Brands Hatch and Alon Day are a perfect match! The Israeli scored his fifth career win at the Indy Circuit to tie the all-time NASCAR Whelen Euro Series record by Ander Vilarino. In doing so, he also took over the EuroNASCAR PRO championship lead from Nicolo Rocca by five points. On track, the three-time Champion and his #24 Camaro overtook CAAL Racing drivers Gianmarco Ercoli and Nicolo Rocca to earn a hard fought victory.
The winningest driver in NWES history started the race from third and had to settle behind the Italian duo in the first part of the race. Intensity grew lap after lap in front of ten-thousands of passionate NASCAR fans at the ninth edition of the American SpeedFest.
It took Day 26 laps to dive inside of Ercoli at Druids to take over second place. Afterwards the Ashdod-native hunted down Rocca and on lap 31 he threw another strong maneuver to grab the lead and cross the finish line first. It was the Day’s 29th career win, the second consecutive one of 2022. He’s now leading the overall standings five points ahead of Rocca.
“It was kind of a nervous race, I knew the CAAL guys are quick but I also knew that Fred Gabillon is behind me and he’s a tough competitor as well from previous years so I had to manage between trying to defend from Fred and also attack Ercoli and I found the right moment when I had enough advantage over Fred. I managed to pass Ercoli and with the traffic it was a bit insane! Nicolo lost a bunch of time, slowing down behind lapped cars and I was just lucky, I managed to close the whole gap,” explained Day in the Victory Lane, who also secured the Pole Position for Sunday’s race by clocking the fastest lap.
Day did not forget to credit his team PK Carsport for the preparations that led him to the Victory Lane today. “I want to say thanks to everybody in PK Carsport, all the weekend Anthony [Kumpen, team owner of PK Carsport] and everybody put in so much effort even from this morning when we were P3 in Qualifying. They made an amazing job debriefing and trying to find every bit of tenth in this race track and they made it. They deserved that win!” said the jubilant Israeli on PK Carsport’s efforts.
After scoring in Valencia his first race win since 2019 at Autodrom Most, Rocca was poised to make another visit to Victory Lane, but the Italian was not able to hold Day behind himself, despite leading the most laps. The Italian brought home his #56 CAAL Racing Chevrolet Camaro in second to score 35 important points in a tight championship battle. “It’s hard to swallow,” said Rocca after the race but the NWES veteran keeps his sights on the bigger picture and consistent strong results.
Another championship contender struck back after a rollercoaster of emotions at Circuit Ricardo Tormo. Ercoli had a strong run in his #54 CAAL Racing Chevrolet by collecting his second consecutive podium finish in the 2022 season. The Italian, who took his maiden EuroNASCAR PRO win at Brands Hatch back in 2018, will start alongside Day on Sunday as he set the second fastest lap during the 38-lap race.
Reigning EuroNASCAR 2 Champion Martin Doubek was among the group of potential race winners over the course of the third season round. The Hendriks Motorsport driver was fourth under the checkered flag and also grabbed the win in the Challenger Trophy classification for bronze and silver drivers in EuroNASCAR PRO. Giorgio Maggi rounded out the top-5 topping the Junior Trophy ranks for drivers aged 25 and under.
He was followed by NWES veteran Frederic Gabillon in sixth place. The Frenchman was in fourth when he got off track in Graham Hill Bend on lap 26 and lost two positions. With a decent run in his #55 The Club Motorsport Chevrolet Camaro, Fabrizio Armetta not only took second place in Challenger Trophy but also ended up in the overall top-10 by finishing seventh. Romain Iannetta, who started from 16th, Patrick Lemarie and Marc Goossens rounded out the top-10.
Racingfuel Motorsport’s Constantin Kletzer was 32nd on the grid and finished 18th after a strong comeback that made him the biggest mover in EuroNASCAR PRO Round 3. The Swiss collected the four bonus points for the most positions gained during the race. Davide Dallara completed the Challenger Trophy podium in 13th, while Jonne Rautjarvi and the 17-year-old Aliyyah Koloc joined Maggi on the Junior Trophy podium.
Vittorio Ghirelli and Liam Hezemans faced issues in the early stages and were shuffled down the order. Bernardo Manfre also faced issues after a multi-car collision on Paddock Hill Bend in lap 10 that left him on the gravel, which brought out the Safety Car soon after. Paddock Hill Bend would also prove to be problematic for Eivind Brynildsen and Christopher Lenz, the former retiring after crashing into the tire barriers there.
While the EuroNASCAR PRO drivers will be back in action on Sunday at 2:20 pm CEST (1:20 pm local time), the EuroNASCAR 2 Round 3 will take place on Saturday at 5:15 pm CEST (4:15 pm local time). All races are broadcast live on EuroNASCAR.com, the NWES YouTube channel, Motorsport.tv and several TV services from around the world.
EURONASCAR PRO RESULTS | EURONASCAR 2 RESULTS
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