Photo Credit: NASCAR Whelen Euro Series / Stephane Azemard
After winning the first two races of the season in Valencia, Stienes Longin (#11 PK Carsport Chevrolet SS) delivered once again at Raceway Venray by starting from the pole and leading all but one lap in ELITE 2 Race 1 of the Autospeedway American Style. The Belgian edged Thomas Ferrando (#37 Knauf Racing Team Ford Mustang) and rookie Riccardo Geltrude (#7 Double-T by Nocentini Ford Mustang) in the first Green-White-Checkered finish of the 2016 season.
“It’s crazy! I can’t believe it! I am really happy, the race went really well. At the beginning I had some pressure from the guys behind, but I was able to manage it. I was a bit disappointed when the race was stopped because I was leading and I lost all my advantage, but on restart I managed to keep the lead in the first turn and I won the race. I’m confident for tomorrow,” said Longin, who will start from the pole tomorrow for the ELITE 2 Race 2.
Hugo Bec (#3 Tepac RDV Compétition Ford Mustang) put a lot of pressure on Longin in the first part of the race, as the four leading cars, including also Ferrando and Salvador Tineo Arroyo (#54 CAAL Racing Chevrolet SS) gained some ground on the rest of the field, but Bec ended up brushing the wall in turn one on lap 21, while a contact between Gabriele Gardel (#24 PK Carsport Chevrolet SS) and Paul Guiod (#73 Knauf Racing Team Ford Mustang) that resulted in a penalty for the PK Carsport driver triggered the first caution of the race. It was then Geltrude’s turn to press Longin for the lead, as the Italian briefly led on restart before going back to second. He then made two spectacular saves exiting turn two and fell back to fourth.
The second and final yellow flag of the race was triggered by a contact between Claudio Giudice (#4 Scuderia Giudici Ford Mustang) and Paul Guiod on lap 56 and led to a Green-White-Checkered finish. The Italian was penalized for the accident and will start from the back of the field in Race 2. Longin had a perfect restart and crossed the finish line with a .476 seconds advantage on Ferrando and .808 on Geltrude, who had the better hand on Tineo Arroyo and led the Rookie Cup Classification. Renzo Calcinati (#12 Virgin Radio Double-T by Nocentini Ford Mustang) came home in fifth and led the Legend Trophy classification. Freddie Hunt (#66 DF1 Racing Team Chevrolet SS) climbed from twelfth on the grid to sixth under the checkered flag. Marko Stipp (#14 Team Raceway Venray Chevrolet SS), Marco Spinelli (#6 Double-T by Nocentini Ford Mustang), Martin Doubek (#5 Dexwet Renauer Team Ford Mustang) and Willy Gruber (#26 Dexwet Renauer Team Ford Mustang) completed the top-10.
Arianna Casoli (#8 Vict Motorsport Ford Mustang) continued her apprenticeship by finishing a solid 17th to bring home the Lady Cup Trophy.
Roman Mavlanov (#88 DF1 Racing Ford Mustang) was also penalized for aggressive driving and will start from the back of the field.
The ELITE 2 Race 2 will start at 2:50 pm CET on Monday and it will be streamed live on Fanschoice.tv.
ELITE 2 RACE 1 RESULTS | RACE CENTRAL LIVE
