SpeedHouse driver Yann Cristovao was crowned as Rookie Challenge’s new “overall winner” after he secured back-to-back round wins.
The first of the 2026 NASCAR Euro Series champions were crowned on the opening day of the Finals. Yann Cristovao secured the 2026 Rookie Challenge title after he brought home his #4 Steelduxx Ford Mustang to the Victory Lane for the second time in his career.
Cristovao topped the first timed session and finished third in the second, giving the Frenchman enough points to win the Zolder round with 78 points.
He was followed by Henrik Peters, who returned to the podium for the first time since Paul Ricard. Peters scored 74 points after winning the second session. Cristovao’s closest title rival Sandro Kajaia secured third place with 71 points scored.
Jacob Parry grabbed two runner-up finishes in the timed sessions, but the Welshman’s decision to go with a lower target time deprived him from crucial bonus points. Parry, a two-time round winner in 2026, finished fourth as a result.
Finishing fifth is Kolkhi GRT’s race engineer Davit Arjevanidze. Arjevanidze, who is also a rally competitor in the Georgian championship, was given the opportunity by Kolkhi to make his stock car debut in the No. 8 Casongo Toyota.
Another debutant in Harry Turunen came home sixth. Turunen entered the Finals as part of his plans to make a full-time Rookie Challenge move in 2027.
Nicole Davidson, Nuno Caetano, Andreas Kuchelbacher and Gianni Lasserre completed the top-10 positions. Francesco Ciccio Savoia finished 11th as the replacement for Robin Bleekemolen, who chose to skip the Finals to focus on her karting championship aspirations.
The results from Zolder gave Cristovao a final tally of 382 points in the standings. The Speedhouse driver finished 19 points clear from Kajaia with Parry clinching third overall with 335 points.
Peters, Kuchelbacher, Caetano, Davidson, Lasserre and Ghazarian completed the list of full-time contenders in the championship standings.
Arjevanidze, Turunen and Savoia’s appearances brought the number of part-timers up to 15. This resulted in the most diverse Rookie Challenge field to date, with a total of 24 drivers competing for points throughout the season.
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