Vittorio Ghirelli and Paul Jouffreau buried their Oschersleben hatchets after they impressed each other with their performances in the EuroNASCAR Finals at Zolder.
The EuroNASCAR Finals was a magical round for PK Carsport’s ace Vittorio Ghirelli. Not only did he win the 2024 championship title, he also gained respect for Paul Jouffreau after things got heated between both parties in Oschersleben.
Ghirelli and Jouffreau had come to blows in Germany due to a first lap incident in both races. On Race 1, Jouffreau made contact with Ghirelli at the start that resulted in a 30-second time penalty being handed to the Frenchman.
Then in Race 2, Ghirelli gave Jouffreau as little space as possible on the straight after Hasseroder corner and the Frenchman had to use the grass to keep racing side-by-side before the Triple corner section.
While Ghirelli was absolved of any penalties after the race, Jouffreau was critical of the Italian for what he believed to be a dirty move worthy of a penalty.
“He always has something!” said Jouffreau back in September. “This is crazy, from my perspective he put me on the grass in T3. With that, I wasn’t able to overtake him.”
“He knew that I was passing, so this is his way of work. Okay, I can respect that. Yesterday I took a 30 second penalty and it wasn’t intentional from my side. I expect the same treatment as I had yesterday, he put me off track. The fight starts now and we will see at Zolder.”
The situation didn’t go unnoticed by Ghirelli’s team boss Anthony Kumpen, who had a few words to say after his contact with Jouffreau in Race 1 at Circuit Zolder.
“There was the number 3 that pushed me off and the rear axle was bent, so yeah,” said Kumpen in his post-race interview. “He’s a bit hot, I already saw that in the previous races and it’s not fair racing.”
Things, however, changed completely with Race 2 of the Finals. With Jouffreau winning the race from Gianmarco Ercoli, who nearly jeopardized Ghirelli’s title hopes in a lap 1 incident, both Jouffreau and Ghirelli found themselves in Victory Lane to celebrate their triumphs.
The situation gave Ghirelli and Jouffreau a chance to talk out the problems that they have during the season. In the end, the talks went well and both drivers gained mutual respect for each other.
“The #3 team did a really good job,” said Ghirelli about the vice-champion of 2024. “He’ll be a future champion for sure because he’s a very good talent. Great job for him to take a win, but this time the title was ours!”
“We were champions for two laps, but as I said to Vittorio we had some problems during this year because the pressure is so high in the European NASCAR Championship,” said Jouffreau about the conversation that they have.
“In the end, Vittorio is a really nice competitor. Big congrats to him, I wanted his place so bad but we’ll get this title soon and I’m happy with my season. Little by little we were faster and I don’t have anything more to say.”
The smiles between both drivers continued in the podium ceremony for the top-3 championship finishers. Jouffreau was happy with Ghirelli and joined the PK driver for the immediate post-podium photo op.
The dynamic between EuroNASCAR’s two leading contenders showed that tense situations can be resolved with the right opportunity and more importantly, the willingness from the parties involved to talk it out together.
It remains to be seen whether things will get tense again in 2025 given that Ghirelli and Jouffreau are expected to be the leading title candidates, but one thing that’s certain is that both have ended their 2024 campaigns on a happy note.
Disclaimer: Credits for all photos are listed underneath each image.
Last Updated: 27 November 2024