Giltrap and Osborne win double at Super Trofeo Asia Challenge Malaysia opener

[Malaysia, May 7, 2024] The Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia Challenge (LSTA) kicked off the 2024 season with two fierce races at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia. The champion of the first race belongs to the young New Zealand team: PRO category defending champion Marco Giltrap and challenge rookie Clay Osborne, who drove the Absolute Racing team's Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2 car and won two races on this 5.543 km long track, ranking first in the PRO category leaderboard.

Miki Koyama from Japan performed well in her debut in the Challenge. She and her PRO partner, Macao driver Liang Hanzhao, represented the SJM Iron Lynx Theodore Racing team and won the second place in both races. The third place in the first race was Gavin Huang and Jonathan Cecotto of the Arrows Racing team. At the beginning of the race, Cecotto took the lead from Osborne who started from pole position. In the second round, Dan Wells of the DW Evans GT team and Emilien Carde, a new French driver in the Challenge, ranked third.

Madness Racing won the PRO-AM class in the first round thanks to the outstanding performance of André Couto from Macau and partner Chan Fong Peng, with Thomas Yu Lee of DW Evans GT and Nikolas Pirttilahti of Finland in second place. YK Motorsports by Star Performance’s Thai drivers Nattanid 'Kat' Leewattanavalagul and Dechathorn 'Phu' Phuakkarawut won the AM class in their debut in a Lamborghini Bangkok Racing, with Brian Lee of SQDA – GRIT Motorsport in second place in a Lamborghini Seoul Racing, and Suttiluck 'Bobby' Buncharoen of Thailand from TRUE VISIONS MOTORSPORTS THAILAND in third place. In the second race, Lee beat Kat and Phu to win the AM class, with Madness Racing’s Hong Shijie and He Xinyang in second place.

The Lamborghini Cup class saw both opening races go to brothers Haziq and Hairie Oh of HZO Fortis Racing Team by Absolute Racing, who beat defending champions Supachai Weeraborwornpong of Siamgas Corse and Samson Chan and Steven Chian of Arrows Racing. Weeraborwornpong was runner-up again in the second race, with Kumar Prabakaran of Malaysia in third place in his own Iron Lynx car.

After the first two of the season's 12 races, Giltrap and Osborne lead the PRO class standings by seven points, with Liang and Koyama close behind, and Cecotto and Huang in third, six points back. Couto and Chen Fangping are six points ahead of PRO-AM rivals Pirttilahti and Yu Lee, while Brian Lee leads the AM class by one point over Kat and Phu. The Oh brothers lead the Lamborghini Cup class with two wins, eight points ahead of defending champion Weeraborwornpong.

Following the exciting opening race in Malaysia, the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia Challenge will head to The Bend Motorsport Park near Adelaide, Australia for the second round from June 7 to 9.

Round 1

Clay Osborne of Absolute Racing set the fastest lap in the PRO category and the race in qualifying for the first round, taking pole position and an extra point. André Couto of Madness Racing took pole position in the PRO-AM category, Li Xuanyu of 610Racing by Absolute took first place in the AM category, and Hairie Oh of HZO Fortis Racing Team by Absolute Racing took pole position in the Lamborghini Cup category.

Qualifying ended in the rain, and the race started on a dry track. Arrows Racing's Jonathan Cecotto overtook Osborne before the first turn to take the lead and opened up a gap to the rear. DW Evans GT's Dan Wells started well, moving up from sixth to second at the end of the first lap, while Osborne dropped to third. Blackjack Racing's challenge rookie Li Zhicong lost ground in the early stages, starting from third and finishing sixth.

Couto, who was ranked behind, was overtaken after the start and then chased AM class driver Brian Lee from the SQDA – GRIT Motorsport team, and overtook Finnish driver Nikolas Pirttilahti, who was leading the PRO-AM class with 40 minutes left in the race.

Liang moved up to fourth place at the start of the race but was soon chased by Lee and three other drivers. The SJM Iron Lynx Theodore Racing driver withstood the pressure and got a break due to Lee's mistake, while Couto and Lai Chi-chung fought for sixth place.

When the pit stop window opened, Cecotto had already opened up a large lead, with Wells and Osborne close behind. Lee led the AM class, Couto was first in the PRO-AM class, and Hairie Oh maintained the lead in the Lamborghini Cup class.

Cecotto made the most of his advantage by pitting at the last minute, then handed the Arrows Racing Lamborghini to Gavin Huang, who led the race for the second half. Osborne handed the car to defending PRO champion Marco Giltrap in second, while Chen Fangping took over from Couto and maintained the PRO-AM lead in third. Wells' French teammate Emilien Carde was closely followed by the drivers behind him, and in fifth place was independent driver Li Zhicong, followed by Liang Hanzhao's teammate Miki Koyama in sixth, and South Korea's AM driver Lee, who was also independent.

It was a close race between Gavin Huang and Giltrap, with the New Zealander eventually taking the win and becoming the first champion of the season, but the battle for position behind the pair was far from over, with the final ten minutes full of drama.

Koyama launched a fierce attack on the podium, first overtaking Lee and then setting her sights on Chen Fangping, who was in third place. She then overtook Chen Fangping and passed Huang in the final sprint, crossing the finish line in second place behind Giltrap, with Huang finally ranking third.

Fang-Ping Chen and André Couto won the PRO-AM class, making a great debut for Madness Racing, with Thomas Yu Lee and Nikolas Pirttilahti of the DW Evans GT team second, the latter receiving a five-second penalty for missing four wheels.

Another driver who made a strong run in the closing stages, Dechathorn 'Phu' Phuakkarawut, passed Lee to take the AM class win for YK Motorsport by Star Performance, with Nattanid 'Kat' Leewattanavalagul as his partner. Phu and Kat were joined on the podium by TRUE VISIONS MOTORSPORTS THAILAND's Suttiluck 'Bobby' Buncharoen.

Victory in the Lamborghini Cup class went to Malaysian pole-sitter pairing Haziq and Hairie Oh and HZO Fortis Racing Team by Absolute Racing, with Siamgas Corse’s Supachai Weeraborwornpong second and Arrows Racing’s Samson Chan and Steven Chian third.

Round 2

At the start of the second round, Blackjack Racing team's Li Zhicong took the lead from pole position. The outstanding Chinese driver showed his tenacious and persistent defense ability to resist the pressure from Marco Giltrap. Brian Lee, the AM driver of the SQDA-GRIT Motorsport team, sprinted quickly at the start and moved up two places from fifth place.

Li Zhicong maintained his lead despite Giltrap's best efforts behind him, while Lee continued to hold on to third place. Behind them, Miki Koyama of SJM Iron Lynx Theodore Racing and Emilien Carde of DW Evans GT Racing were fighting for fourth place, with the two new drivers fighting evenly. Meanwhile, a fierce battle for ninth place was fought between Carde's teammate Thomas Yu Lee, Johnson Huang of Arrows Racing and Chen Fangping of Madness Racing.

Giltrap, who was in the front row, overtook Li Zhicong with 34 minutes left in the race and gradually pulled away. As the pit stop window opened, Lee was in third place, ahead of Carde and Koyama, while Thailand's AM driver Dechathorn 'Phu' Phuakkarawut was sixth.

When the pit window opened, Arrow's Racing's Gavin Huang was the first to pit, handing over the car to teammate Jonathan Cecotto. Giltrap and Koyama were the last to pit, with both Absolute Racing and SJM Iron Lynx Theodore Racing executing shrewd pit strategies to return to the track in first and second place. Clay Osborne took over from teammate Giltrap and continued to lead, followed by Liang Hanzhao and Lai Zhicong. AM driver Lee was fourth, ahead of Dan Wells, who replaced Carde, while Cecotto was slightly behind but quickly closed the gap.

In the final moments of the race, Lee and Wells succeeded in overtaking Lai Chi-chung, leaving him in fifth place, ahead of Cecotto. In the last seven minutes of the race, Wells passed Lee from the inside with a perfect move, moving up to third place. Cecotto chased Lai Chi-chung closely, but despite the latter's excellent defense, he was eventually defeated by his opponent and Cecotto finished fifth.

Osborne won the first place, giving him and his PRO partner Giltrap their second win of the weekend, with Liang Hanzhao crossing the finish line right behind him. Although he failed to close the gap before the end of the race, he and Koyama won their second single-round runner-up in the Challenge debut. Wells and Carde won their first prize of the season, while Lee celebrated his first AM class victory, finishing fourth overall.

Madness Racing's Chen Fangping and André Couto won the PRO-AM category, beating their opponents Thomas Yu Lee and Nikolas Pirttilahti of DW Evans GT Team. Malaysian brothers Hairie and Haziq Oh once again won the Lamborghini Cup trophy, with defending champion Supachai Weeraborwornpong in second place, and Malaysian driver Kumar Prabakaran of Iron Lynx Team deservedly standing on the podium in the category.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.