Jorge Martelli took a surprise victory in Race 2 at Campo Grande after beating Thiago Camilo in an epic drag race to the checkered flag.
Sunday was only the second day of the 2025 NASCAR Brasil Series season, but they have provided fans with a spectacle to remember. Challenge driver Jorge Martelli made a huge surprise by beating Thiago Camilo in a drag race to the line to claim his first win of 2025.
It is Martelli’s second overall win in the series, having achieved his maiden win at Goiânia in 2024. The win at Campo Grande is also Martelli’s first on a road course.
Martelli and Camilo’s drag race in Race 2 was very much the definition of a quintessential NASCAR finish. Both drivers gave everything that they had and even rubbed wheels as they pushed their machines to the absolute limit.
“Now I’ve increased the size of the knife!” said Martelli in Victory Lane, in reference to Brenda Balista’s sharp weapons analogy at the start of their post-race interview.
“I’m very happy. We’re hanging out with the big names. For me, it’s already gratifying to be hanging out with them, let alone winning!”
Martelli’s victory was made possible thanks in part to a very late restart. A late caution was triggered after Tito Giaffone crashed into his fellow rookie Alfredinho Ibiapina.
The driver of the No. 87 Ellix / Ferticel Camaro kept himself in touch with the leaders when they made contact on the penultimate lap.
Camilo ran into the back of pole sitter Caca Bueno as they entered Turn 6. The contact sent Bueno’s No. 0 Bet Nacional Camaro into the path of long-time leader Gabriel Casagrande.
This contact caused both drivers to go out of control and into the grass. Bueno kept his car running, but Casagrande was forced to retire after the reigning champion had terminal tire damage.
An unofficial winning margin of 0.027 seconds was recorded by Martelli and Camilo’s drag race to the line. However, Camilo incurred the wrath of the stewards and the 40-year old received a 20-second time penalty for his transgression.
While incredibly dramatic, this would not be NASCAR Brasil’s closest ever finish had the results stand. That goes to Kiko Porto’s win at the Goiânia oval in 2023. Porto held off Leo Torres by just 0.003 seconds on that day.
There’s more drama post-race as initial third place finisher Julio Campos also received a 20-second penalty. Campos received the penalty after he barged Vitor Genz on the final restart.
All of the penalties meant that it’s Antonio Junqueira who was classified in second. This is Junqueira’s first podium in more than a year, having last achieved a podium in that 2023 Goiania weekend.
In an unexpected plot twist, Genz finds himself on the podium in third. Genz dropped as far down as 11th after his contact with Campos, bur recovered to snatch some important championship points.
Raphael Teixeira was fourth, missing out on a podium by just 0.042 seconds. Witold Ramasauskas was fifth with Guilherme Backes, Felipinho Tozzo and Adalberto Baptista following behind.
Leo Torres and Galid Osman completed the top-10, but only just after they both received a 10-second penalty. Torres received his penalty after making contact with Baptista. The collision sent Torres’ No. 2 Maxon Oil Ford into a massive wheelie, but somehow neither car was terminally damaged.
Osman was penalized for an incident in the opening lap, where he pushed Cayan Chianca into the grass. Ironically, that contact actually resulted with Osman as the loser because he was forced to take a longer detour compared to Chianca.
Chianca’s race sadly ended in another DNF, with his car dying at the halfway mark. Camilo and Campos’ penalties left them in 11th and 12th, just barely within the boundaries of points paying positions.
Another driver that have plenty of issues is Rubens Barrichello. Barrichello’s race went bad after only a few hundred meters. His No. 91 Fini Ford died before the field had even crossed the front straight start line.
Unsurprisingly, this necessitated the calling of the Safety Car. Barrichello successfully refired his car, but it kept performing in a bad condition. “Rubinho” ultimately finished in 15th as the last finisher, 57 seconds behind Martelli.
Outside of Ibiapina, Casagrande and Chianca, six other drivers also retired. Mechanical issues took Nick Monteiro, Gianluca Petecof, Victor Andrade and Thiago Lopes out of the race, while Marcel Jorand and Gabryel Romano were eliminated after they crashed into each other during the final restart.
Championship Standings
Brasil Series’ re-adoption of a proper overall championship standings resulted in drivers from both the main division and Challenge mixing it up after Campo Grande, as the series had hoped for.
Genz’s Race 1 win and Race 2 podium, coupled with 3 Superpole points, placed him in the lead with 44 points. Challenge leader Martelli is a close second, trailing Genz by just four points.
Junqueira’s podium propelled him to third place, making it two Challenge drivers inside the top-3. Casagrande’s DNF left him down in fourth, 24 points behind Genz. Casagrande is tied in points with Backes, but the champion is ahead due to a better best finishing position.
Barrichello, Torres, Teixeira, Ramasauskas and Tozzo completed the top-10. The pairing of Campos and Alex Seid – the other reigning champion – is eleventh. Osman, Ibiapina, Baptista, Bueno, Giaffone, Chianca, Camilo and Monteiro completed the rest of the standings.
Disclaimer: Credits for all photos are listed underneath each image.