Max Lanza enjoyed the taste of victory at the American SpeedFest, finishing as the top driver of Challenger Trophy on Sunday to secure the overall lead in the Trophy.
Max Lanza took advantage of his first Trophy victory of the season and problems suffered by Thomas Toffel to become the new leader of the Challenger Trophy at the conclusion of last week’s American SpeedFest 11, Powered by Lucas Oil.
Lanza showed flashes of speed during Free Practice, being the fastest of the Challenger Trophy in FP2. There’s a catch though: He was only 16th in the combined times and couldn’t maximize on his Group B Qualifying berth.
The problems continued on Race 1 as he suffered a late puncture that dropped him to 21st overall and fourth in the Trophy. However, Lanza was able to minimize his losses because Toffel retired due to an engine issue.
Better news would come to the driver of the No. 88 Avangarde Group Camaro on Sunday. Starting from a lowly 19th on the grid, Lanza navigated his way through multiple collisions to take home a 12th place finish.
This result was enough to secure the Italian’s first Challenger Trophy win of 2024, finishing 4.715 seconds ahead of Riccardo Romagnoli.
“What a weekend! Winning is always great, but doing it in front of such a crowd has a special flavor. We were fast all weekend, but we lacked a bit of luck,” said Lanza on his Brands Hatch round.
“Everything went right on Sunday, and a well-deserved victory came for me and the whole team. This year, the competition is numerous and strong; it won’t be easy, but we’re heading into the summer break at the top of the standings, having achieved our first seasonal goal.”
With Toffel also retiring from Race 2 after a collision with Fabrizio Armetta and Vladimiros Tziortzis, Lanza was able to take the top spot in the overall Trophy rankings with 133 points.
He knows that the rest of the season will be a challenging one for him and the No. 88 CAAL Racing team, so he wants to enjoy the euphoria of victory while it lasts.
“With four rounds left to go, two of which offer double points, literally anything can still happen,” acknowledges Lanza, who turns 44 years old on the day of this report’s release. “In the meantime, we’ll enjoy this victory!”
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