Lamborghini ST: Ashton Harrison narrowly misses out on podiums in COTA

"We showed pace and demonstrated what our car is capable of" - Despite strong performances throughout the fourth round, Ashton Harrison narrowly missed out on class podiums in both races of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America round at Circuit of the Americas, when a late-race technical issue struck the WTRAndretti duo.

Photo credits: Jamey Price/@jameypricephoto

Ashton Harrison just missed out on class podium finishes in both races in the fourth round of Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America, in a still widely positive round for the WTRAndretti driver that proved to belong to the front running positions in the AM class.

Harrison, who joined the series at Laguna Seca and teamed up with Graham Doyle at the wheel of the #10 DEX Imaging WTRAndretti Lamborghini Huracan, had a super round at Watkins Glen, where she returned to the podium for the first time this year. With two solid results, in fact, the former GT World Challenge America ProAm champion made a big leap in the standings as the season entered its second half.

The Lamborghini one-make series then headed to Circuit of the Americas, Austin, for the first time since 2021, with teams tackling the fourth double header of the season, in a strong 43-car field in support of the FIA WEC Lone Star Le Mans event.

Ashton Harrison and Graham Doyle aimed to continue the momentum from Watkins Glen and make more progress in the AM championship standings: “Looking forward to going back to COTA in Super Trofeo", Ashton commented. "WTRAndretti has had a lot of success there and I’ve personally had some success there in a variety of cars, so I’m looking at being as infamous of a track as COTA."

"Getting to experience this with Graham, his first time at our test, he did an amazing job – that track is pretty challenging", she continued. "Looking forward to racing in the AM category and continuing our podium success. As we are winding down the season here in the U.S., preparing for our European tour at World Finals, I’m looking forward to working with Graham and continuing our success with WTRAndretti.”

Graham Doyle took over driving duties for the first practice session, finishing P10 in class.

In FP2, Ashton improved to seventh in class with a 2:11.841 lap, showing good progression and potential for a class podium.

In the first qualifying session, Doyle qualified for Race 1, placing 24th overall and sixth in AM.

In Q2, Harrison took over; she ran in the AM class top five for most of the session and within the top 20 overall, ultimately securing P6 in class with a 2:09.149 lap, one-tenth faster than her teammate.

Photo credits: Jamey Price/@jameypricephoto

Doyle started Race 1 on Saturday afternoon, that went underway behind the safety car, and when the green flag waved with 45 minutes to go, Doyle made a good start, moving up to fifth in class and briefly into the overall top 20.

However, caution returned just two minutes later when Pappas's Flying Lizard car went off in the Esses and hit the barriers.

When the race resumed with 37 minutes to go, Doyle lost a couple of positions and found himself behind Shi in sixth place in the AM class. Morey also found a way through, dropping Doyle to P7 in class and P26 overall.

Doyle however set his personal best laps and held his position. The pit window opened with 30 minutes to go, and most of the class rivals pitted. Doyle stayed out for one more lap, pitting on lap 9 from second in class and P11 overall during the pit cycle.

Ashton Harrison rejoined fifth in class, but just as the pit window closed, the #14 of Stewart crashed at speed in the Esses, bringing out another safety car.

The restart came with 12 minutes remaining, and Ashton had to charge from 6th in AM and 23rd overall.

The restart saw chaos as a spun car was narrowly avoided by everyone, and Ashton gained several positions, moving up to P3 in class and 19th overall. She was on a mission, closing in on Starkweather for second. Unfortunately, another spin by Ray Shahi in the Esses brought out the safety car again.

Harrison was battling with Starkweather and a few ProAm cars when the race restarted for one final lap, and aimed for second in AM. Unfortunately, she lost out to Kleck and finished P17 overall, P4 in AM, after only two green-flag laps, which hampered her progress.

Photo credits: Jamey Price/@jameypricephoto

Harrison started from P5 in class, P20 overall, in Sunday's Race 2. After surviving first-lap incidents, she held her position until the safety car immediately came out.

The driver of the #10 Lamborghini - this weekend sporting an American-flag livery - moved up to fourth place in class and then stayed out longer when the pit window opened, making up ground thanks to her quick pace among the AM entries.

She climbed to second in class and 8th overall before pitting on lap 9. Doyle rejoined in third after the round of pit stops, with a 7-second gap to Morey in second - and thus in a clear position to fight for the top three after a smooth pit strategy for the WTRAndretti crew.

Doyle posted solid lap times, holding off Dobson in the final laps. Although he lost out to some ProAm cars, he seemed poised for a podium finish.

However, disaster struck with 7 minutes to go as the #10 Huracan came to a halt due to technical issues. Doyle managed to get going again but fell to seventh in class and 24th overall.

While the car was back up to speed, Doyle was now over 10 seconds behind Bullock and took the chequered flag in P7 in class, ending an otherwise positive weekend on a frustrating note.

“I’m super proud of everyone at WTRAndretti with our Super Trofeo program", commented a very satisfied Ashton Harrison, who had shown plenty of pace in both races. "We clearly had a lot of success this weekend, and our engineering team provided us with a setup that could be raced at all times throughout the track."

"I’m so happy and thrilled for DEX Imaging because although we missed out on the podium both days, our car was a rocket", she continued. "I’m just honored to be a part of this team, and Graham did an incredible job."

"Podium contention today was taken from us due to a mechanical issue, but nonetheless, we showed pace and demonstrated what our car is capable of. Clearly, our WTRAndretti team is capable of winning.”

The next round will take place from September 20-22 at the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the team’s home race, and the final race on US soil before the World Finals in Jerez de La Frontera, Spain, in November.