Vitor Genz reignited his NASCAR Brasil Series title challenge after he swept both stages in the 100 Miles race at Autódromo Internacional Zilmar Beux de Cascavel.
The sixth round of the 2024 NASCAR Brasil Series season marked a historic occasion for the series as it held their first long distance race with the 100 Miles race at Autódromo Internacional Zilmar Beux de Cascavel.
The race was split into two stages, each consisting of approximately 50 miles and awarded full championship points. This was done to not only facilitate driver swaps, but also for the cars to be serviced as NASCAR Brasil does not have live pit stops.
Championship contender Vitor Genz mastered the new format with ease after he dominated both stages, giving the 35-year old driver full points that will keep his title hopes alive with only two rounds left.
Stage 1 Recap
Léonardo Reis led a field of 23 cars to the green flag of the first stage after he took pole position in Qualifying, which was done in a single car format.
The driver of the No. 32 Nano4You Ford Mustang led in the first few corners, but he was passed by Cayan Chainca at Mergulho after Chianca kept his momentum on the outside in the fast left-hand corner of Baciao.
Contact from Jorge Martelli resulted in a spin for Nick Monteiro. Reis and Chianca traded positions for the next few laps before the Safety Car was called on Lap 4 due to a mechanical failure on Alexandre Kauê’s No. 33 Dust/Parmalat Ford.
The stage got underway again on Lap 8 in a messy fashion. The back half of the field was restarting four-wide and Guilherme Backes – who restarted in 15th – went to the grass on the inside.
Backes then clipped Felipinho Tozzo, sending Tozzo’s No. 57 Super Carros Camaro into the concrete wall. Backes avoided damage, but Tozzo’s day was done with terminal steering damage.
Reis and Chianca continued to lead at the restart, with Gabriel Casagrande and Genz joining in the fray as well. Further back, Thiago Lopes – racing solo in the No. 14 Sigatrans Logistica Camaro – had a spin at the Esse corner that dropped him down the order.
A mechanical failure took Valdeno Brito out on lap 10. On the same lap, Chianca suffered a rear-right puncture on the final corner that took him out of the victory contention.
Reis, Casagrande, and Genz continued their scrap and had a terrific lead battle that went on for laps. The battle behind was just as exciting with Gabryel Romano leading a five-car battle for fifth position.
Unfortunately, Romano lost control of his No. 56 Rede Alpha Camaro on lap 18 at Baciao, just moments after Reis had done the same thing.
While both Romano and Reis avoided significant damage, the Safety Car was called and with half distance approaching, race control decided to end the stage under yellow at the end of lap 21.
This greatly benefits Genz, who crossed the line as Stage 1 winner. Casagrande was second with Martelli taking the overall stage podium in third.
Martelli also won the Challenge class battle, one place ahead of Victor Andrade who had a new sponsorship from Racon Consórcios.
Fifth place finisher Beto Monteiro clinched third in the top NASCAR Brasil class. Sérgio Ramalho was sixth ahead of Luís Trombini, who is third in Challenge. Backes, debutant Luís Debes and Léonardo Yoshii rounded out the overall top-10.
Romano did stay on the lead lap, but was only 14th on the line. Reis was 17th with Chianca dropping down to 18th after his unscheduled stop.
Lopes, Brito, Tozzo, Nick and Kaue retired from the stage, but their races were not done just yet. If they managed to get their cars fixed in time, they were allowed to take the start of Stage 2 on the same lap as the leaders.
Stage 2 Recap
After a halftime break, 20 cars were ready to take the start for Stage 2. Thiago Lopes and Nick Monteiro were able to get their cars going again, giving both drivers a chance to redeem themselves as they’re now back on the lead lap.
With the grid decided from Stage 1 results, Genz led the field to the Stage 2 start on lap 25 with Alex Seid – who took over the No. 83 Axalta/Milltec1 Camaro from Casagrande – starting alongside him on the front row.
Seid struggled to stay with the No. 46 Frum Ford and with him occupied to keep Martelli behind him, Genz immediately broke away into a comfortable lead.
Martelli got past Seid on lap 26, moments before Chianca crashed his No. 4 Odontoprev Ford into the tire barriers at Esse. Léo Reis’ stage didn’t last long either, with his car grinding to a halt just a hundred meters from Chianca.
This unsurprisingly brought out the Safety Car, which circulated for three laps. Genz led Martelli cleanly on the restart on lap 30, but another caution period was called following a multi-car incident at Esse.
Luan Lopes, who had replaced Beto in the No. 99 Frum Camaro, was battling Nick for sixth place when both drivers made contact.
This sent both drivers into a spin, with Witold Ramasauskas also collected after Nick’s No. 1 Mais 1 Café Ford made contact with Witold’s No. 13 Taxation Mind Ford.
All drivers managed to rejoin the race, but just as the Safety Car was called, Luís Debes’ rear-left suspension collapsed. With Debes out, only 15 cars took the final restart.
Genz once again held his lead at the restart on lap 33 and he led the last five laps to take the overall victory in the 100 Miles race.
Rather embarrassingly, the cameras missed the finish as the producers went to show a replay of Romano and Lucas Mendes right as Genz was about to cross the finish line.
Martelli also held on to an overall second place finish, which gave him a sweep in the Challenge class. Third overall was taken by Léo Torres, who competed alongside Edson Reis in Edson’s No. 12 Maxon Ford. Edson was 11th overall and fifth in class in Stage 1.
Mendes took fourth overall to complete the NASCAR Brasil podium. Backes and Romano filled the Challenge podium in fifth and sixth, both drivers separated by just 0.001 seconds at the line.
Thiago made an impressive comeback to take seventh ahead of the equally impressive Leonardo Totti, eighth on his debut race. Ramasauskas recovered to ninth with Marcel Jorand completing the top-10.
Nick’s final restart run was spoiled by Luan, who spun Nick again with two laps to go. This incurred the wrath of the stewards, who handed Luan with a disqualification.
Another driver with late trouble is Seid, who retired his car just as the final lap started. Thankfully for him and Casagrande, Seid had completed enough laps to be classified in 15th overall and seventh in class.
Championship Standings
Despite Alex Seid’s late Stage 2 retirement, the No. 83 team of Seid and Gabriel Casagrande extended their lead with 262 points on their tally.
Reis is now 45 points behind, with Vitor Genz slashing his deficit down to 56 points after his sweep at Cascavel.
Chainca barely hung on to fourth with 159 points, four points ahead of Rafa Dias and Lucas Mendes are now joint fifth. Both drivers had 155 points, but Dias was classified ahead as he had a better finish – A second compared to Mendes’ two thirds.
Reigning champion Léo Torres jumped up to seventh with Lourenço Beirão, Sérgio Ramalho and Witold Ramasauskas completing the top-10.
In Challenge, Victor Andrade’s class podium in Stage 1 allows him to cling on to his lead. With 221 points, Andrade now has a 10 point advantage from Jorge Martelli in second.
Guilherme Backes was third with 189 points, having lost a lot of ground after he was disqualified from Stage 1 due to his contact with Felipinho Tozzo.
Tozzo himself is fourth with 175 points with Luís Trombini completing the top-5. Gabryel Romano, Léonardo Yoshii, Nick Monteiro, Marcel Jorand and Giovanni Girotto rounds out the top-10 overall positions.
Disclaimer: Credits for all photos are listed underneath each image.
Last Updated: 28 December 2024