After three consecutive wins in the 2021 Club Challenge season for Gordon Barnes, Federico Monto brought the Brit’s winning streak to an end. The Academy Motorsport / Alex Caffi Motorsport driver was the most consistent among seven Club Challenge entrants and scored the maximum points in both 30-minutes timed sessions in the regularity based challenge of the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series at Circuit Zolder.
Driving the #2 Academy Motorsport / Alex Caffi Motorsport EuroNASCAR FJ, Monti scored two podium finishes in the 2021 Club Challenge season so far and made it to the top at the 4-km long Limburg track for the first time this year. The Italian closed the gap from Barnes, who’s still leading the overall standings before the final round at Vallelunga in Italy. The battle for the title is on and Barnes will have to fend off the attacks brought by Monti and Paul Jouffreau when the season culminates under the Italian sun.
“We had two fantastic sessions today and for the team it could not have been a better start to the race weekend”, said Monti, who scored his second Club Challenge career win at Zolder. “We made it to the top of the podium in the Club Challenge today, because we found the best possible setup for the car. The track was wet in the first session so we tweaked the car. Despite the dry track in both timed sessions, we decided to keep the setup and that really worked well. I’m close to the championship leader in the overall standings and I’m sure it will be a phenomenal finale when we hit the track at Vallelunga.”
2017 Club Challenge Champion Andreas Kuchelbacher ended up second at the wheel of his #46 Marko Stipp Motorsport Chevrolet Camaro. The Austrian bested Not Only Motorsport’s Nicolo Gabossi, who rounded out the podium in the forests of Limburg. Jouffreau followed in fourth, while championship leader and 2021 Club Challenge dominator Barnes only finished fifth. The Brit, driving the #48 Marko Stipp Motorsport Camaro, was on his best lap in the first timed session, when the red flags were waved. In the second session, Barnes didn’t find the right rhythm in the traffic.
RDV Competition’s Jerome Mure finished sixth ahead of Simona Lenci, who completed the Club Session classification at Circuit Zolder. With double points on the line, the regularity based challenge’s championship battle will be decided at Autodromo di Vallelunga in Italy on October 30-31. Who will follow in the footsteps of 2020 Club Challenge Champion Alain Mosqueron.
NWES PR
