Vittorio Ghirelli extended his record for most pole positions in a season with a Superpole sweep, while Gil Linster narrowly beat Claudio Remigio Cappelli in a thrilling Zolder Qualifying.
No one was able to dethrone Vittorio Ghirelli from his position as the master of Qualifying. The Italian made it seven-out-of-seven for Pole Position Awards after he clinched his tenth pole position of the year in the Superpole session of EuroNASCAR Finals.
Things are more dramatic in EuroNASCAR 2’s as pole position was up for grabs all the way to the end. Gil Linster was ultimately the one to claim pole, beating Claudio Remigio Cappelli to prove that he can do it on a cold Saturday morning at Circuit Zolder.
Thursday & Friday Recap
The Finals action started a day earlier than usual, with EuroNASCAR Club Challenge hosting their final round of 2024 on Thursday. Team FJ’s 2025 EuroNASCAR test car also took to the track to begin their testing programme.
Club Challenge witnessed a thrilling battle for the title, one that was won by Federico Monti after the Italian swept both sessions to overhaul his deficit from Reza Sardeha. The recap for Club Challenge can be read in the link here.
After the traditional parade to the city center of Heusden-Zolder, the activities continued on Friday with the Free Practice sessions. Vittorio Ghirelli once again set the benchmark in EuroNASCAR PRO, but things didn’t go smoothly this time.
Ghirelli had an oil leak on his No. 24 infitto.eu Camaro that put him out of FP1. However, the Italian quickly stormed to the lead once the issues were sorted, setting a best lap time of 1:37.409 to end the day in first.
Sebastiaan Bleekemolen was 0.354 seconds away in second position and splitted the Italian from Junior Trophy leader and title rival Paul Jouffreau in third. They were followed by Anthony Kumpen and reigning champion Gianmarco Ercoli.
Vladimiros Tziortzis, Liam Hezemans, Fabrizio Armetta, Marc Goossens and Lucas Lasserre completed the top-10, just ahead of Ryan Vargas who made a last minute switch to Team Bleekemolen’s No. 11 Anyone.com Ford.
The No. 30 Critical Path Security Chevrolet Camaro of 3F Racing did not take part in the round, so the American opted to share a ride with Sardeha for the rest of the weekend.
EuroNASCAR PRO FP1 Results | EuroNASCAR PRO FP2 Results
Melvin de Groot made his bid for victory clear after he dominated the Practice sessions in EuroNASCAR 2. De Groot led both sessions and only two drivers were able to get close to the Dutchman’s best time of 1:38.142.
Those two drivers were de Groot’s Legend Trophy rival Claudio Remigio Cappelli and Valencia winner Gil Linster. Cappelli was second with a 1:38.329, while Linster was third with a 1:38.383.
Thomas Dombrowski’s first PK Carsport outing went well after he finished fourth fastest. Thomas Krasonis was fifth while Jack Davidson narrowly beat Patrick Schober by 0.001 seconds for sixth.
Championship leader Martin Doubek did not have the best opening day, with brake issues preventing him from advancing from eighth. Thomas Toffel – Challenger Trophy leader in ENPRO – and Rookie Trophy leader Victor Neumann completed the top-10.
EuroNASCAR 2 FP1 Results | EuroNASCAR 2 FP2 Results
Qualifying Recap
A cold breeze greeted the competitors when they opened their assigned pit boxes on Saturday morning. For racing drivers, this is bad news because they would have a harder time to get some heat into the tires.
The cold weather did cause some problems for Ghirelli, but it wasn’t enough to deny the Italian from a historic achievement.
Another pole position in Superpole meant that he managed to completely sweep the Superpole pole awards, a first in EuroNASCAR’s long history.
Ghirelli’s feat was nearly denied by Kumpen, who set a faster first flying lap. Thankfully for Ghirelli, he found enough seconds in his second flying lap to set the decisive pole time of 1:37.764.
“It was a very tricky Qualifying because the conditions were colder,” said Ghirelli, who now has 10 pole positions in 2024. “We weren’t on the spot with the setup, so I was struggling.”
“I also had a very big snap in sector 2, but then I managed to do a good sector 3. I took Pole Position and it will be very important to start at the front. We have to finish the job, let’s just go for it!”
Kumpen ensured a PK Carsport front row lockout, with Belgian fans having more reasons to celebrate because Goossens qualified his No. 72 Race Planet Toyota Camry in third position.
Jouffreau and Gianmarco did not have the best Qualifying and were only fourth and fifth fastest respectively. Liam Hezemans had an even less ideal time, only qualifying eighth behind Sebastiaan and Dauenhauer.
Tziortzis and Armetta completed the top-10 with Lasserre putting his title hopes in jeopardy after he missed the Superpole.
Liam Lambert showed plenty of good speed in the metallic pink No. 21 GT Omega Camaro and qualified 14th as the fastest in Challenger Trophy.
EuroNASCAR PRO Qualifying Results | EuroNASCAR PRO Superpole Results
Qualifying also went to the wire in EuroNASCAR 2 thanks to a flurry of fast last laps from the top competitors. Cappelli led most of the session and was on pace for his first pole position with a whizzing time of 1:38.733, but Linster said otherwise.
Linster had messed up his penultimate lap and knew that his last lap was an all or nothing. The Luxembourg driver kept his focus and managed to find nearly three tenths of a second to snatch pole position away from the Italian.
“It was everything I could do,” said Linster, who set a lap time of 1:38.481. “We made some changes, the guys at Hendriks Motorsport did a phenomenal job and I had a super quick car!”
“When I crossed the line and they said ‘P1!’, I was like ‘hopefully no one’s behind me!’ but I think they were also on the last lap and I’m super happy to get the pole position here.”
Cappelli still qualified on the front row, showcasing the momentum from his maiden win at Oschersleben. Doubek had a much better time and put his No. 7 Orion Ford in third position.
Davidson and Krasonis completed the top-5 ahead of Dombrowski. The colder conditions caught out Schober and de Groot, whose times were only good enough for the fourth row on the grid.
Fifth row is filled by two Rookie Trophy contenders Neumann and Julien Rehberg. Luli del Castello was fastest in the Lady Trophy in 14th. Her teammate Roberto Benedetti qualified an impressive 12th on his first race in four months.
Frédéric Gabillon and Arthur Roche qualified the Team FJ test car in 16th and 19th positions respectively. As per the announced provisions, they would have to start their races from last place in the upcoming races.
EuroNASCAR 2 Qualifying Results
Disclaimer: Credits for all photos are listed underneath each image.
Last Updated: 30 November 2024