Thomas Toffel claimed both STROM Watches Pole Awards, but not pole position itself after the Swiss was penalized post-qualifying for ride height irregularities.
Record times continued to tumble in the NASCAR Euro Series as the new specification Hoosier tires helped the drivers to beat the Autodromo Vallelunga Qualifying lap records that stood since the COVID-19 years.
However, the new lap records – achieved by Nelson Piquet Jr. and Thomas Toffel in V8GP and OPEN respectively – only made up a small part of the Qualifying drama.
Toffel stormed through to become the first driver since Vladimiros Tziortzis to clinch the Pole Award in both classes during the same weekend, but the Swiss was not able to start from pole position.
After Qualifying, Toffel’s No. 34 ERGON Project Camaro was found to be 2 millimeters below the minimum ride height on the front-right side. It was a minor infraction, but it was enough for the Swiss to be demoted two places for the start of Saturday’s races.
EuroNASCAR V8GP Qualifying Recap
Alon Day had been holding the overall lap record for EuroNASCAR stock cars at Vallelunga since 2021, the year where Vallelunga hosted the season finale. That year, the Israeli set a lap time of 1:40.041 that was unbeaten for the next four seasons.
The new spec Hoosier’s changed everything in 2026, as three drivers – Nelson Piquet Jr., Thomas Toffel and Thomas Krasonis – set a Q1 lap time that went below Day’s record.
Piquet Jr. was the fastest out of the three, setting a lap time of 1:39.667 that became the new stock car lap record at the 4.085 kilometer circuit.
However, Piquet Jr. later admitted that he used his tires too early. While everyone was not able to maintain the record breaking pace in Q2 and Superpole, Piquet Jr’s early tire problems gave the chance for others to pounce.
Toffel managed to beat the Brazilian to get his first V8GP Pole Award, but the aforementioned post-qualifying inspection issues left him down in third instead.
Pole position itself went to Krasonis, who had qualified second with a Superpole time of 1:40.227. Piquet Jr. was promoted from third to second, giving the Brazilian his first NASCAR front row start since the 2012 Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix.
Toffel would start alongside championship leader Vittorio Ghirelli with Garrett Lowe completing the top-5. Gianmarco Ercoli, Paul Jouffreau, Fabrizio Armetta, Vinnie Meskelis and Martin Doubek rounded the list of Superpole qualifiers.
Jordan O’Brien was a surprise omission from the list of Superpole qualifiers. The driver who’s second in the championship entering Vallelunga was only 12th fastest. He qualified right in front of Gil Linster on his V8GP debut.
Brenna Schubert joined the race as a last-minute entry for Academy Motorsport. Schubert qualified 25th, ahead of André Lortie – 18 seconds off the pace this time around – and Sven van Laere, who is still affected by the No. 73 team’s engine issues on Friday.
V8GP Q1 Results | V8GP Q2 Results | V8GP Superpole Results
EuroNASCAR OPEN Qualifying Recap
Thomas Toffel might not be able to start from pole position in EuroNASCAR OPEN due to his penalty, the Race Art Technology driver is still credited as the new fastest driver in the division at Vallelunga.
Toffel set a lap time of 1:40.276 in Superpole that broke the previous record of 1:40.574, set by Tobias Dauenhauer during the first Vallelunga EuroNASCAR round in 2020.
Raphaël Lessard inherited pole position from Toffel despite qualifying 0.538 seconds behind the Swiss driver in Superpole. Vladimiros Tziortzis also gained a place from Toffel’s misfortune, giving the Cypriot his first front row start since Paul Ricard.
Trophy leaders Sandro Tavartkiladze (Master) and Claudio Remigio Cappelli (Legend) completed the top-5 results. The Georgian and the Italian were separated by only 0.04 seconds.
Gil Linster and Martin Doubek filled the sixth and seventh positions ahead of Beitske Visser, the fastest Lady Trophy driver. Melvin de Groot in ninth was the last of the classified Superpole finishers.
Thomas Dombrowski had been due to also compete after he qualified second in Q1, but mechanical issues prevented the Frenchman from setting a lap in Superpole.
Jens Beeusaert in 11th missed out on a Superpole spot by just 0.059 seconds. Kenko Miura was 13th in his first EuroNASCAR Qualifying since Paul Ricard. Marc-Antoine D’Amour, the Challenge Canada champion, was 19th on his EuroNASCAR debut.
Davide Frulio was 22nd on his first EuroNASCAR OPEN appearance of the season. Even though Frulio had raced at Paul Ricard, he is considered as a non-championship driver for OPEN because his Paul Ricard appearance came in the V8GP division.
OPEN Qualifying Results | OPEN Superpole Results
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