lamborghini blacpain super trofeo

Cheng, GMG Survive Wet Debut for Podium at Road Atlanta

Date October 6, 2015

Having only made his debut in the professional sportscar scene two months ago, Global Motorsports Group’s (GMG) Jeffrey Cheng conquered his latest challenge, wet conditions, to take podium honors during the latest rounds of the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo North America. Taking part in advance of Saturday’s Petit Le Mans at the famed Road Atlanta circuit, Cheng and co-driver James Sofronas would drive flawlessly on an extremely wet track to finish the week’s doubleheader without a scratch on the car.

“Jeffrey was extremely impressive given the conditions,” stated GMG team owner and co-driver James Sofronas. “Road Atlanta is one of most difficult tracks you can go to in the wet, and he was perfect. My job was to step in the car after his opening stint and see where we stood, and he made my job very easy. I’m glad we were able to return to the podium, and this bodes well for the finale in a few weeks. Overall we should all walk away proud of our weekend, everyone on this team did an excellent job as always.”

During Thursday’s Race One, the week’s constant downpour of rain failed to let up when the green flag fell on the day’s 50-minute race. Knowing that just getting through the first turn would play a significant role on his day, Jeffrey would take the green flag with great maturity, navigating the first series of corners without error. Unfortunately, a major incident with another vehicle would cause the race to be stopped prematurely with nearly 30 minutes of the race run under red flag conditions.

By time the racing action resumed, Cheng would pass his drive-time requirements, eventually handing the No. 88 Lamborghini LP 620-2 off to teammate James Sofronas who would go on an impressive march during the final minutes of the race to climb from sixth to third by time the checkered flag fell. It would serve as Cheng’s fourth podium in six races, and with a clean car for Friday’s Race Two.

Just one day later, Race Two would luckily get underway without incident, and despite the continually poor conditions, the field managed to stay green throughout the entirety of the race. With no opportunities to re-catch the field under caution, it was up to Jeffrey to keep a strong pace without risking his equipment, and despite his limited experience he did his job perfectly once again, eventually handing the car over to Sofronas when his drive-time had elapsed.

From there, it was up to James to see the car to the finish, slowly gaining on the field in front of him to eventually take sixth.

For Cheng, getting his first experience of wet racing was certainly nerve wracking, but thankfully painless.

“I’d never raced in the wet before, and I knew it would be really easy to go off so staying clean was my first priority,” stated the Californian. “With all of the elevation changes and mud, it was extremely tricky, but everyone kept emphasizing that there was no need to set the fastest lap times, and I took that to heart during my runs. As usual, thanks to everyone at GMG for putting together a great car, it was a lot of fun and a great experience. Headed to Sebring, we hopefully have a good wave of momentum.”

With the penultimate round of the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo North America now behind, all attention will turn to both the series’ and world final, taking place November 18-22 at Sebring International Raceway.

(all photos courtesy of Jamey Price)

Lamborghini COTA

GMG Driver Development Program Continues with Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo in Austin

Date September 22, 2015

Following the most recent double-header week of competition for Global Motorsports Group (GMG) and the entire Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo North America, GMG drivers Jeffrey Cheng and Rob Phillips showed tremendous improvement throughout last week’s festivities at the famed Circuit of the Americas in Austin.

“Overall I’m pretty happy with the incredible effort of everyone on the team,” stated GMG team owner James Sofronas. “The week went went pretty flawless for all of us. Jeffrey was tremendous, especially for being new to this level of competition. CotA is a really tough track, super fast and super technical, but he worked his way up to speed with a tremendous amount of patience and maturity. Rob had never been in one of these machines before this race, and to get in and go as quick as he did is a great testament to both Rob and the team. All of our guys have had a busy few weeks jumping back and forth between programs, so to keep the motivation as high as they have is a great testament to their commitment.”

Lamborghini COTA

Driving the No. 88 Lamborghini Huracán LP 620-2, drivers Jeffrey Cheng and James Sofronas took to the week after an amazing debut event in which Cheng scored triple podiums at VIRginia International Raceway. Headed to Circuit of the Americas, however, Cheng knew that the challenges of the Formula One-spec circuit would create a unique challenge for the rookie. Having never driven at the venue before, the Newport Beach resident showed great patience in getting up to speed, improving over five seconds from his first session to his last. During Thursday’s Race One, the duo of Cheng and Sofronas would take sixth in the Pro-Am category, followed by seventh in Race Two. Between Race One and Race Two alone, the No. 88 car would show an improvement of two seconds, and fourth fastest in class. Equally noteworthy, Cheng made zero major mistakes on the weekend, bringing the car back without a scratch and setting the team up well for the next round at Road Atlanta.

“After the weekend at VIR, we knew this would be more of a challenge,” stated Cheng. “Circuit of the Americas is definitely a challenging course, and my expectations were a lot more modest headed in to the weekend. I’m of course disappointed that we didn’t quite have the same results as our last race, but we expected that and overall I’m happy with the progress we showed. Everyone at GMG did a great job preparing the car, and we can walk away with a certain sense of satisfaction. I’m really looking forward to Road Atlanta and seeing what we can do.”

Lamborghini COTA

In the No. 32 Lamborghini Huracán LP 620-2, Rob Phillips would also show well during his maiden run in the series. A veteran of other sportscar series, the driver had never taken to Lamborghini competition before, also showing tremendous improvement over the week’s action. Competing in the AM category, Phillips would set the second fastest lap during Thursday’s Race One en route to a fourth place finish, however contact would force him to retire early from Friday’s Race Two.

“COTA was an excellent opportunity to get some initial seat time in the car and explore the competition,” stated Phillips. “The car is simply a blast to drive! I was very impressed with the quality and professionalism of the series, and am really excited to progress further with the team next week at Road Atlanta.”

Lamborghini COTA

With less than two weeks until the next round at Road Atlanta, the crew at GMG is already hard at work preparing their vehicle for the next series of races. Race One will take place next Thursday, October 1 at 2:15 PM ET, with Race Two taking place on October 2 at 5:25 PM ET.

(all photos courtesy of Jamey Price)