Vittorio Ghirelli, Paul Jouffreau and Gianmarco Ercoli will enter the EuroNASCAR Finals as the primary contenders for the 2025 championship title.
Three drivers are heading to this weekend’s NASCAR Euro Series Finals at Circuit Zolder with a strong chance at winning the championship in EuroNASCAR PRO.
Vittorio Ghirelli, Paul Jouffreau and Gianmarco Ercoli were leading the headlines over the course of the 2025 season. It is these three that will enter the Finals with the biggest chance to win it all.
For Ghirelli and Ercoli, they are on a quest to win their second top class titles in EuroNASCAR. Jouffreau is gunning for his first EuroNASCAR PRO crown.
Ghirelli, the reigning EuroNASCAR PRO champion, is currently leading the championship with 382 points. He has a record of three wins, four podiums and three pole positions with the No. 24 PK Carsport Chevrolet Camaro.
Ghirelli’s road to the 2025 Finals has been trickier when compared to 2024. Last year, Ghirelli entered the Finals with a comfortable lead after scoring six wins and a then-record nine pole positions. A seventh win and extending his pole positions record to eleven allowed Ghirelli to clinch the championship with relative ease.
The same can’t be said for 2025, as his rivals caught up from the get go. Wins in Vallelunga, Most and Oschersleben followed, but a mechanical retirement in Czechia and a first-lap pile-up in Oschersleben – both happening on the Saturday race – kept the gap tight.
Oschersleben’s pile-up in particular left Ghirelli with a sore mood after race control determined post-race that he was the one guilty for starting the incident.
An angered Ghirelli then vowed to dominate Sunday’s race, and it was a promise that he delivered. This fueled the 31-year old’s passion even more and now, he only has one goal: Retain his championship crown at the Finals.
“I was angry after Saturday’s penalty [in Oschersleben],” said Ghirelli through social media. “I said I’d win, and I did on Sunday. But that was just one battle. The war’s not over. Bring on the Zolder Finals.”
Paul Jouffreau is second in the championship, only four points behind Ghirelli. The 2023 EuroNASCAR OPEN champion continues his chase for the PRO title with RDV Competition.
2025 continued Jouffreau’s consistent runs at the top of the field. He was the early leader in EuroNASCAR PRO after two wins in Valencia and Vallelunga. However, engine issues in Brands Hatch and a lack of pace at Most left him trailing at the start of the Playoffs.
Oschersleben was where things changed for the better. Jouffreau barely avoided the first lap carnage on Saturday and ran steady behind Ghirelli on Sunday to collect a lot of points in the championship.
After a long journey to the top, the Frenchman is ready to put his past demons behind and show the world that he’s ready to become the new face of the sport.
“From 2016 to now, it has been a shared adventure,” Jouffreau’s PR team posted on social media. Jouffreau declined our approach to provide a quote.
“Hundreds of names, faces, partners, friends, and fans are all gathered around one conduit: Paul’s story. Every support, every helping hand has brought us here. Paul, 21, will play for the EuroNASCAR PRO championship title. It’s a crazy dream, and maybe a historical ending for him.”
Gianmarco Ercoli is a little bit behind Ghirelli and Jouffreau in third position after a tough round in Germany. However, with only 18 points to catch, Ercoli still had a strong chance to be crowned as EuroNASCAR champion for the second time.
Ercoli embarked on a new journey for 2025 after he signed with Alain Lord Mounir’s new team Alumitec Racing in the off-season. And yet, despite this new environment, there’s still a sense of familiarity for the Italian.
Because Alumitec had technical partnership with CAAL Racing by allying with the crew of CAAL’s famous No. 54 team, the people who led Ercoli to his first PRO title in 2023 are there to assist the 30-year old in his new journey.
Things started off on a difficult note at Valencia, but Brands Hatch marked the start of Ercoli and Alumitec’s turnaround for the better.
Three straight victories brought Ercoli back to contention and he led the championship alongside Ghirelli entering the Playoffs. After a successful damage limitation in Oschersleben, Ercoli is now ready to contest the title once more.
“Like every year, this championship will be decided in the final stages,” said Ercoli to World of EuroNASCAR. “We weren’t lucky in Germany, but we are very focused and pumped up for the weekend in Zolder.”
“The team has shown that it has a very good car. Now, it’s up to me to try and get it to the top. We’re not afraid to take on anyone. In fact, if I were our opponent, I wouldn’t feel comfortable because Alumitec by CAAL Racing is ready.”
Disclaimer: Credits for all photos are listed underneath each image.