A dramatic Qualifying under the bright sunshine at Autodrom Most gave Gianmarco Ercoli and Martin Doubek pole position for the Saturday races in Czechia.
Qualifying at Autodrom Most proved to be a belter as surprise performances promised to shake up the competition in the 2025 NASCAR GP Czech Republic.
In EuroNASCAR PRO, brake issues for Vittorio Ghirelli opened the chance for his great rival Gianmarco Ercoli to capitalize. And capitalize Ercoli did, as he put the sole Superpole lap under 1:41 to clinch his tenth EuroNASCAR PRO career pole position.
Ercoli’s pole position represents a chance for the Italian to redeem himself after suffering from years of issues whenever he arrived at Czechia.
“I stayed on the limit,” said Ercoli after the Superpole session. “I stayed very close to the track limits and touched the kerbs all the time, but this is the difference. When you stop the timer, the difference can be big.”
“All the past years here we have had problems, crashes, and then rain like yesterday. This isn’t our track, but with a setup upgrade we managed to achieve incredible results.”
The Italian qualifies ahead of first-time front row starter Garrett Lowe. Lowe showed tremendous improvement on Saturday as he also placed the No. 99 BS+ Competition in third during Qualifying.
Martin Doubek will make the fans watch the race with excitement after he lined up third on the grid. Paul Jouffreau was fourth ahead of Thomas Krasonis, both losing the Junior Trophy battle to Lowe in Qualifying.
Fabrizio Armetta was an impressive sixth ahead of Jack Davidson. The Scotsman arrived at Most with a “new look”, having undergone a lot of work in the summer break to slim his body down.
Liam Hezemans was baffled with his lack of Qualifying pace as the 2022 EuroNASCAR OPEN only qualifies eighth, just ahead of compatriot Sebastiaan Bleekemolen and Ghirelli.
Ghirelli only managed to complete one Superpole lap before his brakes were shot halfway through the second lap. With plenty of his rivals in front of him, the road is going to be challenging for the Italian to defend his championship lead.
Michal Makeš would’ve qualified as the top Challenger Trophy driver in 12th, but a last-minute Trophy change owing to Makeš being eligible for the Junior Trophy meant that Claudio Remigio Cappelli leads the Challenger Trophy competitors in 13th overall.
EuroNASCAR PRO Qualifying & Superpole Results
Doubek’s good run of form continues in the EuroNASCAR OPEN Qualifying session. While his rivals closed the gap significantly, the double champion still had enough speed to secure pole position by 0.076 seconds.
“It was nice, but it was a pity that I didn’t do a faster lap in PRO,” said Doubek after Qualifying. “I’m only P3 in PRO, but Gimmy [Ercoli] is very fast.”
“It’s a pity that we won’t have grid walks for the OPEN race, but I will enjoy it for sure and I will do my best for the podium. There’s almost 500 people already here to support me on Saturday morning, which is nice! I hope there’ll be more for Sunday.”
Krasonis was the driver that matched Doubek’s pace the best, but Bruno Mulders in third was not that far away either.
Mulders rewarded his Team Bleekemolen mechanics with first place in Master Trophy, having almost missed out on EuroANSCAR OPEN Qualifying due to a collapsed suspension in the preceding PRO session.
Gil Linster and Melvin de Groot maintained their top-5 positions in Qualifying, with Schober completing the third row in sixth. De Groot, championship leader entering Most, also maintains his lead in the Legend Trophy classifications.
Valentino Gambarotto and Thomas Dombrowski filled the fourth row. Rounding out the top-10 is the American Jordan O’Brien and Georgian Sandro Tavartkiladze.
Fabrice Pantani finds himself with yet another Qualifying session. The Monegasque was eight seconds off the pace in 20th, but he beat Mike Wise for the position.
While Bremotion celebrated in the No. 99 side of the garage, the story couldn’t have been any more different in the No. 77 OnlyFans Camaro team.
Julien Rehberg and Vanessa “Happinessa” Neumann failed to set any lap due to engine issues, putting them in a major backfoot for Saturday’s races.
EuroNASCAR OPEN Qualifying Results
Disclaimer: Credits for all photos are listed underneath each image.