Raphaël Lessard survived a last-lap scare in EuroNASCAR OPEN Race 2 at Vallelunga to put him just 12 points away from Thomas Toffel in the championship battle.
Raphaël Lessard continued to extend his win streak over Thomas Toffel after Lessard barely held on to the win in the second Playoffs Semi-Finals race for the OPEN division.
In contrast to their previous duels, their battle in Race 2 at Autodromo Vallelunga was very heated. The big talking point came on the very last lap, where Lessard and Toffel made contact at Curva Grande – Vallelunga’s fastest and most fearsome corner.
Somehow, against all odds, neither driver crashed out of the race. Both Lessard and Toffel managed to wrestle back control of their machines, avoiding a high-speed crash that was dreaded by all parties given what happened in the 2025 NASCAR GP Italy.
This contact was not their only incident: Toffel backed out of an overtaking attempt on lap 11 after he hit Lessard’s No. 11 Alumitec Ford at Tornantino.
Lessard was critical of the contacts, but acknowledged that it was a struggle to defend from Toffel, who had the straight line advantage on his No. 34 ERGON Project Camaro.
“I’m sure Toffel was getting tired, he had so much power in the straights,” said Lessard in Victory Lane. “It’s pretty incredible, I don’t know what we’re going to have to do to find the extra horsepower.”
“I was also starting to lose power steering at the end. I slowed him down, but I was holding my lane and he can go around the outside if you’re not able to make a pass.”
“Can’t thank Alumitec Racing enough, Alain Lord Mounir for believing in me this year and we’re going to do it again in Zolder.”
Their heated duel overshadowed the battle for third place, which saw three drivers going for the right to join Lessard and Toffel in the rostrum.
Front row starter Claudio Remigio Cappelli made a great start to take the lead for the first few laps, but handling issues and an off-track moment on the last corner quickly dropped the Italian – who trimmed his beard for the second half of the season – down the order.
Sandro Tavartkiladze capitalized on Cappelli’s last corner off to go up to third, but the hot weather put a major strain on the engine of his No. 72 Wissol Toyota.
Tavartkiladze was unable to go at max power, which allowed Thomas Dombrowski to get past the Georgian on lap 9. Dombrowski held on to the podium all the way to the checkered flag, finishing 3.218 seconds behind Lessard and Toffel in the final results.
Tavartkiladze held on to fourth, which was enough for him to win the Master Trophy once again. Vladimiros Tziortzis, Gil Linster, Martin Doubek, Cappelli, Valentino Gambarotto and Melvin de Groot completed the top-10.
Gambarotto and de Groot beat Florian Richard, Lady Trophy winner Beitkse Visser, Jens Beeusaert and Dominique Schaak in a six-car scrap that dominated most of the second half of the race.
Vanessa “Happinessa” Neumann avoided a major crash at Vallelunga for the second year in a row. Vanessa was tagged by Giovanni Faraonio at the backstraight on lap 3, sending her No. 30 OnlyFans Ford into a high-speed spin that she survived.
She did, however, make an unscheduled pit stop to ensure that her car was fine to continue. Maxim van Laere also had to do an unscheduled pit stop for a blown front-right tire.
Marc-Antoine D’Amour and Kenko Miura were unable to make the start as their Race 1 contact caused weekend ending damages to their cars. Davide Frulio also failed to start after his No. 20 WiseJets FJ died on the formation lap.
OPEN Race 2 Results
EuroNASCAR OPEN Championship Standings
After a difficult start to the NASCAR Euro Series that saw both retirements and a disqualification, Raphaël Lessard has slowly but surely placed himself as the definitive contender for Thomas Toffel in the EuroNASCAR OPEN title battle.
With Lessard’s run of four consecutive wins in Czechia and Italy, the Canadian has brought his deficit to Toffel down to just 12 points with just the Finals at Circuit Zolder remaining.
Thomas Dombrowski and Gil Linster trailed behind with 372 and 357 points, which respectively are 22 and 37 points behind Toffel’s tally of 394 points.
Vladimiros Tziortzis, who is fifth with 353 points, is practically the last of the drivers to still have a decent chance at winning the EuroNASCAR OPEN title.
Legend Trophy leader Claudio Remigio Cappelli, Martin Doubek, new Master Trophy overall leader Sandro Tavartkiladze, Melvin de Groot and Florian Richard all needed a miracle at Zolder to overcome their 60, 87, 88, 93 and 119 points deficit to Toffel.
The Lady Trophy leader Beitske Visser moved up to 12th overall in spite of her retirement in Race 1. The Dutch racer now has a 23 points lead to Vanessa “Happinessa” Neumann with Mariam Davitidze a further 27 points behind.
EuroNASCAR OPEN Championship Standings
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