The NASCAR Whelen Euro Series returns this week for the inaugural OMV MaxxMotion NASCAR Show, the first Euro Series race week held in Czech Republic and the fourth round of the 2019 season. Saturday’s activities started with the Qualifying session for both the Elite 1 and the Elite 2 class and in the Elite 2 class, it was Giorgio Maggi that secured his first Elite 2 pole position to become the first ever pole sitter of Euro Series’ visit at Most.
Maggi was the only driver in the Elite 2 Superpole that sets a lap time in under 1:42, as his lap time of 1:41.339 is not only 0.799 seconds faster than Lasse Sørensen in second, but it’s also faster than even the Elite 1 Superpole pole time set by Nicolo Rocca. Sørensen edged out Andre Castro for second by only 0.003 seconds, while home driver Martin Doubek will start his first home race in 4th place on the grid.
“It was actually very close on track because there were a few times where I lost it,” said Maggi to Mark Werrell in the post-qualifying interview. “At the end it was a really good lap time, so I surprised myself to be honest. For sure I will give it my best. The first corner is going to be tricky because it’s quite a long straight and quite a hard braking with a lot of cars, so with a little bit of luck, we should be able to put it on top in the end.”
Advait Deodhar was able to improve in Qualifying to qualify in 5th place, ahead of Vittorio Ghirelli who will start in sixth place in his first race for PK Carsport. Jesse Vartiainen had his best Qualifying performance so far as he qualifies in 7th, just ahead of Ghirelli’s replacement at the No. 9 Racers Mustang, Alessandro Brigatti.
Eric de Doncker continues his impressive pace this week as he qualifies in 9th ahead of Valencia Race 2 winner Nicholas Risitano, who completes the Top 10 in qualifying. Completing the Superpole participants were Pierluigi Veronesi and Justin Kunz, who will start in 11th and 12th respectively.
Naveh Talor just misses out on his first Superpole after he qualified in 13th place. Talor qualified ahead of Myatt Snider, who continued to struggle to find pace in the No. 48 Ford and can only finish Qualifying in 14th. Freddie Hemborg completes the Top 15 ahead of the current grid’s youngest and oldest driver, Ben Creanor and Michael Bleekemolen, who qualifies in 16th and 17th respectively.
Ian Eric Wadén qualifies in 18th ahead of Eric Clement, who brought out the Red Flag after spinning out twice in Qualifying, with the second one causes his car to get trapped in the gravel trap. Thomas Krasonis, who qualifies in 20th, had a very disappointing Qualifying after the engine of his No. 1 Mustang blew in the middle of Qualifying.
Mirco Schultis and Arianna Casoli completes the rest of the field, while Florian Venturi ultimately decided to not take part in Qualifying – and Race 1 – after he practiced with Racers’ No. 19 Camaro on Friday.
Qualifying Results
| RANK | DRIVER | QUALIFYING | SUPERPOLE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Giorgio Maggi (50) | 1:42.540 | 1:41.339 |
| 2. | Lasse Sørensen (66) | 1:42.070 | 1:42.138 |
| 3. | Andre Castro (24) | 1:42.306 | 1:42.141 |
| 4. | Martin Doubek (7) | 1:42.852 | 1:42.627 |
| 5. | Advait Deodhar (31) | 1:43.065 | 1:42.705 |
| 6. | Vittorio Ghirelli (11) | 1:43.239 | 1:42.805 |
| 7. | Jesse Vartiainen (2) | 1:43.402 | 1:42.981 |
| 8. | Alessandro Brigatti (9) | 1:43.382 | 1:43.035 |
| 9. | Eric de Doncker (98) | 1:43.307 | 1:43.142 |
| 10. | Nicholas Risitano (8) | 1:42.915 | 1:43.217 |
| 11. | Pierluigi Veronesi (27) | 1:43.280 | 1:43.361 |
| 12. | Justin Kunz (99) | 1:43.158 | 1:43.380 |
| 13. | Naveh Talor (12) | 1:43.416 | – |
| 14. | Myatt Snider (48) | 1:43.517 | – |
| 15. | Freddie Hemborg (77) | 1:43.543 | – |
| 16. | Ben Creanor (33) | 1:43.656 | – |
| 17. | Michael Bleekemolen (69) | 1:44.138 | – |
| 18. | Ian Eric Wadén (23) | 1:44.635 | – |
| 19. | Eric Clement (88) | 1:45.080 | – |
| 20. | Thomas Krasonis (1) | 1:45.246 | – |
| 21. | Mirco Schultis (70 | 1:45.612 | – |
| 22. | Arianna Casoli (54) | 1:51.856 | – |
The NASCAR Whelen Euro Series will hit the track for Round 7 and Round 8 of the 2019 season on 29 June and 30 June respectively. All qualifying and races for this season will be aired live on FansChoice.tv, Motorsport.tv, and the official Facebook page and YouTube channel of the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series.
Unless noted, all photos used in this article are courtesy of NASCAR Whelen Euro Series / Stephane Azemard.