Having only made his debut in the professional sportscar scene two months ago, Global Motorsports Group’s (GMG) Jeffrey Cheng conquered his latest challenge, wet conditions, to take podium honors during the latest rounds of the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo North America. Taking part in advance of Saturday’s Petit Le Mans at the famed Road Atlanta circuit, Cheng and co-driver James Sofronas would drive flawlessly on an extremely wet track to finish the week’s doubleheader without a scratch on the car.

“Jeffrey was extremely impressive given the conditions,” stated GMG team owner and co-driver James Sofronas. “Road Atlanta is one of most difficult tracks you can go to in the wet, and he was perfect. My job was to step in the car after his opening stint and see where we stood, and he made my job very easy. I’m glad we were able to return to the podium, and this bodes well for the finale in a few weeks. Overall we should all walk away proud of our weekend, everyone on this team did an excellent job as always.”

During Thursday’s Race One, the week’s constant downpour of rain failed to let up when the green flag fell on the day’s 50-minute race. Knowing that just getting through the first turn would play a significant role on his day, Jeffrey would take the green flag with great maturity, navigating the first series of corners without error. Unfortunately, a major incident with another vehicle would cause the race to be stopped prematurely with nearly 30 minutes of the race run under red flag conditions.

By time the racing action resumed, Cheng would pass his drive-time requirements, eventually handing the No. 88 Lamborghini LP 620-2 off to teammate James Sofronas who would go on an impressive march during the final minutes of the race to climb from sixth to third by time the checkered flag fell. It would serve as Cheng’s fourth podium in six races, and with a clean car for Friday’s Race Two.

Just one day later, Race Two would luckily get underway without incident, and despite the continually poor conditions, the field managed to stay green throughout the entirety of the race. With no opportunities to re-catch the field under caution, it was up to Jeffrey to keep a strong pace without risking his equipment, and despite his limited experience he did his job perfectly once again, eventually handing the car over to Sofronas when his drive-time had elapsed.

From there, it was up to James to see the car to the finish, slowly gaining on the field in front of him to eventually take sixth.

For Cheng, getting his first experience of wet racing was certainly nerve wracking, but thankfully painless.

“I’d never raced in the wet before, and I knew it would be really easy to go off so staying clean was my first priority,” stated the Californian. “With all of the elevation changes and mud, it was extremely tricky, but everyone kept emphasizing that there was no need to set the fastest lap times, and I took that to heart during my runs. As usual, thanks to everyone at GMG for putting together a great car, it was a lot of fun and a great experience. Headed to Sebring, we hopefully have a good wave of momentum.”

With the penultimate round of the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo North America now behind, all attention will turn to both the series’ and world final, taking place November 18-22 at Sebring International Raceway.

(all photos courtesy of Jamey Price)