Vitor Genz and Jorge Martelli scored enough points in NASCAR Brasil Series’ seventh round at Autódromo Internacional de Tarumã to be declared as national champions of 2024.
NASCAR Brasil Series is beginning to crown their first champions of the 2024 season as the seventh round at Autódromo Internacional de Tarumã was the final event of the Brazilian Championship portion of the calendar.
The glory went to Vitor Genz and Jorge Martelli, who scored enough points in the two races at Tarumã to be crowned as the new national champions in the NASCAR Brasil and Challenge divisions respectively.
Genz and Martelli’s triumphs in the national championship also gave them momentum to bring the overall title battle down to the wire at the newly built Circuito dos Cristais oval in Minas Gerais next month.
Race 1 Recap
Cayan Chianca, returning to the two-sided livery that he had in 2023, led Leo Torres and 22 other drivers to the green flag for Race 1 from pole position.
Chianca, Torres and second row starters Genz and Victor Andrade broke away from the pack and maintained their positions until lap 6, where the Safety Car was called after Giovani Girotto stopped with a mechanical failure on his No. 72 GCF Transportes Ford.
The Chevrolet Camaro pace car circulated for one lap before the race got back to green again on lap 8. Chianca nailed his restart and had a clear run to Turn 1, forcing Torres to follow the No. 4 Perfect Automotivas Ford.
The green flag period didn’t last long, however, because the caution was called again after only half a lap due to Witold Ramasauskas having an engine failure.
One lap later on the second restart, once again Chianca got the perfect launch. One driver who was not so lucky was Andrade, who lost positions to both Gabriel Casagrande and Martelli on the restart.
Chianca managed his gap on Torres and continued to lead until the Safety Car was called for the third and final time on the penultimate lap, just before he took the white flag.
Two separate incidents had taken place, both with costly consequences. The first was suffered by Brendon Zonta, who lost his brakes on the run to Tala Larga. He crashed rear first into the tire barriers, completely wrecking his No. 33 Dust/Parmalat Ford.
Moments later, Edson Reis made a highly ambitious move on Turn 1 and hit Luan Lopes. Both cars were sent into the tire barriers, totaling Reis’ No. 12 Maxon Oil Ford in the process.
This set things up for a last lap green-white-checkered finish that was handled beautifully by Chianca, who held on to take his fourth win of the season. Torres and Genz claimed the podium positions, the latter edging Casagrande by a mere 0.003 seconds.
Martelli was initially declared as the Challenge winner in sixth, but he received a 20-second time penalty for jumping the restart. This handed the win to Andrade, ahead of Gabryel Romano and Guilherme Backes at the checkered flag.
Edson Reis was subsequently disqualified for his role in the penultimate lap incident. He was not the only driver to be disqualified: Sergio Ramalho and Zonta were also black flagged for ignoring a drive through penalty.
Race 2 Recap
Race 1’s finishing order determined the starting grid for Race 2, so Chianca and Torres once again led the field to the green flag.
Unlike Race 1, Torres was able to mount a significant challenge to Chianca. He made his statement clear on Lap 2, passing the Race 1 winner at Tala Larga to move up to the lead.
Chianca tried to regain the lead on Lap 6 with a daring move on the outside of Turns 1-2-3. Unfortunately, this left him vulnerable to an attack by Genz, who passed Chianca on the inside at the Curva do Laco hairpin.
The timing was well executed by Genz because the Safety Car was called on the very next lap. Thiago Lopes brought his No. 14 Gas Verde Camaro to a halt at an awkward position, forcing a neutralization to safely recover his car.
The caution lasted for two laps before the race got underway again on Lap 10. Torres did just enough to maintain his lead, while Chianca lost a position to Leonardo Reis.
Chianca regained his third place on the following lap, but by that point Torres and Genz had put a gap on the rest of the pack. Just like Race 1, however, a GWC restart was made after Backes crashed his No. 28 DAXX Camaro on the penultimate lap.
Torres found Genz napping slightly in the Overtime and a perfect getaway was all that the 2023 champion needed to take his first win of the year.
Genz was still happy with second place, however. Because Leo Reis and Alex Seid finished behind him, the driver of the No. 46 Frum Ford clinched his first Brazilian Championship title win with 230 points – 15 ahead of Casagrande/Seid and 16 ahead of Leo.
Andrade took a Challenge sweep in fifth overall, but Martelli finished second in seventh overall. This result brought Andrade and Martelli’s total points haul to 231 each, necessitating a countback to determine the division champion.
In the end, Martelli was declared as the Challenge champion because he had more second place finishes. Both him and Andrade scored five first place finishes each, but Martelli had three runner-ups compared to Andrade’s one.
Championship Standings
While the Brazilian Championship is considered to be the most prestigious title to win in NASCAR Brasil Series, there’s one championship that is more important on an international scale: The overall championship.
The pair of Gabriel Casagrande and Alex Seid are the favorites to win the overall title at Cristais as they exited Tarumã with 296 points to their name.
This gave them a 38 point buffer to Brazilian champion Genz heading to Cristais, with Leo Reis and Chianca trailing behind by 52 and 71 points respectively.
With three races and Qualifying points still to go, the four crews are all mathematically capable of winning the overall title.
Reis and Chianca will be the clear outsiders however, as they both need a miracle if they want to enshrine their name to NASCAR Hall of Fame’s International wing.
The Challenge division follows a similar story. Leader Victor Andrade – who led with 296 points – has a chance to strike back on Martelli because he has a 41 point lead to the newly crowned Brazilian champion.
Backes and Tozzo sat in third and fourth with a gap of 76 and 88 points to catch. A perfect weekend at the 0.776 mile oval is a must for Backes and Tozzo to give them a sniff at the overall Challenge title.
Disclaimer: Credits for all photos are listed underneath each image.
Last Updated: 26 November 2024