Five victories out of six races, four pole positions, reward the duo formed by Rik Breukers and Axcil Jefferies of GDL Racing as 2017 Champions
Dubai, March 4, 2017-Five victories out of six races, four pole positions, no mistakes and two very talented drivers: the duo formed by Rik Breukers and Axcil Jefferies, together with the meticulous work of the team GDL Racing, dominated the 2017 Lamborghini Super Trofeo Middle East series during all three rounds of the calendar, from the first one in Abu Dhabi at the Yas Marina circuit up to the two rounds held at the Dubai Autodrome on two different track layouts.
After winning Race 1, also in the second event at the Dubai Autodrome, which was the last round of the one-make series for Huracán Super Trofeos, the two young PRO drivers got to the top step of the podium, thus winning deservedly the first edition of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Middle East.
“I think ours was the perfect match – commented Rik Breukers, the eighteen-year-old Dutchman, member of the Lamborghini Young Drivers Program -. Axcil and I have two very different driving styles, but despite this we feel the car in the same way and our race pace is quite similar. In addition, there was the huge team work in terms of data analysis and set-up, which allowed us to always get to the track with a perfect car.”. Same opinion for his teammate Axcil Jefferies, 22 year-old driver from Zimbabwe, at his first experience with the Huracán Super Trofeo after taking part in GP2 and GP3 Series: “Even today, we managed to handle the race perfectly and brought home a stunning result. Rik was a fantastic partner and I would also like to thank the team GDL Racing and our race engineer, probably the best I’ve ever had. ”
Breukers and Jefferies won the championship in the PRO class with nine points ahead of another duo of young promises: the nineteen-year-old German, Carrie Schreiner, coming from the German Formula 4, and the Australian Richard Goddard, who has experience with single-seaters as well. With the car # 15 of FFF Racing Team by ACM, the two young drivers, at their at their absolute debut with a gran turismo racecar, arrived second overall both in Race 2 and in the championship.
The PRO-AM class saw two crews fighting for the title: the car # 26 of Konrad Motorsport with the German drivers Hendrik Still and Paul Scheuschner and the car # 27 of GDL Racing Asia with Costantino Bertuzzi and Nigel Farmer behind the wheel. The latter two drives finished Race 2 in ninth place overall and first in the PRO-AM class, but it was not enough to get the title, which was won by the German team.
The 2017 title in the AM category had already been assigned in Race 1 on Friday, with Andrew Haryanto of the team GDL Racing who won thanks to an increasing performance throughout the three rounds of the championship. Nothing to do for the talented duo formed by Marco Antonelli and Davide Roda, who lost the title by only 2 points after an excellent fourth place overall in Race 2 (and the victory in the AM class), and Andrew Haryanto, who got out of the race due to a puncture.
Lastly, there is Gabriele Murroni, the Italian driver at his debut in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo and competed in the Lamborghini Cup, the category reserved to rookies. After this positive experience, Murroni will take part in the 2017 Super Trofeo Asia taking place on April 7-9 in Sepang, Malaysia.
Drivers’ quotes
Hendrik Still – Konrad Motorsport, car # 26 (PRO-AM class champion): “Winning the title is a huge satisfaction, Paul and I are very happy. Today, in Race 2, I simply tried to preserve the car, I had a contact but with no consequences, and this allowed us to finish second in class and to win the championship.”
Paul Scheuschner – Konrad Motorsport, car # 26 (PRO-AM class champion): “I’m at my debut in the Super Trofeo and winning the championship title is really exciting. The race strategy worked very well and now we are already projected towards the Super Trofeo Europe, where Hendrik and I will make our debut.”
Costantino Bertuzzi – GDL Racing, car # 27 (fifth overall and first in the PRO-AM class in Race 2): “We won another race! I am very satisfied and gratified with my first experience in the Super Trofeo. It was all very well organized, the atmosphere is very pleasant and the Huracán, in particular, is a fantastic car: reliable, powerful, fast and with a stunning sound.”
Andrew Haryanto – GDL Racing, car # 71 (AM class champion): “Today, I didn’t finish the race due to a wheel puncture, but fortunately I had already won the title yesterday in Race 1. I tried to be constant during all rounds and I have been improving during every race, thanks to the advice of my teammates, Rik Breukers and Axcil Jefferies, from whom I learned a lot.”
Gabriele Murroni – Petri Corse, car # 88 (champion in the Lamborghini Cup): “I am satisfied, I really enjoyed myself! I liked the Abu Dhabi circuit for the night race and the second layout of the Dubai track is beautiful, very fast and challenging. It was a unique experience, in fact, in three weeks I’ll be at Sepang for the start of the Super Trofeo Asia!”.
The epilogue of the Super Trofeo Middle East coincides with the start of the racing season of the three continental series of the famous Lamborghini one-make series championship. The next event is scheduled during the weekend of April 7-9 in Malaysia, at the Sepang circuit, with the first round of the 2017 Super Trofeo Asia. Then, there is the Europe series, with the opening round scheduled at Monza on April 21-23. The Super Trofeo North America will start instead on May 4-6 at the Circuit of The Americas in Texas.
