Chloe Chambers claims maiden Lamborghini Super Trofeo podium at Watkins Glen
- RACERS
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After showing encouraging pace throughout the first rounds of her rookie Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America campaign, Chloe Chambers secured her first podium at Watkins Glen International, claiming second in the ProAm class alongside teammate Ian Porter for RAFA Racing.
After showing encouraging pace throughout the first rounds of her rookie Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America campaign, Chloe Chambers secured her first podium in the third round of the season at Watkins Glen International, claiming second in the ProAm class alongside teammate Ian Porter for RAFA Racing.
The result marked Chambers' first podium in the championship and came after another weekend where the American demonstrated strong pace and racecraft despite learning the iconic circuit for the first time. Following an unfortunate retirement in Race 1 after Porter was eliminated in a collision while fighting for position, the duo bounced back with a solid drive forward in Race 2 that finally rewarded the pace they had displayed over several events.
After transitioning from two seasons in F1 Academy to sports car racing, Chambers embarked on her rookie Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America ProAm campaign in 2026 with RAFA Racing alongside Ian Porter, quickly adapting to the Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2.
The American immediately demonstrated encouraging pace and steadily grew in confidence over the opening rounds. At Laguna Seca, a technical issue in qualifying forced the duo to start from the back of the field in both races, yet Chambers produced two outstanding recovery drives, showcasing her racecraft as she climbed through the field to secure her first top-five ProAm finish in the series.
Arriving at Watkins Glen for the third round of the championship, Chambers continued her development despite facing another learning challenge; the event marked in fact her first visit to the circuit, while constantly changing weather conditions throughout Thursday's practice sessions added more complexity.
Despite the difficult conditions, Chambers was immediately competitive. In the mixed-weather opening practice session she set a best lap of 1:50.776, placing fourth in the ProAm class and 13th overall. Rain during FP2 limited the amount of meaningful running for many competitors, but Chambers again adapted well, ending the session second fastest in ProAm.
Qualifying on Friday presented new conditions again, as the track returned to dry status.
Chambers took the wheel for Q1 and posted a 1:50.471 lap, but the short session and heavy traffic prevented her from putting together a clean representative lap. After returning to the pits without finding an opportunity to improve, she qualified eighth in the ProAm class and 24th overall.
Ian Porter handled Q2 and tried to extracted more pace. After opening with a 1:50.1, Porter improved to a 1:49.2 before producing personal best first and second sectors on his final run. Although he ultimately returned to the pits without improving further, fourth in ProAm and 13th overall represented a positive qualifying effort that placed the team in a much stronger position for Race 2.
"It was my first weekend at Watkins and Thursday really gave us everything from dry, to mixed, to full wet conditions", Chambers explained. "My pace was good in all conditions and we showed promise for qualifying on Friday."
"Unfortunately during my qualifying session, I wasn’t able to get clear track to set a representable lap", she continued. "It was difficult to get myself into a position for clear track since we were the last pit box on pit lane and it’s a short session, so any laps wasted is a big chunk of time lost."
Chambers took the start of Friday afternoon's opening 50-minute race from seventh in the ProAm class.
The field of 41 Lamborghinis negotiated Turn 1 cleanly, but Chambers got delayed during the start as her lane was slow to accelerate away. She lost a few overall positions, despite maintaining seventh in ProAm while dropping to around 30th overall, as she found herself trapped behind a group of LB Cup entries.
Chloe immediately began working her way back through the field. First Chambers closed in and passed Tasca on lap 3 before overtaking Ray Shahi and Jeff Courtney to climb to 27th overall. Although the immediate gains came against cars outside her class, she steadily moved closer to her ProAm rivals.
Continuing her recovery, Chambers overtook Troy Petersen on lap seven before also moving ahead of Ernie Francis to reach 25th overall. Philippe Touchette was next in her target, as she continued carving through the midfield.
Once she found some clear air, Chambers' pace immediately improved. Running consistently in the 1:50.9 range, she quickly began reeling in the AM class runners ahead, with Staab soon coming under pressure.
A spin for Boucher into the tyre barriers did not require a caution, allowing Chambers to continue her progress uninterrupted. She completed another overtake to move into 23rd overall while remaining seventh in ProAm, continually improving her sector times despite running on increasingly worn tyres.
When Angelo Dinkov spun and became stranded at Turn 8, the Full Course Yellow was deployed just one minute before the pit window was due to open. By this point Chambers had climbed into sixth place in the ProAm class.
The caution delayed the opening of the mandatory pit window before racing resumed with 23 minutes remaining. The action immediately intensified again as Jaden Conwright crashed in the Esses, although he managed to continue. Chambers navigated the busy midfield cleanly and advanced to the overall top-20 before the pit window finally opened on lap 14.
Chambers handed the #81 Lamborghini over to Porter from sixth in the ProAm class, with Porter rejoining directly behind class rivals Fuentes and Foster.
Porter immediately appeared quicker than Fuentes and looked ready to continue the charge forward. However, on lap 18 disaster struck. While involved in a three-car battle, Porter was tagged from behind, spun into the barriers and made contact with the armco. Although he could continue initially, he limped back to the pits, where the extent of the damage forced the car's retirement.
"Race 1 started off difficult as my lane didn’t accelerate at the start and the rules in Super Trofeo meant that I couldn’t pass until after the start/finish line", Chloe explained. "I lost some positions at the start, but managed some good overtakes to hand off the car to Ian somewhere around the top 20 after having fallen to about 28th."
"At the start of Ian’s stint, he was hit from behind by an out of class driver which caused us to DNF."
It was another bitter disappointment for Chambers and Porter after another highly competitive performance had been ended by circumstances beyond their control.
Saturday's second race however offered the opportunity for immediate redemption.
Starting much higher in fourth place in the ProAm class, Porter took the opening stint and enjoyed a clean getaway through the notoriously challenging first corner, quickly moving into 12th overall while maintaining fourth in class before making further overall gains.
The race was then dramatically interrupted on only the second lap when a huge accident involving Gdovic, Towns and Lawley unfolded in the Esses. After contact during a battle, Gdovic struck the barriers and was then collected at high speed, bringing out the red flag.
Remarkably, Porter had been directly behind the accident and produced an outstanding evasive action to avoid becoming involved in the major incident. With the race stopped, the clock continued running.
Competition resumed behind the safety car with just 21 minutes remaining, meaning the mandatory pit window was already approaching. Green flag racing resumed on lap five.
Porter had moved into third place before making an excellent restart that saw him overtake Graham Doyle to climb into second in the ProAm class.
The pit window opened one lap later with 17 minutes remaining, and Porter immediately brought the RAFA Racing Lamborghini Huracan into the pits to hand over to Chambers.
Chloe rejoined fifth in ProAm, although some class rivals had elected to remain on track longer and were yet to make their mandatory stops.
Only one lap into Chambers' stint however another incident unfolded when Coebbe and Courtney collided, bringing out another Full Course Yellow with 11 minutes remaining.
The caution ultimately remained in place until the finish, meaning Race 2 featured just a single green-flag lap in each driver's stint after the earlier red flag.
With the race ending under yellow and the pit sequence interrupted, the final classification initially remained unclear as officials reviewed pit stop procedures and mandatory stop compliance.
Following the application of post-race penalties to several competitors, Chloe Chambers and Ian Porter were promoted to second in the ProAm class and seventh overall, securing Chambers' first Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America podium.
The result finally rewarded the pace the RAFA Racing duo had consistently shown throughout the opening rounds, having repeatedly demonstrated podium-worthy speed only to be denied by issues or racing incidents.
Looking back on Saturday's race and the team's long-awaited podium, Chambers added: "On Saturday, we lined up P13 and after Ian narrowly avoided a big incident that brought out the red flag and cut the race short by about 20 minutes, Ian handed the car off to me."
"One lap into my stint, another full course yellow came out which is how the race ended. After penalties for other cars not serving their mandated pit stop were applied, we ended up P2 in class and P7 overall to secure our first podium of the season!"
The podium lifts Chambers and Porter to eighth in the ProAm championship standings as they continue building momentum in their rookie campaign.
The Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America season now heads to Road America on 30 July-1 August, where Chambers will look to build on her maiden podium.