Paul Jouffreau took advantage of an early restart to make his race winning overtake on Garrett Lowe – The Frenchman returns to the Victory Lane in a round that shakes up the V8GP championship and Trophy battles
- An early restart gave Paul Jouffreau the opportunity to win V8GP Final 1 in Belgium
- Lowe and Sebastiaan Bleekemolen hold the trophies aloft in the podium
- Vittorio Ghirelli minimized his losses with his charge from 15th to seventh
The first of the four decider Finals races is full of nail-biting moments that kept the fans at the edge of their seats! The story at the front was dominated by the duel of Paul Jouffreau and Garrett Lowe, two of NASCAR Euro Series’ fastest Junior Trophy youngsters. An early restart gave Jouffreau the chance to make a crucial pass on Lowe and despite the American constantly applying pressure on the Frenchman, Jouffreau had enough in his #3 RDV Competition Ford Mustang to make it to the checkered flag. With his third victory of the 2026 season, Jouffreau has changed the complexity of not just the Junior Trophy, but also the overall standings when factoring all of the drama that happened right behind him.
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“Lowe did a great job, he was fast at the end!” said Jouffreau in the Victory Lane. “I wasn’t keeping up my pace and I think he will have some good tires for tomorrow, so there will be another good race for us tomorrow for sure. When I dived into turn one, I was so happy because it was a good dive. The race was well managed, so this win is for my team, my family, my sponsors and all of my friends! This year was really tough with a lot of ups and downs and we learned a lot on how to perform in this environment, so I’m happy. One more thing: This win is dedicated to those with breast cancer, my mom has one and I want to make sure that this win is for all the women suffering from it!”
While young guns Jouffreau and Lowe streaked into the distance as the laps ticked by, two veterans of the sport were duking it out for the right to join them on the podium. Sebastiaan Bleekemolen was giving everything he can to fend off Gianmarco Ercoli and with the help of a fortunate encounter with the backmarkers, the Dutchman came home in third to score his first V8GP podium in three years! Ercoli was therefore fourth ahead of the timeless Marc Goossens, who vigorously held off Nelson Piquet Jr. for the Belgian’s first top-5 finish of 2026.
Standing right behind the Brazilian in the finish line is none other than his main championship rival: Vittorio Ghirelli. After his strategic blunder in qualifying, the Italian was determined to charge his way through the pack and he pulled it off in spectacular fashion. Ghirelli was already up five places on the opening lap, aided by some luck as he was on the right racing lane when Giovanni Cartechini and Jack Davidson made contact in the first corner, and then worked hard to dispatch Vinnie Meskelis, Vladimiros Tziortzis and Jordan O’Brien to grab quite possibly the most important seventh place finish of his V8GP career.
Meskelis, Tziortzis and O’Brien completed the top-10 with the two Americans – Meskelis and O’Brien – encountering different fortunes. Meskelis in eighth claimed the final Junior Trophy silverware, while O’Brien suffered from a false restart penalty that dropped the Hendriks Motorsport driver down the order. Another American in Logan Bearden secured the Challenger Trophy on his V8GP return, but he wants more than just a 13th place finish. For the Texan, a top-10 finish will be his goal. Davit Kajaia and first-time V8 racer Pim van Riet joined Bearden in the Challenger Trophy podium in 14th and 16th respectively. Sitting in between them was Ulysse Delsaux, who moved up nine positions to claim the bonus points for most positions gained.
Just how important is Ghirelli’s seventh place finish? With Piquet Jr. only sixth, the PK Carsport driver loses a mere two points to his Alumitec Racing rival. A gap of 29 points separates the two heading to Sunday’s finale and the permutations are clear: Taking into factor the bonus points for most positions gained, a seventh place finish will secure Ghirelli’s historic three-peat no matter what is Piquet Jr.’s result.
Lowe’s podium and Jouffreau’s victory pushed them up to third and fourth overall. Only four points separated them in the Junior Trophy battle and with Lowe starting on pole on Sunday, their final showdown will go down to the wire. O’Brien rounded the top-5 with Thomas Krasonis, Martin Doubek and Ercoli maintaining the slimmest of chances in the title race. With problems for Cartechini and Brad Ranson, Davit Kajaia has extended his Challenger Trophy lead to a significant 50 points. It will take a lot of misfortune for the Georgian to lose his crown, but anything is still possible!
The V8 powered beasts will not rest just yet as the OPEN will start their first deciding race at 16:35 CEST. With double points in play, there will be plenty of high stakes moves and the best door-to-door battles in the world of European motorsport. There will also be tears of joy and sadness and it is anyone’s game for the crown and Trophies. Check out https://www.nascar.eu/watch/ to find out how to watch the NASCAR Euro Series Finals action, broadcast live from Circuit Zolder in Belgium!
Featured image by NASCAR Euro Series / Bart Dehaese
