Pedrini and Fraboni become youngest crew in Super Trofeo history to triumph in Pro category
Sant’Agata Bolognese/Le Castellet, 13 April 2025 – The 2025 Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe season opened with a pair of entertaining races at the Circuit Paul Ricard in the south of France, with 33 cars and 16 rookie drivers present on the grid. The Pro-Am crew of Georgi Dimitrov and Stéphan Guerin (CMR) took overall victory in the first race, while teenagers Giacomo Pedrini and Patrik Fraboni came out on top in Pro.
The second race of the weekend on Sunday was a wet-dry affair won by Oregon Team’s Enzo Geraci and Josef Knopp. The crew of the #36 machine made a late surge to overcome Guido Luchetti (Target Racing) to come out on top as Stéphane Tribaudini and Piergiacomo Randazzo produced the drive of the race by charging to victory in Am.
Geraci and Knopp fight back in race two after Pedrini and Fraboni make history
Luchetti took pole position for the opening 50-minute race of the weekend but lost the lead to Pro-Am pole-sitter Dimitrov (#13 CMR) as the field negotiated the first corner. Unfortunately for Luchetti, he tumbled down the order with an issue, as Geraci (#36 Oregon Team) assumed second ahead of Benedetto Strignano (#15 Rexal Villorba Corse). An early safety car after Pablo Schumm lost a wheel at Beausset bunched the pack up, but Geraci maintained control of the Pro order until the mandatory pit-stop window opened. Geraci swapped over with newcomer Knopp but the Czech driver was unable to find a way past overall leader Guerin and subsequently fell to third in class by the end as two more safety car periods impacted the race. Leipert Motorsport’s Silas Lovén Rytter and Anthony Pretorius finished first on the road but a 10-second post-race penalty for a start infringement meant they dropped to second behind Patrik Fraboni and Giacomo Pedrini (#9 Target Racing) who, at 16-years-old, became the youngest crew in Super Trofeo Europe history to win a race in the Pro category.
A rain shower just before the second race meant the majority of the field elected to fit wet tyres, but Pro pole-sitter Rytter (#99 Leipert Motorsport) opted for slicks. As the rain intensified, Rytter pitted before the start, which left Luchetti heading Pedrini and Strignano as Pavlović led overall. The action was frenetic early on with Adam Putera (#6 VSR) crashing on the exit of Signes and bringing out the Full Course Yellow, while Lola Lovinfosse (#88 Leipert Motorsport) also had a scary moment after a spin at the same corner. Eventually, the track began to dry out and, after switching back to slicks during the mandatory pit-stop, Pretorius finished an impressive 11th overall and seventh in Pro, setting the fastest lap of the race some five seconds quicker than the next best. Luchetti maintained the lead after the stops but was caught and passed by Geraci – who took over from Knopp – with under three minutes to go. The order remained the same until the finish, with Strignano prevailing in a fierce battle for third with the #25 UNIQ Racing Huracán of Jerzy Spinkiewicz. Target Racing with Exion Motorsport’s Calle Bergman and Månz Thalin completed the top five in class.
CMR does the Pro-Am double with Dimitrov and Guerin
Having started third on the grid, Dimitrov got a superb getaway off the rolling start and took the lead on the inside of the first turn, pulling out a slender lead over Geraci’s Pro entry to the tune of just over a second. With a comfortable margin over the nearest class contender, BDR Competition’s Dimitri Enjalbert, Dimitrov handed over to Guerin at the end of the pit window, with the latter maintaining the overall lead amid heavy pressure from the Pro cars. Guerin dropped to third overall but moved back into second following a mistake for Knopp and inherited the victory after Rytter/Pretorius’ penalty. ASR’s Miloš Pavlović and Alessio Ruffini drove an inspired race to finish second, Pavlović deposing Enjalbert and Anthony Nahra in the closing stages.
Using his wealth of experience, Pavlović made quick his escape at the head of the field to build a healthy margin over the chasing class rivals. The #33 ASR driver stayed at the helm until the end of the 10-minute pit window before handing over to team-mate Ruffini for the second stint. Behind, Enjalbert and Nahra made good progress and, despite dropping behind Guerin and Dimitrov, made it up to second ahead of the #33 to claim their first podium of the year. Completing the podium places was the #2 Boutsen VDS car of Renaud Kuppens and Hugo Bac, who were the first to switch onto slicks, using the fact they suffered a right rear puncture to make the change. The perseverance paid off as Bac overwhelmed Ruffini in the final laps.
Defending champions Tribaudini and Randazzo go from zero to hero in race two
There was drama early on in Am as pole-sitters Stéphane Tribaudini and Piergiacomo Randazzo’s race came to a premature end on the first lap, allowing CMR’s Stéphane Lemeret to hold the advantage for the duration of the opening stint before giving way to team-mate Rodrigue Gillion. After the pit-stops, Shota Abkhazava (#12 ART-line) moved to the top of the order and looked set to claim victory between the pair of late safety cars, but Adrian Lewandowski got ahead at the last corner on the final lap to steal the win. Taking the final step on the podium was Raffaele Giannoni (#96 Target Racing), completing a strong comeback drive after spinning on the opening lap following contact with the LB Cup entry of Gerhard Watzinger.
Lewandowski started race two from pole position but lost out to race one rival Abkhazava in the opening stint before the stops. The pair were nose to tail at the start of the second stint, with Lewandowski now back ahead of the #12, but Abkhazava reclaimed the lead with a bold move around the outside of turn two. However, their time at the top was short, as the #60 VSR Huracán of Tribaudini – in place of Randazzo – caught up and took two places in two corners to grab the victory. Lewandowski was second with Abkhazava third.
Ojjeh and debutant Baptista split the Lamborghini Cup wins
In his first start for Rexal Villorba Corse, Karim Ojjeh led away from pole in the #7 machine with the sister #4 car of Claude-Yves Gosselin behind in second. Gerhard Watzinger held onto third place in the early going despite his part in Giannoni’s spin at turn four and the order remained largely unchanged after the pit-stops. Adalberto Baptista (#14 Oregon Team) then lost control of his Huracán coming through turn seven, hitting the barrier and bringing out the third safety car. Ojjeh, however, kept it clean in the closing laps to take the win ahead of Gosselin, with 2023 class champions Luciano and Donovan Privitelio making a clean sweep of the podium positions for the team.
As like in race one, Ojjeh led away from pole and managed the tricky conditions until making his mandatory stop, with Watzinger and Gosselin in tow. Following the stops, the order flipped on its head as Oregon Team’s Baptista emerged in the lead of the class ahead of GT3 Poland’s Holger Harmsen. The Brazilian bounced back from his Saturday retirement in fine style to claim his maiden win, with Watzinger taking the final step on the podium for Leipert Motorsport.
Quotes
Stéphan Guerin, race one winner (#13 CMR): “There was a lot of pressure behind me in the second stint, especially having to deal with two safety car restarts, they were very tough. But I have to say a big thanks to my team-mate Georgi, and the whole CMR team who did a fantastic job all weekend.
Team-mate Georgi Dimitrov (#13 CMR): “I managed to get a really good start and from then onwards I just had to manage the pace and the tyres for when Stéphan got in. I got ahead of the two guys in front of me and we ended the race P1 in Pro-Am. I am super happy with the result; I couldn’t have wished for any more from this race.
Enzo Geraci (#36 Oregon Team), race two winner: “I am really happy with the work of the whole team, and I am really proud of my team-mate who did a super job and managed to keep the rhythm in every condition during the whole weekend. Yesterday was a bit frustrating for us but this victory was only a matter of time.”
Team-mate Josef Knopp (#36 Oregon Team): “[I’m] very happy with the victory today, I was pretty satisfied with my stint, I had a good start and was running strongly in third but then I had to fight back after an issue, but Enzo took over and did an amazing job, so we are happy. This championship is different to anything I have experienced before but I am getting used to it and getting more and more confident, so we look forward to the next round.”
2025 Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe calendar
Round 1 – Paul Ricard (April 11-13)
Round 2 – Monza (May 30 – June 1)
Round 3 – Spa-Francorchamps (June 25-28)
Round 4 – Nürburgring (August 29-31)
Round 5 – Barcelona (October 10-12)
Round 6 – Misano (November 6-7)
Lamborghini World Finals – Misano (November 8-9)
