Jacques Villeneuve is officially the winner of a Nascar race. At the Vallelunga circuit the Canadian faced a 5 second penalty, obtaining his first victory in a Nascar Whelen Euro Series race. The former Formula 1 world champion crossed the line 6.3 seconds ahead of Vittorio Ghirelli and parked his EuroNASCAR FJ # 5 Academy Motorsport / Alex Caffi Motorsport in Victory Lane. It was also the first victory in the EuroNASCAR PRO for the Italian-Monegasque joint venture.
It was a race that will remain in NWES history: Villeneuve took the lead at Turn-1, but was penalized by 5 seconds for early departure. The Canadian was constantly under pressure from Alon Day, second, but he repelled all the attacks of the reigning EuroNASCAR PRO champion. Academy Motorsport driver / Alex Caffi Motorsport took advantage of the tough battles behind him to open a 6-second gap over the rest of the group and take his maiden victory in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series.
“Finally, it’s been a long time”Villeneuve said after 18 thrilling no-holds-barred racing laps. “We fought a lot with the leaders in the group and the car was good in qualifying. We had some difficulties in free practice, but in qualifying the car was really fantastic. I didn’t want to lift my foot on the outside of Turn 1. I held down in turn 1 and he lifted his foot “, added the world champion in F1 in 1997.
Ghirelli, who joined Not Only Motorsport for the EuroNASCAR Finals at the Vallelunga racetrack, finished second after a tremendous battle with CAAL Racing’s Gianmarco Ercoli. The Italian took a great second place which put him in a good position in Sunday’s championship battle. Ghirelli is now just 5 points behind the championship leader Loris Hezemans. Ercoli tried a move on the last lap on Ghirelli, but had to be content with completing the podium, leading the Junior Trophy standings and breaking 9 points from Hezemans.
For Hezemans and Day, the EuroNASCAR PRO Final 1 was a real disaster: on lap seven, Ercoli took second place from Day, who struggled behind the wheel of his # 88 CAAL Racing Chevrolet Camaro. A few corners later, the Israeli was touched by Hezemans and forced to retire. Hezemans was awarded a drive through, which caused him to fall back to tenth place. This situation could affect the Dutchman’s title race, who had a 21-point lead before Saturday’s EuroNASCAR PRO race.
DF1 Racing’s Nicolò Rocca finished fourth after a good race behind the wheel of the # 22 Chevrolet Camaro, while Lucas Lasserre jumped from eleventh on the grid to fifth in the order of arrival. With the sixth position in the race, Giorgio Maggi finished second in the classification of Junior Trophy, reserved for pilots aged 25 or under. Sebastiaan Bleekemolen finished in seventh place, ahead of Patrick Lemarie and Romain Iannetta.
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