Lamborghini ST: Ashton Harrison gains positions to score top-5 in Indianapolis

"We didn’t have the best qualifying, but we put on the best show climbing several spots in both races" - Ashton Harrison delivered strong recovery drives at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, securing sixth and fifth place finishes in the fifth round of Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America, ahead of the World Finals in Jerez.

Photo credits: Jamey Price/@jameypricephoto

Ashton Harrison continued her streak of strong results in Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America, adding a top-five finish to her tally after a competitive showing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti driver secured sixth and fifth-place finishes in rounds 9 and 10 of the championship.

Since her return to Lamborghini Super Trofeo, Harrison—who was vice-champion in the 2023 GT World Challenge America Pro class after several years of experience in the Lamborghini one-make series—has consistently earned top-end results in the AM class, sharing the #10 DEX Imaging Huracan ST with Graham Doyle.

After joining the field at Laguna Seca, Harrison and her teammate returned to the podium at Watkins Glen and narrowly missed class podiums in both races at Circuit of the Americas, where a late-race technical issue struck the WTR Andretti duo.

The fifth and final round of the North American campaign, before the World Finals at Jerez, Spain, took place at the iconic 2.439-mile road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway—a track both drivers are familiar with.

“Very excited to be back at Indy, a place where I’ve had a lot of success in past seasons", Harrison commented before the event. "This track has so much history, it’s hard to not smile while driving around this circuit."

"I’m thrilled to be back with Graham in our DEX Imaging LST. The test here went super well and I’m looking forward to putting in the work to grab another podium finish before World Finals.”

Aiming to capitalize on the pace shown at COTA, Harrison and Doyle had a strong start to the weekend, running fifth fastest in class in both the first and second practice sessions.

However, an issue in qualifying made for difficult races, where Doyle and Harrison had to charge back from eleventh in Race 1 and ninth in Race 2.

Photo credits: Jamey Price/@jameypricephoto

Despite a big 35-car field, everyone survived the tight turn 1 at IMS as the lights went out in Friday's first race. Doyle, behind the wheel of the #10 Lamborghini for the opening stint, held 11th in class and P26 overall after the first lap, then picked up a position to enter the top 10.

Doyle was running steadily, but on lap 7, he dropped back to P11 after being pushed wide onto the grass in the middle sector, losing a couple of overall positions.

He reclaimed P10 in class on lap 10 after passing Walker, then gained another position when Lee limped back to the pits with a technical issue, moving the #10 machine into P9.

When the pit window opened with 30 minutes to go, several cars dove into the pit lane for the driver change. Doyle climbed to fourth in class during the round of pit stops and pitted on lap 15, handing the car over to Ashton Harrison.

Harrison rejoined the race ninth in class and soon began picking off positions, climbing to sixth by lap 18. She showed strong pace early on and defended well, holding off the #42 of Kevin Madsen for several laps.

Despite contact with Madsen, Harrison maintained her position, surviving the collision and keeping a safe gap behind her. However, she was hit with a 10-second penalty for the incident.

Harrison pushed hard to build a gap, extending the margin to over 25 seconds ahead of Walker by lap 30. This allowed her to keep sixth in the AM class at the end of a really strong first race, also recovering to P20 overall having gained five positions in class during Race 1.

Photo credits: Jamey Price/@jameypricephoto

In the final race of the season on North American soil, Harrison lined up ninth in AM and P23 overall in the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Lamborghini on Saturday afternoon.

The race began cleanly, with all drivers navigating the busy first lap. Miller led overall and in ProAm, ahead of three Pro entries. Ashton Harrison had a brilliant start, moving from ninth to sixth in class on the first lap. However, she soon got stuck in traffic and was shuffled back a few places, returning to ninth by lap 5.

She soon quickly bounced back, passing Lucas for eighth a few laps later, and soon caught Starkweather. Together, they closed in on the Flying Lizard Huracan of Shi, and both drivers managed to pass, moving Harrison up to P7.

As the pit window approached, Harrison extended her stint, climbing to third in class and sixth overall by passing Starkweather. She eventually pitted on lap 16, handing the car over to Graham Doyle for the final 23 minutes of the race. The WTR with Andretti duo gained some ground during the round of pit stops, and Doyle rejoined the race in sixth in class when the pit window closed.

With a healthy margin behind him, Doyle focused on battling Starkweather ahead but slightly lost touch with the Precision Performance Motorsport driver. However, he kept the car out of trouble and advanced to fifth place in AM class, chasing Kunzle for fourth.

After a clean race, Doyle and Harrison crossed the line in P5 in AM class, gaining valuable points and again recovering several positions from their starting grid spots, collecting a top five in the process.

“Wrapping the rounds on U.S. soil here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Graham did a mega job in both of our races", said Harrison. "I’m really proud of the team for the effort that we put in."

"We didn’t have the best qualifying, but we put on the best show climbing several spots in both races", she added. "Shoutout the WTRAndretti crew and DEX Imaging for giving us a good car. Looking forward to Spain, which is where I won my first Super Trofeo race, so going back to a track that I really love and have that competitive advantage.”

The final round of the 2024 LST season will in fact take place on November 14-15 at Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, in conjunction with the Lamborghini World Finals. This circuit holds special significance for Harrison, as it was where she became the first-ever female Lamborghini world champion in 2019, securing the World Finals in the LB Cup.