The start of Race 1 of the AM-LC Lamborghini World Finals threw up the first major surprise when polesitter Stephane Tribaudini was forced to retire just a few metres after the start. Oregon Team driver Pietro Perolini then took full advantage to break away from the field on the opening lap.
The Italian driver immediately opened a good margin on the first of his pursuers, the Italo-Argentinian Paolo Biglieri (ASR). Donovan Privitelio (Villorba Corse) slotted into third overall, and first in the LC class.
There was also contact in the early stages of the race that penalised David Staab, who dropped down the field. The same can be said for Holger Harmsen and Cristian Bortolato, with the contact resulting in a ten-second penalty for Seweryn Mazur and Rocky Bolduc.
In the first part of Race 1 there were numerous track limit infractions, which subsequently mixed up the standings. Umar Abdullah went off in Turn 4 shortly before the pitlane was opened for the mandatory pit stops; the Delta Garage driver managed to get back on track, albeit in penultimate position.
Things went even worse for Rocky Bolduc, as Abdullah’s off had been caused by the American driver, who was sanctioned with a drive-through penalty, to be added to his previous 15-second penalty for pushing off an opponent and for exceeding track limits.
With 26 minutes remaining, the round of pit stops began, together with mandatory driver changes. Once they were over, the #61 Huracan of the Oregon Team was still in the lead, but with Massimo Ciglia behind the wheel in place of Perolini.
The Italian crew had returned to the track with an advantage of more than 16 seconds over Biglieri, while in third place Donovan Privitelio handed over the driving duties to Luciano Privitelio. The #130 ANSA Motorsport car with Antoine Comeau at the wheel was making a good comeback ahead of Dean Neuls (TR3 Racing).
Shortly after, Luciano Privitelio lost two places and started to drop down the standings, albeit holding on to the lead of the LC class. Up at the front, Biglieri began to make serious inroads on the gap to Ciglia, as he tried to keep the battle for the win open until the flag.
On lap 22, Karim Ojjeh passed Luciano Privitelio, moving up to sixth place overall and, more importantly, taking the lead in the LC class.
Gabriel Holguin, after having high hopes for a top-five finish, went off the track at Rio Turn 5, crashing into the barriers. This ended his race and gave Ojjeh and Luciano Privitelio the opportunity to make up one position.
In the final stages, Massimo Ciglia was able to hold off the comeback attempt by Biglieri and thus took the victory in Race 1 of the AM-LC Final alongside Pietro Perolini. Dean Neuls finished third overall, while Karim Ojjeh triumphed in the LC class ahead of Luciano Privitelio.
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