Yann Cristovao secured his first Rookie Challenge victory at Vallelunga and became the sole championship leader heading to the EuroNASCAR Finals.
Two drivers entered the NASCAR GP Italy as joint championship leaders in Rookie Challenge: Team Bleekemolen debutant Sandro Kajaia, who had won at Paul Ricard, and SpeedHouse sophomore driver Yann Cristovao, who has yet to win in the division.
That situation changed after Cristovao grabbed his maiden victory at Vallelunga. A first and a second place finish in the two timed sessions was enough for the Frenchman to become Rookie Challenge’s sole overall leader heading to the double points Finals at Zolder.
Choosing a target time of 1:47,000, Cristovao topped the first session after he collected just 0,194 seconds worth of penalty. He was beaten by Nicole Davidson in the second session, but the points collected was enough for Cristovao to be crowned as the round winner.
“It’s incredible!” said the driver of the No. 4 Steelduxx Ford Mustang. “It’s been a very good day and I’m very happy for my first win this season. I’m now first in the standings and I’m very happy. Thanks to my family and my sponsors, now we go to the Finals at Zolder!”
Davidson’s victory in the second session contributed to her maiden overall podium finish in Rookie Challenge. Davidson was second overall ahead of Kajaia, who finished fourth and third in the two sessions.
Gianni Lasserre, Henrik Peters, Nuno Caetano, Andreas Kuchelbacher, Robin Bleekemolen, Marc-Antoine D’Amour and Bence Varga completed the top-10.
Two-time round winner Jacob Parry experienced a major blow to his title chances as engine troubles in the No. 73 Demon Tweeks Ford kept him out of the running for most of the session.
The Welshman is now 39 points behind Cristovao, who leads the championship with 304 points. Kajaia sat in between Cristovao and Parry with 292 points to his name.
Peters and Kuchelbacher completed the overall top-5 with 256 and 253 points respectively. Davidson moved up to eighth place after her first podium finish.
NASCAR GP Italy Rookie Challenge Results
Disclaimer: Credits for all photos are listed underneath each image.