De La Torre: Low Grid Spot Chance to “Show My Racecraft”

Photo: Lamborghini Squadra Corse

Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America champion Elias De La Torre says the deciding race of the Monza Lamborghini World Finals will be an “opportunity to show my racecraft” as he will attempt to fight through from 13th on the grid.

De La Torre and TR3 Racing teammate Dennis Lind led throughout Saturday’s opening Pro/Pro-Am contest after Lind had qualified on pole.

However, the second qualifying session was far trickier for De La Torre and he will therefore start the crucial race from the seventh row.

He was delighted to be able to bounce back from that disappointment by taking the opening victory, particularly as Nicolas Stati initially closed on him before De La Torre pulled clear again in the final laps.

“I struggled a little bit in qualifying and felt I let everyone down a bit but thankfully we were able to recover,” De La Torre told Sportscar365.

“I learned a bit from Dennis over the period in between (qualifying and Race 1) and he drove amazing and TR3 gave us an amazing car and we were able to put it together.

“I think we have great pace running through the field and compared to the other cars I think we have a chance to make our way through and that’s just what we’re going to try to do.

“It’s the final send-off for the V10 Huracan so hopefully we can make our way through and show what the car’s capable of before it goes away.”

Lind said it was “impressive” how De La Torre regained his composure to ensure the pair capitalized upon pole by taking victory.

“He lost a bit of confidence after qualifying, he didn’t feel like he performed very well, and it took him a couple of laps to get up to speed again,” Lind told Sportscar365.

“But this is the thing with young drivers, it’s so hard to get back into a rhythm if you feel insecure about your driving.

“It was quite impressive to see him finding his feet again, taking a step back, breathe and find a rhythm — he was very mature.”

However, Lind is “praying for rain” for Sunday’s showdown as he does not feel the Monza layout lends itself to overtaking in the dry.

The TR3 duo’s chances are helped by their nearest rival, the No. 70 Leipert Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2 of Stati and Brendon Leitch that finished runner-up in Race 1, also only starting ninth.

XONINE Racing’s Will Bamber could therefore be Lind and De La Torre’s main threat as he finished third in the opener and will start on the front row for the sequel.

“We can get up there a little bit, but I cannot hope for other peoples’ unfortunate happenings,” Lind added.

“We need some luck to get it done but I think we showed everyone we’ve got pace.

“We’ve been the quickest car all week so let’s see — it’s Monza so anything can happen in Turn 1.”

Lind was nevertheless pleased to have started the event in the best possible way by winning, although credited Leitch for not letting him escape in the first stint.

“I think it’s a little bit easier when you start out front here at Monza and you can get a clean getaway — that’s been the trend of the races we’ve done so far,” said Lind. “But Brendon did a really good job of holding on as I was pushing pretty hard.”

Source: Sports Car 365