Double Podium for Bartholomew and Middleton at Zandvoort

Go Motorsport Management drivers Jack Bartholomew and Stuart Middleton secured a double podium in the two Lamborghini Super Trofeo races at Zandvoort over the weekend.

Bartholomew began Saturday afternoon’s race in the #32 Lamborghini Huracan Evo from 6thon the grid and he instantly gained a position off the rolling start to climb into fifth. Running 0.9 seconds behind the top four into lap two, he chipped away at the gap over the subsequent laps and by the ninth lap he was within just 0.2 seconds of Niels Lagrange. When the pit-stop window opened at the 20-minute mark, Bartholomew continued and moved up into fourth when one of the podium challengers pitted. Pitting the next time around he handed over to team mate Middleton, when the race order settled with around 20 minutes left on the clock the #32 Bonaldi Lamborghini was fourth and lapping faster than the trio ahead. Closing at a rapid rate on the podium battle, Middleton was catching the leading group, on lap 22, the second placed Lamborghini of Bartosz Paziewski slid off into the gravel while under pressure from Vito Postiglione. Middleton duly swept past to take third and although losing time during the latter stages through backmarker traffic, the British pairing maintained third and a terrific podium return.

Middleton started race two on Sunday morning, with a partly wet track awaiting competitors, and when the lights went out he held third on the run into Tarzan for the first time, rebuffing a strong challenge from Harald Schlegelmilch.Within half a second of Alberto di Folco into lap two, Middleton stayed close behind the duo ahead as dark clouds lingered over the Zandvoort track and then light rain began to fall on lap four. Pressuring di Folco, the Italian then had a spin on lap five and so Middleton sliced past into second position. Around the time the pit stop window opened, as the race approached mid-distance, much heavier rain began to fall and Middleton closed back to within 1.8 seconds of Postiglione while also edging away from Schlegelmilch. On lap 15 a backmarker got in the way of the two leaders and Middleton seized his opportunity, storming around the outside with a stunning move to take the lead. Postiglione and Schlegelmilch pitted at the end of the lap, while Middleton continued in the lead with the backmarker still ahead of him. Pitting at the end of lap 17 to hand over the Lamborghini, Bartholomew joined the track with just over 19 minutes to run with a lead of almost four seconds. On lap 19, though,Bartholomews lead was reduced to nothing when the Safety Car was deployed due to a car hitting the barriers. Racing resumed on lap 22, with less than nine minutes to run, and Bartholomew stayed ahead but under pressure from local driver Danny Kroes. At the end of the lap Kroes went around the outside at the last corner to seize the lead and then Bartholomew’s attention had to turn to trying to repel Karol Basz, Postiglione’s team-mate. With five minutes left on the clock, though, the Safety Car reappeared with another Huracan beached in the gravel. With only two minutes remaining in the race the action got back underway and Bartholomew was attacking Kroes for the lead as the rain disappeared once again. Glued to the No.3 car, the Briton didn’t relent but at the flag on lap 26 he had to settle for second just 0.4 seconds shy of the win. Next on the Lamborghini Super Trofeo calendar is a visit to Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium a fortnight from now, on Friday, 26th July, and Saturday, 27th July, where the championship will run as part of the support package to the annual Total 24 Hours of Spa.