Steven Aghakhani and Jacob Eidson Power Back Into IMSA Lamborghini Super Trofeo Title Chase 08.06.2021: ...With Double Podium Performance in Virginia Second and Third Place Finishes at VIRginia International Raceway Boost Aghakhani, Eidson and the No. 6 SADA Systems US RaceTronics Lamborghini Huracán Team to Third in IMSA Lamborghini Super Trofeo Pro

...With Double Podium Performance in Virginia



Second and Third Place Finishes at VIRginia International Raceway Boost Aghakhani, Eidson and the No. 6 SADA Systems US RaceTronics Lamborghini Huracán Team to Third in IMSA Lamborghini Super Trofeo Pro-Class Championship Standings
 

Steven Aghakhani and Jacob Eidson powered back into the Pro-class points battle for the 2021 IMSA Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America championship this past weekend at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) with a pair of podium finishes in the No. 6 SADA Systems US RaceTronics (USRT) Lamborghini Huracán in a Sunday doubleheader schedule of 50-minute sprint races on the Southern Virginia road course.



Aghakhani and Eidson scored a second-place overall and Pro-class finish in Sunday morning's opening race and backed it up later that afternoon with a third-place overall and class showing. The twin top-three finishes give Aghakhani and Eidson a solid record of three podiums results in the year's first four races as well as a needed boost in the championship standings after being knocked from contention by another competitor in the second race at last month's season-opening doubleheader at Circuit of The Americas (COTA) in Texas.



Sunday's first race was a textbook example of an in-step performance by both drivers and the USRT No. 6 team. Aghakhani charged from eighth place - fifth in the Pro division - at the race start and was soon up to third in class before the race was slowed for two caution periods.



A strategy call was made to bring Aghakhani in for the team's driver change stop right when the pit window opened. The USRT crew once again pulled off a perfectly timed and flawlessly executed pit stop and driver change to swap Eidson in for Aghakhani.


"The US RaceTronics guys are just ongoing in their effort and developing all of the time," Aghakhani said. "It’s ridiculous how good our pit stops are compared to some other teams and how we can gain more time and positions. It’s every single lap, analyzing who is in front, who is behind, what’s the gap, the sector time – doing everything in that short span of one lap to make a call if either the driver needs to pit or stay out. They put all of their trust in us, I put all of my trust in them, and it really works out."
 


Eidson returned the No. 6 to the race third in Pro and overall and kept the pressure on until the finish. The No. 6 took the checkered flag third on the track but was quickly elevated to second place in the final results after the on-track runner-up finisher was assessed a penalty.



Eidson started Sunday's final race from the outside front row and joined closing driver Aghakhani in battling for a top podium spot throughout the hot and harried race.



After another spot-on pit stop by USRT, Aghakhani took the wheel of the No. 6 for the final run to the finish. The closing minutes of the race were very similar to the morning sprint. The second place car in front of Aghakhani was assessed a scant .04-second penalty for a pit stop violation, which gave the No. 6 team and drivers another shot at moving up to a P2 finish for the second time on Sunday.



Aghakhani charged to close the .04 gap but, with four total classes and a full field of Lamborghinis on the 3.27-mile road course, the needed cooperation from the other competitors was just not in the cards.



"It was quite an eventful weekend for VIR," Aghakhani said. "There’s only so much we can do and control with the ongoing factors out there, especially with the different classes. All in all, we got the short end of the stick, but  we just have to keep our heads up, keep driving and try to put it all together and not get caught out."



Despite the frustrations with the traffic, Aghakhani hunted the second-place competitor to the end, crossing the line for the third-place showing just .111 of a second behind the runner-up.
 

Sunday's podium haul elevated Aghakhani and Eidson from fifth in the championship coming into the race to third in the points battle with the next doubleheader round of the season later this month at Watkins Glen International set to take the season to the halfway mark.



"I feel good," Eidson said. "You always wish you could do better, but two podiums... we’ll take it. It was a good points weekend. We’re now contending for second in the championship and we’ve just got to keep our head down and keep gathering those points. Pit stops were really clean, and we have to drive clean in general. As long as we keep doing that, drive fast and drive clean, we’ll find our way to the top."



The provisional championship standings after the VIR weekend have Aghakhani and Eidson in third in Pro with 37 points, just three points behind the second-place competitor. The Pro points leader has 55 points in first place.
"Thank you to all of our sponsors, SADA Systems, and the US RaceTronics team," Aghakhani said. "And big thanks to everyone out there supporting the car and even supporting us from home. It really means a lot."



Next up for Aghakhani and Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America is Rounds 5 and 6 of the 2021 championship in another weekend doubleheader schedule of 50-minute races at Watkins Glen International, June 25 - 26.




 
Images: Jamey Price/@jameypricephoto