series newcomer Anindith Reddy Konda. Reddy was recently named ‘Motorsport Person of the Year 2017’ by the Federation of Motorsports Clubs of India after winning both the MRF Formula 1600 and Euro JK17 titles. The Indian dream team is supported by Apollo Life and Everest Infra for their attack on the title.
The Pro-Am category is led by Leipert Motorsport’s Mikko Eskelinen, vice-champion in 2017, and 19-year-old Juuso Puhakka, who makes the step from single seater racing to sportscars this season. Fellow Finn Eskelinen, who has a decade of success under his belt, represents the ideal team mate for the young Puhakka, and the drivers make for a powerful pairing.
Japan’s Takeshi Matsumoto and long-time Super Trofeo campaigner Toshiyuki Ochiai, 2016 Pro-Am champion with Malaysia’s Afiq Ikhwan Yazid and 2014 Am champion, return to the series with HoJust Racing. Fourth in the Pro-Am class in 2017, the pair contested just four races, winning three and taking a podium finish in the fourth, but return for a full season this year.
Reigning Porsche Carrera Cup Asia Pro-Am champion Evan Chen of Chinese Taipei teams up with Japan’s Akihiro Asai at Gama Racing. Chen, 23, has several seasons of competition under his belt, while Asai began his career in karting in 1991, and has since competed in a wide variety of championship across the region.
Successful Malaysian entrepreneur and motorsport newcomer Datuk Kumar Prabakaran and Monégasque Lamborghini GT3 Junior driver Cédric Sbirrazzuoli pair up at Aylezo Motorsport. Sbirrazzuoli, 30, has a dazzling career which includes countless race and championship wins and for the last two seasons he has contested the prestigious IMSA WeatherTech series in the USA.
A strong Am entry is led by reigning champion Andrew Haryanto. In what was a banner season for the Indonesian in 2017, the X-One Motorsports driver took nine Am victories in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia, plus two Pro-Am wins at Imola with Miloš Pavlovic. He also took Am honours in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Middle East the same year and finished the debut Blancpain GT Series Asia season as Am Cup vice champion.
From Thailand come PSC Motorsport’s Sarun and Saravut Sereethoranakul. The brothers finished fifth after a partial season in the Am class in 2017, and are regulars in the Thailand Super Series in which both have won titles.
Ken Urata and Daisuke Matsunaga pair up at FPC Racing for the 2018 season, while from China come Bian Hao and Han Huilin with Top Speed Racing Team. Bian makes his debut in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia this year after campaigning a Huracán Super Trofeo in the China GT Championship last season.
Chasing the Lamborghini Cup this season is Italian Gabriele Murroni of GDL Racing. Genoa-born Murroni only started racing last season, impressively finishing as vice champion in the Asian Lamborghini Cup and winning the Middle East title. Flying the flag for Hong Kong, and also on the hunt for the Lamborghini Cup title, are Paul Wong Po Wah and Clement Li as the 852 Challengers, named for the international dialing prefix of their home town.
The 2018 Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia season gets under way on Friday, April 13, with two, hour-long free practice sessions. Qualifying begins at 10:45 local time (GMT+8), with two, 15-minute sessions separated by 10 minutes setting the start order for each of the two 50-minute races. Round 1 begins at 17:20 local time on Saturday, April 14, with Round 2 thundering off the grid at 10:20 on Sunday. Both races will be live streamed at https://squadracorse.lamborghini.com.
Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia 2018
Provisional Entry List – Rounds 1&2
1.#2/Pro/Ben GERSEKOWSKI (AUS)/Richard MUSCAT (AUS)
2.#18/Am/Andrew HARYANTO (INA)
3.#19/Pro/Jack BARTHOLOMEW (GBR)/James PULL (GBR)
4.#27/Pro/Armaan EBRAHIM (IND)/Anindith REDDY KONDA(IND)
5.#33/Pro-Am/Mikko ESKELINEN (FIN)/Juuso PUHAKKA (FIN)
6.#38/Pro-Am/Takeshi MATSUMOTO (JPN)/Toshiyuki OCHIAI (JPN)
7.#44/LC/Paul WONG (HKG)/Clement LI (HKG)
8.#55/Am/Ken URATA (JPN)/Daisuke MATSUNAGA (JPN)
9.#57/Am/Sarun SEREETHORANAKUL (THA)/Saravut SEREETHORANAKUL (THA)
10.#63/Pro/Andrea AMICI (ITA)/Artur JANOSZ (POL)
11.#68/Pro-Am/Evan CHAN (TPE)/Akihiro ASAI (JPN)
12.#69/Am/BIAN Hao (CHN)/HAN Huilin (CHN)
13.#88/LC/Gabriele MURRONI (ITA)
14.#98/Pro-Am/Prabakaran KUMAR (MAS)/Cédric SBIRRAZZUOLI (MCO)
