Gianmarco Ercoli claimed his second victory of the weekend in Sunday’s NASCAR Euro Series Pro race at American SpeedFest 12 powered by Lucas Oil. The Italian drove a controlled race after inheriting the lead as a result of mechanical issues for Liam Hezemans.
The Rette Jones Racing driver initially got away from pole position to lead on lap one before an accident between Max Lanza and Max Marzorati warranted a red flag delay. At the restart, Hezemans resumed his lead, followed by Ercoli and Paul Jouffreau. Despite pressure from behind, Hezemans looked comfortable controlling the pace out front, as championship leader Vittorio Ghirelli also joined the leading train.
Behind, British driver Jack Davidson was holding off the storming Thomas Krasonis for much of the race, defending well as the Greek driver probed for a move.
The status quo up front looked set to stay until the end of the race, but it wasn’t to be for Hezemans as he slowed coming out of Clearways with only four laps to go, dropping to fourth initially before a mechanical issue put him out of contention on the run up to Druids hairpin.
Ercoli therefore inherited the lead, with Ghirelli now the driver behind pressuring for the win. However, Ercoli held on, despite some damage to the front end of his Alumitec Racing machine, to take his second Pro win of the Brands Hatch weekend and cap off a hugely successful round for the Italian.
Ghirelli therefore came home in second place with Paul Jouffreau bouncing back from a race one retirement to finish on the podium. Sebastian Bleekemolen was fourth, and Thomas Krasonis completed the top five.
Jack Davidson was sixth in front of his home crowd despite his efforts to defend from Krasonis. In seventh was Thomas Toffel, followed by Giorgio Maggi and Julien Rehberg. Vladimiros Tziortzis rounded out the top ten.
NASCAR Euro Series Pro, Brands Hatch, Race 2
- Gianmarco Ercoli, Alumitec Racing, Ford Mustang, 38 laps
- Vittorio Ghirelli, PK Carsport, Chevrolet Camaro, +0.703s
- Paul Jouffreau, ADV Competiton, Ford Mustang, +1.126s
- Sebastian Bleekemolen, Team Bleekemolen, Toyota Camry, +9.420s
- Thomas Krasonis, PK Carsport, Chevrolet Camaro, +9.952s
- Jack Davidson, Lux Motorsport, Chevrolet Camaro, +12.888s
- Thomas Toffel, M Racing, Chevrolet Camaro, +16.794s
- Giorgio Maggi, Speedhouse, Ford Mustang, +17.004s
- Julien Rehberg, Bremotion, Chevrolet Camaro, +21.093s
- Vladimiros Tziortzis, Speedhouse, Ford Mustang, +21.342s
For full results, please click here.
Photo: Bart Dehaese