Paul Jouffreau led Jordan O’Brien and Martin Doubek home after an exciting race with lots of twists and turns – Fourth place was enough for Round 5 winner Vittorio Ghirelli to be crowned as the King of Brands Hatch
- Paul Jouffreau scored his second win of the 2026 season
- Gianmarco Ercoli broke the NASCAR GP UK race lap record, but had to stop his car late
- Consistency secured Vittorio Ghirelli’s title as the King of Brands Hatch
The sun was shining for NASCAR Euro Series V8GP Round 6 and the bumper crowd at Brands Hatch were treated with an amazing 38-lap showdown for the win. Paul Jouffreau and Gianmarco Ercoli traded the lead with their record setting pace at the 1.928 kilometer circuit, but late heartbreak for Ercoli allowed Jouffreau to take the checkered flag for his second win in the 2026 season. For the Frenchman, this victory will serve as a major boost of confidence heading to the summer break and the important stretch of rounds at the Czechia, Italy and Belgium that will determine the champions of V8GP.
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Jouffreau opened a three second gap in the opening laps, but Ercoli was hunting for blood. The Italian set one fastest lap after another to close his deficit down. The best of which came on lap 19, when Ercoli clocked a lap time of 48.653 to officially break the race lap record set by Thomas Krasonis in 2025. The Alumitec Racing driver carried the momentum to make a pass for the lead five laps later, but then with just five laps to go, everything came apart when his #11 Ford Mustang stopped. Ercoli can only muse what could’ve happened while Jouffreau celebrated with his RDV Competition mechanics in the Victory Lane.
“Ercoli’s speed at the end was scary,” said Jouffreau, who also clinched his third Junior Trophy win of the season. “I’m so happy that we managed a good Sunday after what happened yesterday. It wasn’t easy to get back in focus to win. I loved it, I’m not full of joy but I felt I’m free now because it was tough to accept the results yesterday.”
Round 6 proved to be a great event for Hendriks Motorsport, who secured double silverwares with Jordan O’Brien and Martin Doubek joining Jouffreau on the overall podium. Vittorio Ghirelli might have missed out on another top-3 result, but consistency is key and with a fourth place finish, the Italian took home the Tijey Titanium Ring and the King of Brands Hatch crown as the fastest driver of NASCAR GP UK. His PK Carsport teammate Thomas Krasonis completed the top-5 – enough for second place in Junior Trophy.
Vladimiros Tziortzis and Marc Goossens collected important points in sixth and seventh ahead of Vinnie Meskelis, who completed the Junior Trophy podium in eighth. Late drama also happened in Challenger Trophy: Davit Kajaia retired with two laps to go, handing the victory over to Logan Bearden who tied his career best finish in ninth. Julien Rehberg rounded the top-10 positions with Ulysse Delsaux grabbing the bonus points for most positions gained in 11th. Giovanni Cartechini and Brad Ranson claimed Challenger Trophy podium finishes in 13th and 14th.
Ghirelli maintained his overall advantage after another solid weekend in the books for the reigning two-time V8GP champion. With 220 points in total, the Italian led by 33 points from O’Brien, who moved up to second after Garrett Lowe had an incident that forced an unscheduled visit to the pits. The hybrid racer is still third overall and continues to lead the Junior Trophy from Jouffreau, although the advantage has been slashed down to just two points! Gianmarco Ercoli and Thomas Krasonis were tied for points in fifth while Logan Bearden in tenth led the overall Challenger Trophy standings once more.
On previous weekends, the V8GP race will mark the end of the festivities, but for NASCAR GP UK, things are different. The unpredictable OPEN division will close the action with their Round 6 race at 17:40 CEST and after the rollercoaster event in V8GP, what awaits the fans from the up-and-comer drivers of the official European NASCAR championship? Find out all about it from your local broadcasters, the details of which can be found at https://www.nascar.eu/watch/.
Featured image by NASCAR Euro Series / Bart Dehaese
