Thailand Podium for Bartholomew

Rounds three and four of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Championship Asia took place at the Chang International Circuit Buriram, Thailand on 20th and 21st May. The Asia series has attracted the attention of local teams, as well as several European and Middle Eastern teams wanting to take part in this new and exciting race series in the Far East.

This was Jack’s first visit to the circuit and he qualified his FFF Racing Lamborghini Huracan in 5th place for race 1. The qualifying times were so close that two tenths would have put him in 3rd place. With the heat continuing to rise throughout the morning qualifying sessions, race 1 started at 1.40pm local time with track temperatures peaking midway through the race at a sizzling 55 degrees C.

The start of the first race saw Bartholomew in a tussle for fourth place, the two drivers exchanging places on Lap 1 and continuing to fight until the pit window opened. When Bartholomew handed the car over to team mate Armaan Ebrahim, a rapid pit stop by the duo would have put them into a podium position fight. However, due to the intense heat the engine went into safety mode on Ebrahim’s outlap which cost the pairing 10 seconds losing any chance to fight for third. An excellent recovery from Ebrahim secured them 4th place.

Race two on Sunday morning started in even hotter conditions with Bartholomew and Ebrahim starting on the front row of the grid in 2nd place. Ebrahim drove the first stint, held on to his position and set about chasing the leader. He had built a comfortable gap to the car in 3rd so as the pit window approached 2nd place was in reach. However, another fantastic driver change was again wasted as the same technical issue as in race 1 occurred and on the pit exit, the car went into safety mode costing another 20 seconds. This unfortunately resulted in Bartholomew dropping back to 5th. It now seemed that any chance of a podium had gone, however Bartholomew set about the herculean task of trying to catch the leaders. With extreme pressure from cars behind and in the intense heat, his consistent fast lap times enabled him to catch and pass two of the cars ahead of him, bringing the car home in 3rd and a well-deserved podium.

The series moves to Suzuka in Japan on 24th & 25th June for rounds five and six.