The weather god had fun mixing up the events in EuroNASCAR PRO Round 5 at Autodrom Most. At the end of an incredible race, it was reigning NASCAR Whelen Euro Series Champion Alon Day who overcame two incidents over the course of 17 wild laps to break his Most curse and score his second win of the season, the 26th of his NWES career. The Israeli took over the lead after the last brave drivers on slicks came down to pit lane to mount rain tires and survived a late restart to defend his lead and speed to victory for CAAL Racing.
EURONASCAR PRO RESULTS:PRACTICE | FINAL PRACTICE | QUALIFYING | ROUND 5
The winningest driver in EuroNASCAR history was involved in a chaotic first lap incident with Andrea Nori, who tapped the back of Vittorio Ghirelli. Day fell out of the top-10 but immediately started to gain ground again. At that point, heavy rain started to fall all over the place and Loris Hezemans took the lead. While some drivers opted to come into the pit early, Hezemans, Sebastiaan Bleekemolen, Jacques Villeneuve, Nori, Romain Iannetta and Henri Tuomaala tried to survive on slick tires as long as possible.
Iannetta took the lead but got off track in the downpour and was overtaken by Jacques Villeneuve, who was also involved in a first lap incident with Giorgio Maggi in which both went off track. Just right before the safety car was deployed due Francesco Sini’s car being stuck in the gravel, the former F1 Champion also came to pit road to mount rain tires.
At that point Day, who was involved in another accident over the course of the race, took over the lead and brought home a surprising win for CAAL Racing. After Brands Hatch, it was the second victory for Day, who added Autodrom Most to the list of tracks he took a win at. The last time out in 2019, the Israeli wasn’t able to finish a single race of the NASCAR GP Czech Republic.
“I really don’t know what happened in the first lap”, said Day. “I saw that Villeneuve was tapped and then I got bumped from behind and just spun. Being able to overcome that is just amazing. Immediately when the rain started to fall, the CAAL Racing guys did an amazing job. They mounted the rain tires and that’s why the win belongs to them! I was just a passenger and the conditions were extremely hard as the rain fell down so hard. I thank CAAL Racing, Monster Energy and everybody at home as well as the track watching. I bet it was a spectacular race for all of you!”
Day’s teammate Gianmarco Ercoli finished second at the wheel of his #54 Chevrolet Camaro to complete a CAAL Racing 1-2. The Italian not only topped the Junior Trophy classification but also shortened the gap on Championship leader Hezemans, who was only eighth under the checkered flag. DF1 Racing’s Marc Goossens, who started from 19th on the grid, stormed to his first podium of the 2021 NWES season. The Belgian bested reigning EuroNASCAR 2 Champion Vittorio Ghirelli and his teammate Nicolo Rocca, who rounded out the top-5.
RDV Competition’s Frederic Gabillon finished sixth ahead of Hendriks Motorsport’s Giorgio Maggi – the Swiss was also second in the Junior Trophy classification. Speedhouse’s Lucas Lasserre ended up ninth ahead of Bleekemolen, who completed the top-10 of an exciting EuroNASCAR PRO race. Villeneuve was shuffled back to 11th ahead of Henri Tuomaala. The Finn topped the Challenger Trophy classification.
While the EuroNASCAR PRO Championship will return to action on Sunday at 3:20 pm CEST, EuroNASCAR 2 Round 5 will take place on Saturday at 4:20 pm CEST. All races will be broadcasted live on EuroNASCAR’s platforms – YouTube, NWES App, Facebook and Twitch – as well as on Motorsport.tv.
NWES PR
