Thomas Toffel became just the second driver in history to clinch both Stromwatches.com Pole Awards on the same weekend – The driver of the #34 THT by Race Art Technology Chevrolet will have a clear view to the first corner in both Semi-Finals 1 races
- Thomas Toffel dominated qualifying, securing both Stromwatches.com Pole Awards
- The Swiss driver also broke the qualifying lap record in OPEN
- Nelson Piquet Jr. set the new overall track record for European NASCAR in V8GP qualifying
The trend of history-making qualifyings in the NASCAR Euro Series continued after V8GP and OPEN thrilled the Italian fans with their performance during the Saturday morning’s running of the 2026 NASCAR GP Italy. Thomas Toffel was on fire at Autodromo di Vallelunga as he and THT by Race Art Technology worked together to create a magical moment. Not only did Toffel become just the second driver in history to win the Stromwatches.com Pole Award in both V8GP and OPEN during the same meeting, the Swiss also shattered the qualifying record in OPEN. In V8GP, a new overall lap record was set by Nelson Piquet Jr., who pushed the new-spec Hoosier tires to the limit and beat the five-year-old record that was set by V8GP legend Alon Day.
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V8GP: Toffel with His First Stromwatches.com Pole Award
The morning sunshine greeted the drivers in V8GP for a wonderful qualifying in Italy. The pace started off strong from the get-go with Nelson Piquet Jr.’s blazing new lap record in the first qualifying session at Autodromo di Vallelunga. The Brazilian clocked a best lap time of 1:39.667 to become the new fastest NASCAR driver at the 4.085-kilometer circuit. Thomas Toffel narrowly missed out on the track record by just 0.024 seconds, but it was a sign of what was to come from the Swiss driver.
When the hammer dropped in Superpole, Toffel put together a fast lap behind the wheel of his #34 Chevrolet and crossed the finish line with a time of 1:40.227. It was a time that no one was able to beat, allowing the Swiss to claim his maiden Stromwatches.com Pole Award and first place also in the Challenger Trophy. Having already started on pole position courtesy of his fastest lap during the 2026 regular season finale at Autodrom Most, Toffel knew what was needed in order to lead the field into the first corner.
“I feel really good,” said Toffel after getting out of his pure racing machine. “I feel that the pace is here since the start of the weekend. It was sometimes difficult to know where I was yesterday during the free practice because I had a different strategy due to competing in both categories. Sometimes I ran with old tires, sometimes with new tires, but for sure the pace was there. The race, however, will be another thing!”
Thomas Krasonis was the fastest among the Junior Trophy in second place, beating Piquet Jr. and Vittorio Ghirelli who formed a highly experienced duo in the second row of the grid. Garrett Lowe followed behind Krasonis in the Junior Trophy battle, qualifying fifth ahead of Gianmarco Ercoli while Paul Jouffreau completed the Junior Trophy top-3 in seventh. Fabrizio Armetta, Vinnie Meskelis and Martin Doubek rounded out the top-10. Jordan O’Brien suffered a tough blow to his title hopes after he only qualified 12th, four rows behind championship leader Ghirelli. Davit Kajaia and Giovanni Cartechini trailed Toffel in the Challenger Trophy rankings with their 16th- and 19th-place qualifying efforts.
OPEN: Thomas Toffel Storms Through
After securing the V8GP Stromwatches.com Pole Award, Toffel returned to the driver’s seat of the #34 Chevrolet on a mission. It had been three years since Vladimiros Tziortzis clinched both Pole Awards during the 2023 NASCAR GP Spain and Toffel knew that he had a strong chance to be just the second driver in history to do so. Two grueling sessions later, the Swiss did just that and the Swiss did just that: With a lap time of 1:40.276, Toffel managed to accomplish the double while also breaking the OPEN qualifying lap record that Tobias Dauenhauer set during the NASCAR Euro Series’ first meeting at Vallelunga in 2020.
Raphael Lessard, who beat Toffel in two epic duels in the Czech Republic, will keep a close eye on the THT by Race Art Technology driver from the front row of the grid. Tziortzis himself qualified third ahead of Sandro Tavartkiladze, who topped the Master Trophy in fourth place. Another Trophy leader followed the Georgian: Claudio Cappelli, again the fastest in the Legend Trophy with his top-5 qualifying effort.
Hendriks Motorsport teammates Gil Linster and Martin Doubek followed the Italian in sixth and seventh. The Lady Trophy was led by Beitske Visser, who showed her determination to win the special classification with her first Superpole appearance since the NASCAR GP France at Paul Ricard. Melvin de Groot trailed Cappelli in the Legend Trophy battle in ninth.
Thomas Dombrowski was hit with mechanical troubles in his Superpole attempt that left the Frenchman down in tenth. The PK Carsport driver was second-fastest during qualifying, so expect Dombrowski to charge his way up through the pack during the races. Jens Beeusaert and Florian Richard in 11th and 12th completed the Master Trophy top-3, while Kenko Miura beat Giovanni Faraonio for third place in the Legend Trophy. Mariam Davitidze and Happinessa rounded out the Lady Trophy classification in 20th and 21st respectively.
The spectacle from the Playoffs Semi-Finals at Autodromo di Vallelunga continues with two amazing double-points races that kickstart the race for the title in both V8GP and OPEN. V8GP will take to the track first starting at 14:25 CEST with OPEN following on the hype that the elite built with their Semi-Finals action at 16:50 CEST. All races of the NASCAR GP Italy are broadcast live on DAZN, YouTube and various local TV partners. For more details on your local providers, check out https://www.nascar.eu/watch/.
UPDATE: Following post-session technical checks in Parc Ferme, Car #34 (Thomas Toffel) was found in breach of technical regulations as the front-right ride height measured ~2mm below the minimum limit. He was handed a two-place grid penalty for V8GP and OPEN Semi-Finals 1.
Featured image by NASCAR Euro Series / Bart Dehaese
