Gianmarco Ercoli held the pain from a broken finger to score a stunning win in the regular season finale for V8GP at Autodrom Most.
Sometimes, life throws you a curveball at the most unexpected moments. For Gianmarco Ercoli, one of those moments came at this year’s NASCAR GP Czech Republic.
Unbeknownst to viewers at the time, Ercoli broke his finger after he made a seemingly innocuous contact with Thomas Toffel at the start of EuroNASCAR V8GP Race 2.
Rather than giving up, Ercoli pressed on. In one of the most heroic drives EuroNASCAR has ever seen, Ercoli bravely held on for 17 laps and managed the pain like a boss.
Ercoli’s efforts were rewarded with his second victory in the 2026 season. Despite his agony, he never once surrendered his lead to Toffel, who pressed the Italian hard to try and grab his first win in the top class.
It was a drive worthy of his level as a former EuroNASCAR champion, further solidifying his status as one of the bravest competitors in the world of stock car racing.
“I did make a little mistake in the first corner,” said Ercoli in the Victory Lane. “I touched Toffel and I think I broke my finger, but I’m happy with the result.”
“A win before the home race is really good for me. I told you before the start that the car is perfect, and it was the case from the start to the end.”
Toffel tied his career best V8GP finish in second, but it was by far the Race Art Technology’s biggest chance at a maiden top class victory.
The battle for third place saw a lot of unpredictability, with numerous contenders dropping out due to the technical issues that they experienced.
Saturday’s winner Jordan O’Brien dropped out from the lead after his throttle got jammed due to debris getting inside his Hendriks Motorsport machine.
O’Brien managed to rejoin, but he was running two laps down at that point. The American was classified 18th in the final results.
PK Carsport driver Thomas Krasonis inherited third, but he retired not long after O’Brien’s unscheduled stop due to a rear axle failure.
Vittorio Ghirelli was the next in line, but he was not able to capitalize on his teammate’s misfortune. The reigning champion suffered a late puncture on his No. 24 Rellumix Camaro, resulting in his first DNF of the season.
With Ghirelli out, that left Fabrizio Armetta and Garrett Lowe in contention for the final podium position. Armetta tried his best to keep Lowe at bay, but in the end the Club Competition owner/driver was unable to resist the pressure put by his Bremotion rival.
Lowe took the podium spot away in the final corner, securing his first podium since the season opener at Valencia. Armetta and Doubek completed the top-5 ahead of Vinnie Meskelis, Paul Jouffreau, Logan Bearden, Nelson Piquet Jr. and Jack Davidson.
Four other drivers joined the PK Carsport duo in the list of retirements. Mechanical issues took out Brenna Schubert, Andre Lortie and Julien Rehberg early, while Giovanni Cartechini spun out of the race on lap 8.
V8GP Race 2 Results
EuroNASCAR V8GP Championship Standings
Vittorio Ghirelli’s retirement from Race 2 came at a perfect time. With this result dropped, Ghirelli will enter the EuroNASCAR Playoffs as the V8GP championship leader with 253 points to his name.
The 32-year olds holds a reasonable 24 point lead to Jordan O’Brien, who maintains his runner-up spot in the championship thanks to his maiden win on Saturday.
Dropped points greatly benefit Martin Doubek as he’s allowed to drop his DNS from Valencia. The Czech points now has 216 points, level with the points tally scored by Junior Trophy overall leader Garrett Lowe.
However, Doubek lost the tiebreaker to Lowe for third in the standings. Lowe has a best result of one second place in Valencia, while Doubek’s best finish so far was a pair of thirds.
Paul Jouffreau rounded out the top-5 ahead of his Junior Trophy rivals Thomas Krasonis, Jack Davidson and Vinnie Meskelis. Nelson Piquet Jr. was ninth with Challenger Trophy leader Logan Bearden having just enough for an overall top-10 spot.
Gianmarco Ercoli’s double DSQ from Brands Hatch left him in 14th overall with 176 points. The Alumitec Racing star driver now has a 77 points deficit to Ghirelli.
EuroNASCAR V8GP Championship Standings
Disclaimer: Credits for all photos are listed underneath each image.