NASCAR Whelen Euro: Vilarino takes second win of the season
Anthony Kumpen leads the championship standings
Sunday ELITE race Ander Vilarino
Jean-Philippe Legrand
The thousands of fans gathered at Brands Hatch for the second edition of the American SpeedFest enjoyed an astounding performance by 2-time NASCAR Whelen Euro Series Champion Ander Vilarino (#2 TFT-Banco Santander Chevrolet SS, in photo from a previous race), who won for the second time this season leading every lap of the ELITE 1 Sunday Race after starting from the pole position. Anthony Kumpen (#24 PK Carsport Chevrolet SS) finished second and took the championship lead.
This is Vilarino’s 15th career win in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series and the 4th on the Brands Hatch Indy Circuit: “I’m very happy for this win! I want to thank all the #2 TFT-Banco Santader team because they gave me a great car,” said the Spaniard. “It’s great to win here in the UK, in front of so many passionate fans. I definitely want to continue this way for the rest of the season”.
Vilarino had a very good start but it wasn’t easy for him. He had to push very hard to build a 2.5 seconds advantage over Anthony Kumpen (#24 PK Carsport Chevrolet SS) in the first part of the 25-minutes race. The yellow flag waved with less than 8 minutes to go when William Ayer Jr. (#52 Flag Racing Chevrolet Camaro) found himself in the gravel at Paddock Hill Bend. The following restart saw Vilarino maintain the lead ahead of Kumpen and Christophe Bouchut (#77 DF-1 Racing by B66 Chevrolet Camaro) – the Frenchman passed Borja Garcia (#1 Ford Autolix Competition Ford Mustang) on lap 18 – but the race was neutralized again due to a contact at the first corner involving Mathias Lauda (#66 DF-1 Racing by B66 Chevrolet Camaro), yesterday’s winner Eddie Cheever III (#51 CAAL Racing Chevrolet SS) and Romain Iannetta (#23 RDV Compétition - Mc Donald's Chevrolet SS).
Vilarino took the checkered flag, followed by Kumpen and Bouchut. Garcia finished fourth while Bas Leinders (#32 RCP - Marc VDS Toyota Camry) had the better hand in a nail-biting battle for fifth place edging Frederic Gabillon (#12 Still Racing Chevrolet Camaro), Fabrizio Armetta (#31 CAAL Racing Chevrolet SS) and Nicolò Rocca (#25 CAAL Racing Chevrolet SS). Markus Palttala (#46 RCP - Marc VDS Toyota Camry) and Anthony Gandon (#7 TFT-Red Line Chevrolet SS) completed the top-10.
Rocca won the Jerome Sarran Trophy classification ahead of Gandon and Simone Monforte (#88 Euro Kart Racing Team Chevrolet Camaro), while Armetta climbed the top spot of the podium in the Challenger Trophy, preceding Dominic Tiroch (#86 TB Renauer Motorsport Ford Mustang) and Cassiano Rodrigues (#82 Brazil Team Chevrolet SS).
The next ELITE 1 race will take at the Tours Speedway, the half-mile oval built in downtown Tours that every year hosts the Daytona 500 of the European NASCAR Championship.
NASCAR Whelen Euro
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