Tours Motor Speedway - ELITE 1 MICHELIN 75
VILARINO NOTCHES 20TH CAREER WIN
Takes Third Of The Season, Increases Points Lead
Tours Speedway, France - June 28, 2015 - Ander Vilarino (#2 TFT-Banco Santander Chevrolet SS) consolidated his points lead ahead of the 2015 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series playoffs by scoring a dominant win on the .403-miles of Tours Speedway. The Spaniard notched his third win of the season and the 20th of his NASCAR career and the second at Tours Speedway by beating Frederic Gabillon (#3 Tepac RDV Compétition Ford Mustang) and Saturday’s race winner Nicolò Rocca (#56 CAAL Racing Chevrolet SS).
PHOTO - CREDITS: NASCAR WHELEN EURO SERIES /STEPHANE AZEMARD
Vilarino started from the pole and brilliantly defended his position through three restarts to lead from flag to flag in the MICHELIN 75. Gabillon – who posted the fastest lap of the race – and Rocca never had the chance to put pressure on the two-time champion and settled for second and third under the checkered flag. The Italian took the win the Junior “Jerome Sarran” Trophy.
“This is amazing! I have to thank my team, they did an unbelievable job! Frederic Gabillon’s done the fastest lap but my car was a bit faster on long runs,” said Vilarino. “Congrats to him and to Nicolo, who had a really good week-end. This is the best way to go to the summer break. I’m over the moon! Thanks to TFT.”
At the end of an interesting battle with Romain Iannetta (#7 TFT Chevrolet SS) and Philipp Lietz (#67 GDL Racing Ford Mustang) that saw his repeatedly trying to exploit the outside line, 2014 race winner Mathias Lauda (#66 DF1 Racing Chevrolet SS) ended up a positive fourth ahead of Lietz, who took the win in the Challenger Trophy. Iannetta, Eddie Cheever III (#51 CAAL Racing Chevrolet SS), Alon Day (#54 CAAL Racing Chevrolet SS), Anthony Kumpen (#24 PK Carsport Chevrolet SS) and Wilfried Boucenna (#37 Knauf Racing Team Ford Mustang) completed the top-10.
The race saw three caution periods: the first one for debris, the second for a contact involving Kumpen and Bert Longin (#11 PK Carsport Chevrolet SS), who also ended up in the episode that triggered the third and final yellow flag of the day.
By winning today, Vilarino increased his points lead on Cheever to 29 points before heading to Magione, Italy for the first round of the playoffs on September 12-13. Gabillon sits in third 41 points back and leads Iannetta, Rocca, Kumpen and Lietz, who is first in the Challenger Trophy.
GDL Racing’s #67 Ford Mustang, driven by Philipp Lietz, leads the Teams standings.
ABOUT NASCAR WHELEN EURO SERIES
The NASCAR Whelen Euro Series was founded in 2008 and established the NASCAR official European Series in January 2012 thanks to a long-term partnership signed with NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing), Team FJ, a Motorsports company located in Blois, France, and Whelen Engineering as title sponsor of the Series.The season is made up of 24 races, equally split among ELITE 1 and ELITE 2 divisions, on the best European tracks. Euro NASCAR introduced a stunning innovation on July 7-8, 2012 by organizing the first ever NASCAR race on an oval track in Europe on a half-mile speedway built in the downtown of Tours (France). With four races in two days, these 400 HP V8 monsters provide pure racing action and thrilling bumper-to-bumper battles as well as a lot of family fun around the track! In the pure NASCAR tradition, race fans can get closer to the action than ever and feel the unique in Europe paddock atmosphere thanks to drivers, teams and cars always available for the spectators.The series attracts drivers from all over the world, all willing to fight on track for the win and take the first step towards becoming a NASCAR star in the U.S.
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NASCAR WHELEN EURO SERIES • RD 2152, Les Grands Champs - 4100 Saint Denis sur Loire, France • Phone: +33 2.54.45.54.45 • email: info@euronascar.com • website:
http://www.euronascar.com • Twitter: @EuroNASCAR • Facebook: EuroNASCAR
PR MANAGER: GIAN LUCA GUIGLIA • Phone: +39 393 817 9546 • email: gguiglia@euronascar.com • Twitter: @gian_138
Linkback: https://www.canadianracingonline.com/smf/index.php?topic=21358.msg113837#msg113837
