Alon Day is back in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series Victory Lane: the Israeli collected his 31st career win at Autodrom Most and extended his championship lead. The driver of the #24 PK Carsport Chevrolet Camaro led all 17 laps of EuroNASCAR PRO Round 8 to score his fourth race win of the season. Day fended off all attacks brought by Alexander Graff, who ended up second twice in a row.
Boasting a dominant pace around the Bohemian track, Day had to survive one restart period to score his second win at the 4.2 km high speed track in six starts. The Israeli is now leading the championship with a 16 points advantage on Graff. The three-time Champion is heading to Circuit Zolder next with the red Whelen banner still on the #24 PK Carsport Chevrolet. Day already has seven wins at the Belgian track in the woods of Limburg.
The only risk for Day came on the restart after the caution, when Liam Hezemans overshot turn 1 and went into the gravel trap. The Dutchman was trying to take over the lead on the inside but missed the breaking point and was therefore forced off the track. The Hendriks Motorsport driver lost several positions, while Day defended his lead and cruised to victory.
“It’s the second time I’ve avoided a missile coming! I don’t know what happened there, I was a bit slow with the restart. I missed a shift and then Graff was on it, I had to say he’s a tough contender! He definitely deserves to be a contender for the championship. I’m just happy for the team, it didn’t work yesterday because of luck and this time it works so we can celebrate a bit. All I think about is the championship so I think we’re good with that and we will keep pushing to win more races!” said Day in the Victory Lane after the race.
Alexander Graff continues to gain momentum in EuroNASCAR PRO with another podium finish. The Swede has already collected a total of four top-3 finishes in the 2022 season and bursted the knot with a phenomenal maiden NASCAR win at Brands Hatch. Graff tried everything to chase down Day, but the Speedhouse driver was unable to find a way past and crossed the finish line 0.967 seconds behind the Israeli.
Gianmarco Ercoli ended up third, taking advantage of the mistake by Hezemans. Ercoli inherited the third position and brought home his fifth podium finish so far in 2022. Saturday’s race winner Sebastiaan Bleekemolen followed in fourth, while Vittorio Ghirelli proved his strong pace with a solid fifth place. The latter started the race from 9th thanks to his strong performance in the Saturday race.
Giorgio Maggi topped the Junior Trophy ranks with a decent sixth place finish, edging Patrick Lemarie in seventh. The Swiss secured his fifth Junior Trophy win in the 2022 season and extended his lead in the special classification. As for Lemarie, he proved that the #5 Academy Motorsport / Alex Caffi Motorsport EuroNASCAR FJ has a strong race pace as he climbed his way up from 27th on the grid and claimed the bonus points for most positions gained.
Championship contender Nicolo Rocca was eighth, while Max Lanza topped the Challenger Trophy ranking in ninth. Lanza took the win in the classification for bronze and silver drivers in both races at Most. NWES veteran Frederic Gabillon rounded out the top-10 for RDV Competition. After his wild ride in turn 1, Hezemans finished twelfth and therefore second in the Junior Trophy ahead of Jonne Rautjarvi. The Challenger Trophy was completed by Cosimo Barberini and Fabrizio Armetta.
Henri Tuomaala ended up 21st after losing control of his car in a promising 12th place in turn 1 but the Finn provided breathtaking pictures for fans on the packed grandstands at Autodrom Most. Riccardo Romagnoli and Romain Iannetta, who already was penalized during the race for an incident with Armetta in the braking zone of turn 1, were involved in a violent crash on the last lap in the last turn.
The NASCAR Whelen Euro Series will be back in action for the regular season finale at Circuit Zolder. All four races of the NASCAR GP Belgium on October 8-9 will be broadcast live on EuroNASCAR’s YouTube channel, Motorsport.tv and several TV services from all around the world.
EURONASCAR PRO RESULTS | EURONASCAR 2 RESULTS
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