Nicolo Rocca and Giorgio Maggi grab first ever Most pole positions

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Nicolo Rocca grabbed his fifth career pole position in Euro NASCAR’s debut at Autodrom Most in the Czech Republic. Four years and two days after his last one, the Italian clocked a 1:41.431 lap in Superpole, securing the best starting position for ELITE 1 Round 7. In ELITE 2, championship leader Giorgio Maggi took his maiden NWES pole with a fantastic 1:41.339 lap, making it eight different polemen in the first four events of the 2019 season.

ELITE 1 RESULTS: Q1 | SUPERPOLE

Rocca is fighting for the 2019 NWES title and Junior Trophy win on his PK Carsport Chevrolet Camaro in the ELITE 1 Division. In his very first outing on the Czech track, he was just a blink of an eye faster than Loris Hezemans, who ended up second by a mere 0.032 seconds. Rocca became the fourth different ELITE 1 pole sitter in the 2019 NWES season.

“Since yesterday I had a great feeling with the car on this beautiful track,” said Rocca. “I woke up this morning and was just thinking about grabbing this pole position. I knew we had the car to make it happen. The PK Carsport guys worked incredibly well the whole season and we start giving them back good results. I was fast and did a good lap, which was enough for grabbing the pole. I’m very happy. It will be a challenging and hot race, but I’m not to worried. I will give my best to bring home a good result today.”

While Hezemans came just a little bit short after being fastest in Q1, championship leader and two-time NWES champion Alon Day was third with a gap of 0.382 seconds from the pole. The Israeli had a moment in Q1 when he went a little wide in the grass while pushing his CAAL Racing Chevrolet to the limit.
    
Rocca’s teammate Stienes Longin, who sits second in the ELITE 1 Division standings, ended up fourth by clocking a 1:41.972 lap in Superpole. Jacques Villeneuve showed a promising pace in Qualifying but couldn’t reach his full potential in Superpole and will start from fifth position. The Canadian was happy with the performance of his Go Fas Racing Chevrolet and sees more opportunities for the races.

Lucas Lasserre finished a positive sixth ahead of Thomas Ferrando, who is racing for CAAL Racing at the NASCAR GP Czechia this weekend. The Frenchman posted his best result since the season opener and edged Sebastiaan Bleekemolen, who advanced to Superpole for the very first time in his NWES career. Francesco Sini entered Superpole once again and was ninth ahead of Christophe Bouchut, who is back in Euro NASCAR with Alex Caffi Motorsport.

Henri Tuomaala also was among the top-12 qualifiers, securing the eleventh position on the grid. That makes him the fastest Challenger Trophy driver in ELITE 1 Division at the 4.222 kilometer long Autodrom Most. Brands Hatch race winner Frederic Gabillon was twelfth. Three-time NWES champion and Valencia double race winner Ander Vilarino only ended up 15th quickest.

Maggi on point in the ELITE 2 Division

Giorgio Maggi captured his first ever NWES pole position in Czechia and became the fourth different ELITE 2 pole sitter of the 2019 season. The Swiss driver clocked a blistering fast lap in 1:41.339 minutes and inflicted a 0.799 seconds gap to three-time race winner Lasse Soerensen. Maggi’s lap would have granted him the pole in ELITE 1 Division.

ELITE 2 RESULTS: Q1 | SUPERPOLE

“It was very close on the track, but it was a very good lap,” said Maggi. “I’m a little bit surprised about myself, to be honest. For sure I will give my best to grab my second win here today, but it will be tricky in the first corner, as the straight is very long. We have to break the cars down hard, so we’ll see what happens.”

Soerensen, who sits fifth in points, edged Andre Castro by just 0.003 seconds. The top-3 also mirrors the Rookie Trophy classification.

Local hero Martin Doubek, who is back after a knee injury, put a smile on the faces of his thousands of fans by finishing fourth ahead of Advait Deodhar, who is looking to improve his current third place in the ELITE 2 overall standings.

Racing for PK Carsport this weekend, current points runner-up Vittorio Ghirelli finished sixth ahead of Jesse Vartiainen and Alessandro Brigatti, who both produced their best qualifying effort of the season. Eric De Doncker was the fastest Legend Trophy driver in ninth place in Superpole, while Valencia race winner Nicholas Risitano closed the top-10.

It was a tough session for Pierluigi Veronesi, who will start eleventh in the ELITE 2 Round 7. Justin Kunz was only able to secure the twelfth position. US NASCAR driver Myatt Snider missed Superpole for the very first time this year ending up 15th on the grid.

The NASCAR Whelen Euro Series will be back in action with ELITE 1 Round 7, scheduled for 1:25 pm CEST, while the ELITE 2 race will take place at 4:45 pm CEST. All races will be streamed live on Fanschoice.tv, the Euro NASCAR YouTube and Facebook page, Motorsport.tv and a vast network of websites and social media pages from around the world.

NWES PR

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