This past weekend I was out at Laguna Seca on the beautiful Monterey Peninsula in California. We had absolutely spectacular weather, with no morning fog, which is rare there! The racing was just as good as the weather. I was continuing my work with Dean Neuls in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo series. After a solid start at Sebring, we were on the hunt for trophies at Laguna Seca.
The circuit was in great shape, and conditions were absolutely gorgeous all weekend.
All of the circuits this year are new for Dean, so it’s been quite a task. He’s been practicing in advance, so he has as much experience as possible coming into each race weekend. This practice includes simulator time as well as actual testing on the track, plus plenty of data and video review in between.
After a busy practice day with 40 cars on track between all the classes, it was apparent that getting clean real estate for qualifying was going to be paramount. Dean was able to do just that. He put together a top-five qualifying effort, which put him in an advantageous position for both races.
Following an exciting turn one in the first race, Dean found himself vying for a podium position, but he had to keep the pace to stay in the running for it during the course of the 50-minute contest, which included a mandatory pit stop. After lots of excitement throughout the race, Dean came away with his first podium of the year, finishing second. It was satisfying to see all the hard work and effort pay off, and there was a little bit of luck, as always!
Race two was not so lucky in the beginning, with cars spinning in front of Dean, which forced him to take evasive action. That happened not once but on several occasions, which dropped him well back into the field. But the bad luck turned around as the race continued, and with determination and perseverance, Dean was able to make some incredible passes on restarts to advance back into the top three. He rounded out the weekend with another podium finish, taking third.
It was super gratifying to work with Dean in his quest for the podium. All the hard work from the team, driver, and coach paid off! With only a short break, we are back at it in a couple weeks’ time for testing at Watkins Glen, followed by the next round of the IMSA Lamborghini Super Trofeo series there.
Bringing home the hardware! A pair of podium results was a great way to cap the weekend.