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THIS WEEK'S NASIR HAMEED MOMENT ON MOTORSPORTS HISTORY WE HAVE AND INTERVIEW WITH ...SHANE SENEVIRATNE FOUNDER OF US RACETRONICS AND TEAM MANAGER...
Created in 2005, US RaceTronics (USRT) first entered the 2005 Atlantic championship season and instantly achieved success. That season saw US RaceTronics capture 1 pole, 5 podium finishes, and finish 5th in the Championship standings. The "little team that could” proved that hard work and sacrifice still paid off.
With the initial momentum of the prior season 2006 through 2009 saw US RaceTronics continue its success in the Atlantic series. The strength team drivers Simona De Silvestro and Frankie Muniz, the team was able to consistently finish on the podium with a total of 21 podiums, 7 poles, 5 race wins and finish 3rd in the 2009 Championship standings.
Seneviratne, who holds deep roots in the Atlantic Championship, the GTD program has been largely centered around Silver-rated driver Goikhberg, who also moves over from GTWC America competition.
“We’ve been doing Super Trofeo and veered off into the AMG with SRO but my heart’s always been with Lamborghini,” Seneviratne told Sportscar365.
“I like the guys, I like the brand. We had the opportunity to get in here and we started talking to Misha.
“It all started with Misha and Bob Perona. He has been Misha’s driver coach for a long time and Bob and I all worked with Simona de Silvestro in the Indycar days.
“Bob felt like the most comfortable thing for Misha to do was to be in that same kind of support and environment that Simona had when she ran and she was successful with us.
“She came from Newman Wachs with Jonathan Summerton. We built that culture and gave her the support [needed].
“We’re trying to create that same atmosphere for Misha.
“The majority of the budget comes from there. With Arrow, we had a small partnership last year with the Super Trofeo and they were excited to step up a little bit more and see what they could do with a GTD program.”
While having run under the USRT/O’Gara Motorsport/Change Racing banner in Super Trofeo last year, the team will eventually be fully known as Forte Racing, a new marketing company that Seneviratne is a part owner in.
“I’ve had a long-term relationship with Lamborghini of Beverly Hills, Tom O’Gara’s dealership,” Seneviratne explained.
“Then Edoardo Piscopo and Julia, Edoardo’s wife, they also wanted to get involved, [as well as] Eddie [Littlefield] from Change Racing.
“It was [USRT]/O’Gara/Change [last year], so we’re now trying to get rid of all those names and start with a single brand, which is Forte Racing.”
Seneviratne heads into his first 24-hour race as a team owner although he operated O’Gara Motorsport’s short-lived Lamborghini GTD program in 2016, which led to the relaunch of USRT later that year.
Seven years later, debuting Lamborghini’s second GT3 evolution, Seneviratne is looking forward to the renewed challenge.
“More than pride, I’m glad to represent Lamborghini and to have this opportunity,” he said. “It’s not an opportunity that you get very often.We have to work together as a cohesive group.
“But I can’t emphasize enough how supportive Lamborghini has been. It’s the same way I like to run the team.
“I feel like Lamborghini had now just become an extension of that. We don’t throw each other under the bus. We are there for support and there’s no egos involved.
“There’s five ways to do something so I’m always listening and they’re listening to us.
“Right now they have way more [endurance racing] experience, all of the Lamborghini technicians, and we’re absorbing it in.
“We’re grateful that we have really good support from Lamborghini.”
With the demise of the Atlantic Series US RaceTronics’ owner Shane Seneviratne took his talents to the IndyCar Series where he was paired once again with De Silvestro as the Team Manager for the HVM Racing. His talents were once again utilized with De Silvestro in 2013 by the KV Racing Technology team where he was brought on as a Consultant.
In 2015 Seneviratne was hired by O’Gara Motorsports as their Race Team Director for their newly created Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo North America Series entries. The team won the season opener at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway with Pro driver Richard Antinucci. The team’s consistent performances throughout the 2015 season led to O’Gara Motorsport winning the Team Championship, Dealership Championship, Pro Championship with driver Richard Antinucci, and Amateur Championship with Ryan Ockey. Amateur driver Ryan Ockey also won the 2015 Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo World Championship.
The team continued its success in 2019 with Damon Ockey and Jacob Eidson winning the North American Pro-Am Championship, while the team's second team of Pro-Am drivers, Ron Atapattu and Patrick Liddy finished third in the Championship. The team also fielded 16-year-old rookie Amateur driver Steven Aghakhani who would finish second in the North American Championship, after missing the first race due to age restrictions, but captured the Amateur World Championship becoming the youngest World Champion in Lamborghini Super Trofeo's history.
2020 was a challenging year for the world and for USRT. Last minute changes in scheduling and driver lineup were necessitated due to restrictions stemming from the COVID pandemic. The Lamborghini Super Trofeo season was shortened to 10 races from the normal 12 and the cancellation of the World Finals left USRT just short on championships. Steven Aghakhani and Jacob Eidson finished runners up in the Pro Championship, while Leo Lamalas finished runner up in the Am Championship. John Hennessy missed the final two races of the season, finishing fourth in the LB Cup Championship his rookie season.
US RaceTronics’ 2021 saw several peaks and valleys. The Pro duo of Steven Aghakhani and Jacob Eidson had one win and 8 additional podium finishes, but also suffered issues in a couple of races that left them just short of the North American Championship, finishing third. Meanwhile, John Hennessy won the season opener in the LB Cup Championship, but suffered an injury in a crash in Race 2, ending his hopes for a North American title. After missing the four subsequent races, Hennessy came back strong, winning five out of the remaining six races and sweeping the World Finals with four straight wins at the Misano, Italy track to become the LB Cup World Champion.
2022 will see US RaceTronics back in action in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North American Series for their seventh consecutive year.
For more information on how to become a driver with US RaceTronics, learn more about the Series, or attend a race, contact us today!
