Vittorio Ghirelli impressed the Canadian fans on his return to the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieries – The reigning two-time V8GP champion qualified seventh and took home a tenth place finish with a calculated performance
- Vittorio Ghirelli lits up the crowd at the 2026 Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres
- The reigning two-time V8GP champion fights with the NASCAR Canada Series protagonists
- The Italian played the long game and brought home a tenth place finish
The experience of competing at the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres is paying dividends for Vittorio Ghirelli on his second rodeo at North America’s most historic street racing event. The Italian showed his prowess as the reigning two-time NASCAR Euro Series V8GP champion with his determination and grit at the streets of Quebec, Canada. Driving the #50 Chevrolet Camaro with support from Rousseau Metal and Festidrag.tv, Ghirelli scored a seventh place result in qualifying and translated his strong starting position into a tenth place finish in Sunday’s Le 45 Tours CarGurus, confirming the ability for European NASCAR stars to compete alongside NASCAR Canada Series’ finest.
After spending his summer break preparing for his return to GP3R, Ghirelli arrived at Canada with plenty of motivation. With some unfinished business after his late heartbreak in 2025, the Italian plotted his game plan with a shakedown at Autodrome Montmagny before the weekend started. The Fasano native was satisfied that he was up to speed on his first laps back on the NASCAR Canada Series machines and showed perfect harmony with his team.
They continued their work to find the setup that the V8GP champion needed for the all-important qualifying session when the green flags were first waved in Saturday morning practice. Clocking a fast lap at the demanding 2.448 kilometer street circuit is not an easy task, but as the day went on, Ghirelli became more comfortable and started to be more aggressive, pushing his times down as the laps ticked by.
This culminated in a qualifying to remember. Ghirelli extracted every inch of performance that he could find and finished the session with a blistering time of 1:08.638. With only 0.383 seconds separating him from pole sitter and NASCAR Canada veteran Kevin Lacroix, he confirmed that Europe’s champion is ready to fight for the victory.
“What a wonderful qualifying! Second in our group and we were P7 overall,” said Ghirelli. “I’m really grateful for the results, it’s not easy to compete with these guys. The team is happy and we’re happy. Thanks to our sponsors Rousseau Metal, Festidrag.tv, White Rabbit Entertainment, Alba Studios, GBI, XPN and many others for their really great support. I cannot name them all!”
New to the GP3R in 2026 were the Omnifab Sprints, two 15-lap sprints inspired by the legendary Daytona Duels that determined the starting grid for the feature race. Understanding the stakes at play, Ghirelli played the long game. The Italian worked hard to preserve his car and tires, anticipating an action packed 45-lap race on Sunday.
“It was a nice race,” said Ghirelli after the Sprints. “We got a top-5, which was our goal to stay clean. I don’t want to overdrive the car, we have good tires and are in good shape for tomorrow. We’re starting in the top-10 and trying to get a good result for my sponsors and partners. Tomorrow will be a long race, there are probably some cautions. We’ll try to have a good start, preserve the brakes and the tires for the last 15 laps where it’ll count. We’re improving step by step and I’m really grateful to be within the front runners as they’re fighting for the championship, so it’s a really good result and I’m happy.”
As the crowds packed into the streets of Trois-Rivieres to watch the crown jewel round for the NASCAR Canada Series, Ghirelli kept himself cool and locked his focus for a dramatic showdown in the main event. With the cheers from the rowdy Canadian fans, the champion wrestled his car round the tight bends and avoided several major incidents that brought out the red flags. With his plans in motion, Ghirelli sensed an opportunity to make daring passes in the final laps to secure a top-10 finish, clinching a sensational result for the Italian and the #50 crew.
“What a race!” said Ghirelli after crossing the finish line in tenth position. “We have a crazy race at the GP3R. I’m so happy that we performed all weekend and we finished with a nice top-10. I was really suffering with engine power, I was missing a lot of speed on the straights so I couldn’t really attack, but we were fast in the corners. Big thanks to our sponsors Rousseau Metal and Festidrag.tv, let’s keep it up and I hope I can be back with a better package in other events. You never know in the future. It’s been a real pleasure, I love Canada! The fans are amazing and it was good to be in the pack. I’m very grateful for this opportunity. Now it’s time to shift my focus back to Europe. We’ve got a championship to defend and go get the third ring!”
Ghirelli’s journey to Canada might have been over, but his adventure in the NASCAR Euro Series does not stop just yet. The Italian will be back in his #24 PK Carsport Chevrolet Camaro at the next round in Autodrom Most and with Ghirelli in the provisional lead in the standings, everything is in play as he chases an unprecedented third consecutive V8GP title in the second half of the 2026 season. Check out https://www.nascar.eu/watch/ to find out where you can watch the flying Italian from the NASCAR GP Czech Republic and the Playoffs at Italy and Belgium.
Featured image by Matthew Manor / NASCAR
