Having won the pole position by virtue of fastest lap in the previous race at Vallelunga, Lasse Sorensen claims his first career Qualifying Pole Position at Circuit Zolder after Luigi Ferrara’s fastest lap time was removed for track limit violations in yesterday’s Qualifying.
Almost a year after he clinched the EuroNASCAR 2 title at Circuit Zolder, Lasse Sørensen continues to impress in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series after the Danish driver scored pole position for PRO class’ Race 1 with a time of 1:47.478 in a dramatic Qualifying session at Zolder.
Sørensen was awarded the pole position after provisional pole sitter Luigi Ferrara in the No. 42 Shadow Ford had his best Qualifying time removed from the timesheets after he was caught to be exceeding the track limits.
“I’m very happy to grab my first Pole Award in EuroNASCAR PRO at Circuit Zolder,” said Sørensen to euronascar.com. “The conditions were tough, but we had a good plan and strategy for the session. Everything went as planned and I knew I had to clock the fastest lap right at the end. I thank DF1 Racing for providing me with such a fast Chevrolet Camaro. In the race, I’ll have to keep my head clear and just focus on executing the plan.”
Drama also unfolds earlier in the session as defending series champion and championship leader Loris Hezemans crashed out at the Villeneuve chicane after the throttle in the No. 50 RZOIL Ford Mustang got stuck. While the Hendriks crew was able to repair the car in time for another attempt, further electrical issues prevented Hezemans from improving his time of 1:50.448, meaning that Hezemans will be forced to start from a lowly 18th place for Race 1.
Home crowd favorite Stienes Longin will be starting second ahead of Jacques Villeneuve with last race’s winner Gianmarco Ercoli and Francesco Sini – who celebrated his birthday on the very same day Qualifying and Race 1 is held – completing the Top 5.
Series veterans Marc Goossens and Alon Day qualifies sixth and seventh respectively ahead of Ferrara, who had to start from eighth place following the removal of his best lap time. Fellow series veterans Thomas Ferrando and Nicolò Rocca completes the Top 10.
Martin Doubek, who has been confirmed to be doing the double duty this weekend after Daniel Rowbottom was unable to take part due to UK’s new travel restrictions, qualifies 12th in his first PRO class race of the year while Not Only Motorsport’s Davide Dallara puts up a solid 15th place finish in his first Qualifying session as a PRO class driver.
Qualifying Results
| RANK | DRIVER | QUALIFYING |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Lasse Sørensen (66) | 1:47.478 |
| 2. | Stienes Longin (11) | 1:47.696 |
| 3. | Jacques Villeneuve (5) | 1:47.861 |
| 4. | Gianmarco Ercoli (54) | 1:47.970 |
| 5. | Francesco Sini (12) | 1:48.232 |
| 6. | Marc Goossens (98) | 1:48.345 |
| 7. | Alon Day (24) | 1:48.508 |
| 8. | Luigi Ferrara (42) | 1:48.518 |
| 9. | Thomas Ferrando (88) | 1:48.539 |
| 10. | Nicolò Rocca (22) | 1:48.866 |
| 11. | Giorgio Maggi (18) | 1:48.761 |
| 12. | Martin Doubek (7) | 1:49.119 |
| 13. | Lucas Lasserre (33) | 1:49.289 |
| 14. | Patrick Lemarié (6) | 1:49.582 |
| 15. | Davide Dallara (89) | 1:49.893 |
| 16. | Justin Kunz (99) | 1:50.094 |
| 17. | Dario Caso (8) | 1:50.325 |
| 18. | Loris Hezemans (50) | 1:50.448 |
| 19. | Evgeny Sokolovsky (48) | 1:51.829 |
| 20. | Mauro Trione (31) | 1:52.292 |
| 21. | Bernardo Manfrè (17) | 1:55.124 |
Disclaimer: Unless noted, all photos used in this article are courtesy of NASCAR Whelen Euro Series / Stephane Azemard / Bart Dehaese.