Vittorio Ghirelli drove a clean and commanding race to claim his third NASCAR Euro Series V8GP win of 2026 – The Italian leads home Nelson Piquet Jr. and Jack Davidson to extend his overall advantage
- Vittorio Ghirelli kept his head cool during the rain conditions
- The reigning V8GP champion was declared as the winner for the third time in 2026
- Penalties for Gianmarco Ercoli and Jack Davidson changed the complexity of the race
There was rain, there was drama and there was plenty of excitement when NASCAR Euro Series V8GP drivers took the green flag for Round 5 of the 2026 season. Fans were kept at the edge of the seats with all the action in the wet weather that had been anticipated prior to the NASCAR GP UK. Vittorio Ghirelli came prepared and delivered a clean race in his #24 Chevrolet Camaro. The Italian wasn’t always the fastest, but he kept his PK Carsport where it needed to be and he was rewarded with his third victory of the year when the dust settled after 29 laps of racing at Brands Hatch.
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Incidents for Gianmarco Ercoli and Jack Davidson resulted in penalties for the two top contenders. They were classified first and second on the initial finish, which was shortened due to a series of incidents towards the end of the race. However, their penalties meant that Ghirelli was in line to be declared as the winner, therefore extending the reigning two-time V8GP champion’s advantage at the top of the standings.
“It was hard from fifth on the grid,” said Ghirelli in Victory Lane. “I made a good start and I pushed the whole race to catch Ercoli. I was on his bumper, but my tires were going hot, so I just hung on to the end. We were a bit lucky with the penalty, but what a race, what tricky conditions! It’s lovely to have all the fans here in the UK. It’s our third win of the season and we have to keep our momentum. The championship is very long, you can lose a lot of points by doing stupid things. If I don’t have the pace, I don’t risk it. You just have to keep delivering results. The father of my crew chief Carlo is ill, so this victory is for him!”
The unpredictability played into the hands of Nelson Piquet Jr., who showed his experience with his charge his way from tenth to second. Davidson still celebrated a fantastic result: When all the penalties were applied, the Scotsman finished third to celebrate a back-to-back V8GP podium finish at his home NASCAR GP. Davidson also got to be crowned as the Junior Trophy winner, creating further excitement for the local fans that attended the American SpeedFest.
Ercoli was classified in fourth ahead of Jordan O’Brien, who continued his run of strong form. Garrett Lowe was unlucky to be involved in a first lap contact, but the American recovered to sixth at the finish. He and Thomas Krasonis – who finished seventh – joined Davidson on the Junior Trophy podium celebrations. Vinnie Meskelis, Vladimiros Tziortzis and Marc Goossens completed the top-10 ahead of Davit Kajaia, who won the Challenger Trophy classifications in 11th. Brad Ranson and Giovanni Cartechini rounded the Challenger Trophy podium in 15th and 17th.
Paul Jouffreau was also involved in the first lap incident and dropped to the back of the field. Jouffreau recovered to the top-10 positions before a puncture took him out of the race, but the Frenchman have a chance to redeem himself in Round 6. The driver of the #3 Ford Mustang took the fastest lap, which will give him pole position for Sunday’s showdown.
The final race results were based on lap 29, the last completed green-flag lap. Under the 2026 NASCAR Euro Series Sporting Regulations, this procedure is applied if a race must end under red-flag conditions. “If the race cannot be resumed, the results will be taken at the end of the last lap completed under green flag, except the cars involved in the incident causing the red flag procedure,” written in 16.10 of the Sporting Regulations.
Saturday’s festivities at the NASCAR GP UK will conclude with Round 5 of the OPEN division, the most unpredictable championship in the official European NASCAR series. What surprises awaits us in OPEN? Find out when the race goes live at 17:25 CEST, broadcasted live from DAZN, NASCAR Euro TV, YouTube and all the TV partners listed at https://www.nascar.eu/watch/ that will bring you the action from Brands Hatch.
Featured image by NASCAR Euro Series / Nina Weinbrenner
