With a dominating performance in the Michelin 75, Frederic Gabillon (#3 Tepac RDV Compétition Ford Mustang) grabbed his third win of the season, the eighth of his NASCAR career and the fourth at Tours Speedway, sweeping the French weekend.
“Fantastic! This is how we wanted to close the regular season. It was a tough race because every caution erased my advantage,” said the Frenchman. “It was a great weekend, with RDV Competition we did a great job as a team and now we must focus on the playoffs. No mistakes allowed from now on. It will be really important to finish all the races and be at the front.”
Gabillon started from the pole and after an early caution was able to pull away from the rest of the field, building a gap that went up to 3 seconds as the Uzès-native swftly navigated through lapped traffic. Behind him, a tight battle for second involved Riccardo Geltrude (#7 Double-T by Nocentini Ford Mustang), Thomas Ferrando (#37 Knauf Racing Team Ford Mustang), Anthony Kumpen (#24 PK Carsport Chevrolet SS), Nicolò Rocca (#56 CAAL Racing Chevrolet SS) and Alon Day (#54 CAAL Racing Chevrolet SS).
Gabillon’s advantage disappeared when a spin by Gian Maria Gabbiani (#12 Virgin Radio Double-T by Nocentini Ford Mustang) triggered a caution on lap 62. A contact in the following restart with 5 laps to go sent Geltrude spinning while he was trying to hold on to the second place and led to a Green-White-Checkered finish. Gabillon mastered the restart once again and took the checkered flag with a .569 seconds advantage on Ferrando, who had the better hand on Rocca for second overall and for first in the Junior “Jerome Sarran” Trophy classification. The Italian on the other hand scored his first podium finish of the 2016 season ahead of Day and Kumpen, who rounded out the top-5.
Wilfried Boucenna (#73 Knauf Racing Team Ford Mustang), Freddy Nordstrom (#44 CAAL Racing Chevrolet SS), Bert Longin (#11 PK Carsport Chevrolet SS), Riccardo Geltrude (#7 Double-T by Nocentini Ford Mustang) and Ulysse Delsaux (#31 McDonald’s RDV Compétition Ford Mustang) completed the top-10, with Delsaux posting his first fastest lap of the race in the ELITE 1 Division.
Gabillon will lead a tight battle for the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series Championship entering the playoffs on September 17-18 at Adria Raceway. The Italian track will host the NWES Semi Finals, awarding double points, for the first time.
