Yann Cristovao secured the Rookie Challenge overall winner crown after a thunderous performance in the Finals – The Speedhouse star confirmed his consistency with two stellar drives at Circuit Zolder
- Yann Cristovao brings home the overall win in Rookie Challenge
- The Frenchman tops the first timed session en route to his second round win
- Henrik Peters and Sandro Kajaia completed the podium, while Kajaia and Jacob Parry secured an overall top-3 finish
Yann Cristovao has completed his rise to the top of Rookie Challenge. Utilizing all of the experience that he earned from previous rounds, the Frenchman mastered Circuit Zolder in Belgium to become the new overall winner in NASCAR Euro Series’ regularity time attack division. Cristovao clinched his overall win in fine style: A top performance in the first timed session, coupled with a top-3 finish in the second session, gave the driver of the #4 Speedhouse Ford Mustang an unassailable points tally, earning him his second round win and the right to celebrate his triumph in the Victory Lane alongside his team, friends and family.
“I’m very happy, I have no words! Five races, five podiums, two wins and the overall win, I’m very happy!” said Cristovao, reflecting on his path to become the 2026 Rookie Challenge winner.
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Trailing behind the new overall winner was Henrik Peters, who made his return to the podium positions. The German took the top spot in the second timed session and was rewarded with a second place finish in the round’s result. Sandro Kajaia joined Peters on the overall podium and confirmed his status as the overall runner-up with a solid outing at the Finals. Jacob Parry narrowly missed a podium finish, but the Welshman scored enough points to hold on to his overall top-3 position.
Two debutants finished fifth and sixth, each with their own stories to tell. Davit Arjevanidze, a regular competitor in Georgian rally events, toured alongside Kolkhi GRT as the team’s race engineer during the 2026 season. For the Finals, Kolkhi GRT gave Arjevanidze the chance to race the #8 Toyota in Rookie Challenge and he passed his first exam in flying colors, finishing fifth overall ahead of Finnish driver Harry Turunen. Turunen, who started racing in simulators before making his transition to Nissan Micra competition in his native country, entered the Finals to help fulfill his ambition of making a full debut in 2027.
Nicole Davidson, Nuno Caetano, Andreas Kuchelbacher and Gianni Lasserre completed the top-10 positions. Francesco Ciccio Savoia finished 11th as the substitute for Robin Bleekemolen while Maral Ghazarian suffered from mechanical problems that left her 12th in the final results.
With consecutive wins to end his division winning campaign, Cristovao ended his year with a total of 382 points to his name. Kajaia was only 19 markers behind after scoring a round win in France, while Parry combined his wins in Spain and Czech Republic with a strong result at the Finals to finish third overall, 47 points behind Cristovao. Peters and Kuchelbacher completed the overall top-5 with Caetano, Davidson, Lasserre and Ghazarian rounding out the list of full-time drivers. A total of 24 drivers turned the wheel of a Rookie Challenge machine in 2026, proving that interest to try out the V8 powered beasts is at an all-time high.
Rookie Challenge is only the start of the show as the attention is now turned to the gladiators who will battle for every position in the NASCAR Euro Series Finals. With double points applied to V8GP and OPEN, the pressure is on for the competitors to gain those extra little points and fulfill their championship and Trophy aspirations. Stay tuned to the official website for the latest reports from Belgium and https://www.nascar.eu/watch/ provides you with the list of broadcasters to watch the most important qualifying and races of the season!
Featured image by NASCAR Euro Series / Bart Dehaese
