The 2023 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series season not only featured two thrilling driver championships, but also a close battle for the team title. In the end, the #3 RDV Competition Ford Mustang was the top overall scorer with 924 points across both divisions – EuroNASCAR PRO and EuroNASCAR 2. Paul Jouffreau did a lot of the work, but Frederic Gabillon also contributed to the strong performance of the French team led by Franck Violas. The organization, which won the EuroNASCAR 2 championship with Jouffreau, finished 50 points ahead of CAAL Racing, the EuroNASCAR PRO winning team with Gianmarco Ercoli and the #54 Chevrolet Camaro.
Gabillon started the season with one top-5 and three top-10 finishes in four races, then passed the scepter in EuroNASCAR PRO to Jouffreau, who rounded out the results in the premier NWES championship with six top-5 finishes and two wins. In EuroNASCAR 2, the 19-year-old won the driver’s championship with an impressive twelve top-10 finishes and three race wins. This stellar performance was enough to keep the CAAL Racing #54 Chevrolet Camaro at bay.
The #54 Chevy was driven by Ercoli, who won the overall EuroNASCAR PRO championship with three wins. In EuroNASCAR 2, Alberto Naska was among the title contenders, but a disappointing finale at Circuit Zolder dropped the Italian back to sixth. Still, the Italian powerhouse, led by Luca and Corrado Canneori, finished second in the team standings. The #50 Hendriks Motorsport Toyota Camry of Liam Hezemans and Gil Linster completed the top three with two wins to their tally, followed by the #5 Academy / Alex Caffi Motorsport EuroNASCAR FJ of Vladimiros Tziortzis and the #7 Hendriks Motorsport Ford Mustang of Martin Doubek.
Team Bleekemolen’s #72 Toyota Camry finished sixth. The car was driven by EuroNASCAR PRO title contender Vittorio Ghirelli, who finished the season third overall. In EuroNASCAR 2, 74-year-old Michael Bleekemolen battled for wins in the Legend Trophy and twelfth overall. Speedhouse’s #64 Ford Mustang ended up seventh thanks to a runner-up finish by Lucas Lasserre in EuroNASCAR PRO and solid results by Eric Quintal in EuroNASCAR 2. Race Art Technology’s #18 Ford followed in eighth after Giorgio Maggi and Claudio Cappelli scored valuable points at Circuit Zolder.
Marko Stipp Motorsport’s #48 Chevrolet and Speedhouse’s #14 Ford rounded out the top-10. Jack Davidson, Tuomas Pontinen, Yevgen Sokolovskiy and Miguel Gomes drove for the German team, while Ulysse Delsaux and Arianna Casoli scored points for the French organization. At the end of 24 thrilling races across Europe, a total of 33 teams – and cars – were listed in the Team Championship. The 2024 season promises to be another thrilling battle for the team title.
NWES PR
