Alon Day (#54 CAAL Racing Chevrolet SS) started from the pole and led every lap to grab the checkered flag in an eventful ELITE 1 Round 2 at the Circuit De La Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo to celebrate CAAL Racing’s 40th anniversary in motorsport. The Tel-Aviv-native fought off every attach brought by Anthony Kumpen (#24 PK Carsport Chevrolet SS) and Frederic Gabillon (#3 Tepac RDV Compétition Ford Mustang) in a race that saw an incredibly tight battle for the lead.
“This one was the hardest win of my life,” said the driver of the #54 CAAL Racing Chevrolet, who won for the fourth time in the last six NASCAR Whelen Euro Series and also led the Junior “Jerome Sarran” classification. “I knew Fred and Anthony were faster than me, the pressure was incredibly high but we managed to win anyway and it is a fantastic feeling!”
All drivers pushed their cars to the limit from the first lap as Day kept the lead at the start, closely followed by Kumpen, Gabillon, Borja Garcia (#1 SPV Racing Ford Mustang), Nicolò Rocca (#56 CAAL Racing Chevrolet SS) and Gianmarco Ercoli (#9 Double-T by Nocentini Ford Mustang).
A Contact between the two italians on lap 4 resulted in the first yellow flag of the race,a spin in the gravel for Rocca and a drive through for Ercoli. On the following restart, Gabillon was able to squeeze by Kumpen and close the gap on Day, but the Israeli driver closed every door until the following caution, triggered by Carlo Forte’s car stopped in turn 1 on lap 12, bunched up the field again. The ensuing restart saw a contact in the back of the field result in a crash that made a quick clean up impossible and forced the race control to wave the checkered flag with the safety car in front of the leader.
Alon Day, Frederic Gabillon, Borja Garcia, Kumpen and Wilfried Boucenna (#73 Knauf Racing Team Ford Mustang) in top form ended up in the top-5, while Freddy Nordstrom took sixth place ahead of Florian Renauer (#5 Dexwet Renauer Team Ford Mustang) and Bert Longin (#11 PK Carsport Chevrolet SS). Simone Monforte (#88 DF1 Racing Team Chevrolet SS) came from the back of the field to score his second career top-10. Eric De Docker (#98 Motorsport 98 Ford Mustang) led the Challenger Trophy classification by finishing eleventh.
“That’s racing. Sometimes you are a faster than the leader bu t you don’t get the chance to make a move for the lead,” said Gabillon. “I am happy anyway, because we had a perfect car and this is definitely my best start of the season since I joined the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series. We’re in good shape!”
Mathias Lauda (#66 DF1 Racing Team Chevrolet SS) and Brandon Gdovic (#46 PK Carsport Chevrolet SS) were involved in a contact for which the Austrian was penalized with a drive through. They ended up respectively 14th and 25th.
Kumpen leaves Valencia leading the championship with a two-points margin on Day and four points on Garcia and Gabillon.
The NASCAR Whelen Euro Series heads now to the Netherlands, where Raceway Venray will host the second event of the season – the first on an oval – on May 15-16.
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