What a week! I have just returned from the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Grand Finals in Portimão, Portugal. Having never been to Portugal before, I was excited for the opportunity, and wow, it did not disappoint! Portugal is a gorgeous country with beautiful landscapes, and the people were so friendly and even spoke incredible English.
The Algarve International Circuit was also a gorgeous place in its own right. It was a great venue for the Grand Finals. Not only was the track a challenge for the drivers to learn, but it was a challenge for the team engineers to get the cars set up. The elevation changes at that track rival anything I’ve ever seen in the U.S., and it has tight, technical corners as well as blind, fast sweepers—and everything in between! The final corner is so fast that we reached the highest speeds we’ve seen with these cars on the front straight: more than 175mph.
We had a great turnout of more than 60 entries from around the world, and Ashton Harrison and I were feeling optimistic since we gained time in every session that we ran. We were fortunate to have a lot of practice time leading up to the races, and I feel like I spent as much time in the car at this one event as I did during the entire rest of the season!
The racing began with the final two rounds for the U.S. championship, and we finished a satisfying second and third in them. That gave us third in the ProAm championship, which was bittersweet because we had been leading the championship all season long, right up until everything unraveled at VIR in August.
After the U.S. races, Ashton and I set our focus on the Grand Finals races that capped off the weekend. With only Pro and ProAm cars on track for this race, it was an incredibly intense and competitive field of more than 30 entries.
Ashton and I were happy to find ourselves running in the top five, even dipping into the top three in class. Unfortunately, in both Grand Finals races, we had some setbacks. Still, we brought home finishes of fourth and sixth in class. It was rewarding to see that the two entries we had been battling with in the points championship all season came away with the Grand Finals win in ProAm, showing just how competitive the series is in the U.S.
It was certainly a week to remember, filled with incredible camaraderie, great competition, and thrilling memories made both on and off the track! I’m truly grateful to have shared this season with Ashton, and I’m excited for what she has lined up in the near future!
