American SpeedFest 10 Powered by Lucas Oil celebrated a decade of NASCAR-headlined family entertainment at Brands Hatch in style across two days, with Sunday’s final race day bringing things to a successful close. Two NASCAR Whelen Euro Series races headlined the on-track action on a day when live music, precision driving, car displays and thousands of race fans created an unforgettable show.
On the circuit, Gianmarco Ercoli was crowned as NASCAR’s ‘King of Brands Hatch’ following his second victory of the weekend in the EuroNASCAR PRO class. The Italian completed his clean sweep on the Indy circuit with an impressive performance across 38 laps.
Following a lively opening ceremony, during which teams and drivers were joined on the grid by many attending spectators ahead of the Star Spangled Banner, Ercoli took his place on pole position and led from the off. Initial pressure from Liam Hezemans was halted when the Dutch driver was forced to retire after an off road moment, leaving Ercoli to drive home to the top step of the podium.
A late safety car period briefly threatened to unsettle Ercoli’s dominant victory charge, but the Italian held firm under late pressure from Anthony Kumpen to cross the line first with Sebastiaan Bleekemolen completing the podium. The top three drivers were all then invited to Victory Lane, right at the heart of the Fan Zone to share the celebrations with the fans.
Uniquely, this meant that celebrations were taking place in a busy area of the venue, within sight of Lightning McQueen from Disney Pixar’s Cars films and a display model of NASCAR’s Garage 56 Camaro which raced at the Le Mans 24 Hours last weekend.
EuroNASCAR PRO, Brands Hatch, Race 2 Result
- Gianmarco Ercoli, CAAL Racing, Chevrolet Camaro
- Anthony Kumpen, PK Carsport, Chevrolet Camaro, +1.546s
- Sebastiaan Bleekemolen, Team Bleekemolen, Ford Mustang, +2.380s
- Lucas Lasserre, Speedhouse, Ford Mustang, +3.049s
- Martin Doubek, Hendriks Motorsport, Ford Mustang, +3.792s
- Fabrizio Armetta, The Club Motorsport, Chevrolet Camaro, +5.784s
- Riccardo Romagnoli, The Club Motorsport, Chevrolet Camaro, +6.450s
- Vladimiros Tziortzis, Academy Motorsport, EuroNASCAR FJ, +6.631s
- Neo Lambert, Speedhouse, Ford Mustang, +7.485s
- Ulysse Delsaux, Speedhouse, Ford Mustang, +9.527s
In the EuroNASCAR 2 category, it was Cypriot driver Vladimiros Tziortzis who claimed the spoils after a tense battle with Paul Jouffeau. Alberto Naska completed the podium in the secondary class for gentleman drivers.
EuroNASCAR 2, Brands Hatch, Race 2 Result
- Vladimiros Tziortzis, Academy Motorsport, EuroNASCAR FJ
- Paul Jouffreau, RDV Competition, Ford Mustang, +5.177s
- Alberto Naska, CAAL Racing, Chevrolet Camaro, +5.676s
- Melvin de Groot, Team Bleekemolen, Ford Mustang, +9.887s
- Gil Linster, Hendriks Motorsport, Toyota Camry, +10.472s
Away from the circuit, the inaugural SpeedFest Country festival stage pleased the crowd for a second day in succession, following Kezia Gill’s stunning headline performance on Saturday night. Today it was the turn of First Time Flyers to top the bill.
Live Action Arena Shows continued too, whilst hundreds of American cars filled the venue as part of the car displays. Many of these machines helped bring the event to a close with the a parade.
SpeedFest’s successful 10th anniversary edition comes in the week that a renewed contract was confirmed between EuroNASCAR and MotorSport Vision, ensuring that Brands Hatch will remain NASCAR’s home in the UK until at least 2028.
Details of American SpeedFest 11 will be shared in due course.