The first race of the American Festival of Rome at Autodromo di Vallelunga was a blast. At the end of an exciting EuroNASCAR PRO Round 5, Gianmarco Ercoli took the checkered flag to score his third consecutive win in the 2023 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series season. The CAAL Racing driver from Rome extended his championship lead to eleven points and put the third winner’s sticker on his #54 Chevrolet Camaro, while his home crowd sang: “Go Gimmy Jet!” The local hero fended off all attacks thrown by his chaser to lead all 18 laps and also bring home a third race win at his hometrack in the north of Italy’s capital of Rome.
Battling through the searing heat, Ercoli survived a restart that was triggered by Stefano Attianese’s accident on lap 4 and a late challenge from front row starter Vittorio Ghirelli to secure his visit to the Victory Lane. After his fellow countryman got off track twice, the road was clear for Ercoli to build a comfortable lead and cross the finish line 2.597 seconds ahead of reigning EuroNASCAR 2 Champion Liam Hezemans in his #50 Hendriks Motorsport Toyota Camry.
“I’m very happy as we had a fantastic race!” said Ercoli in the Victory Lane. “It isn’t simple to be in the lead of the race with this temperature and I had to drive the car as perfectly as I could. Tomorrow I’ll start in third, but I’m happy for all of the fans because this place is incredible! Congratulations to my team, to my sponsors and Autodromo Vallelunga for this event. It’s an emotional one for me!”
Hezemans started the race from fifth and fought his way up the ranks battling against Ghirelli, Tobias Dauenhauer and Paul Jouffreau. The 19-year-old Dutchman ended a physical race in second to bring home important points in the 2023 EuroNASCAR PRO championship battle and the Junior Trophy win. Rounding out an amazing EuroNASCAR PRO debut was Paul Jouffreau in third. The Frenchman in the service of RDV Competition showed an impressive pace and put the elbows out on the 4.085 kilometer long track.
Jouffreau initially crossed the finish line second, but was later penalized for an avoidable collision and relegated one position back, behind Hezemans. The 19-year-old was second in the Junior Trophy ranks and will also start from Pole Position in EuroNASCAR PRO Round 6 on Sunday by virtue of the fastest lap he set in the race. He will share the front row with Ghirelli, while Ercoli will start from third alongside Hezemans.
Valencia race winner Lucas Lasserre made an impressive comeback after starting from eighth on the grid. The Speedhouse owner-driver on board of the #64 Ford Mustang missed out on the podium with a gap of just a tenth of a second behind the top-3. Being involved in the battle for the race win, Ghirelli made contact with Ercoli at the Tornantino while diving to the inside in the attempt to grab the lead. He then got off-track again and fell back to fifth to complete the top-5. Ulysse Delsaux closed the Junior Trophy podium in sixth as the Speedhouse driver from France edged out Vladimiros Tziortzis in seventh. Marc Goossens followed in eighth, while Marko Stipp Motorsport’s Tuomas Pontinen grabbed a top-10 finish in ninth in his EuroNASCAR PRO debut.
Bremotion’s Dauenhauer received a 5-seconds penalty for pushing Tziortzis off the racing line and therefore fell back to tenth place. The German showed a promising pace and will for sure be looking to strike back in Sunday’s EuroNASCAR PRO Round 6. The win in the Challenger Trophy for elite amateur drivers in the premier NWES division went to The Club Motorsport’s Fabrizio Armetta. The Italian beat Simone Laureti and Racingfuel Motorsport’s Alina Loibnegger, who scored her maiden Challenger Trophy podium finish. Armetta was 14th, Laureti 16th and Loibnegger 19th.
The race took its toll to the competitors as a total of nine drivers failed to make the checkered flag. Leading Junior Trophy contender Giorgio Maggi experienced a mechanical issue that caused him to gradually lose positions and ultimately forced his retirement on the penultimate lap. His teammate Thomas Toffel was also forced to retire after making contact on the first lap. Riccardo Romagnoli and Cesare Balistreri had a high speed accident on the final lap that sent both cars into retirement. Hugo Fleury, Dario Caso, Massimiliano Lanza and Advait Deodhar also joined the DNF list by the end of the 18-lap race.
The EuroNASCAR PRO will be back in action on Sunday at 13:35 CEST, while the EuroNASCAR 2 gladiators will take on the racing colosseum of Campagnano di Roma on Saturday at 16:40 CEST. All races 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
Featured image by NASCAR Whelen Euro Series / Bart Dehaese
