CAVLE, Croatia – Vittorio Ghirelli won his second consecutive race Sunday at the 4,168-kilometer Automotodrom Grobnik on the Croatian Riviera and swept the race weekend.
The Italian led all 14 laps of an exciting EuroNASCAR 2 round six with a lot of door-to-door battles and pure racing. Ghirelli also extended his championship lead.
The race started behind the safety car to allow the driver to familiarize with the damp track and all cars mounted General Tire wet control tires.
Ghirelli drove away as soon as the green flag dropped and crossed the finish line 8.594 seconds ahead of second place Martin Doubek.
“The conditions were not easy, it was slippery and wet!”, said Ghirelli, who scored his third NWES career win. “Thanks to the team Hendriks Motorsport for such a great car. I tried to get the maximum out of it every lap. I also thank my supporters and my family. I was very confident in the car today and I’m happy about leading the championship ahead of Valencia.”
The Czech started fourth and immediately put a lot of pressure on Feed Vict Racing’s Alessandro Brigatti. On lap six, Doubek managed to pass the young Italian with a fantastic manoeuvre at the wheel of his No. 7 Hendriks Motorsport Ford Mustang. On lap seven, he also got past Nicholas Risitano and then delivered another pass on lap nine for second place. Doubek finished second ahead of Ghirelli’s teammate Tobias Dauenhauer.
Dauenhauer had to settle for third after he was passed by Doubek in the battle for second. The Vallelunga double winner rounded out the overall podium, won the race in the Rookie Trophy and collected important points for the title race that will culminate in the double event at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, Spain. He also completed a 1-2-3 finish for Hendriks Motorsport.
Francesco Garisto was fourth under the checkered flag but he received a 10-second penalty at the end of the race for overtaking outside the track limits. The Marko Stipp Motorsport driver fell back to eighth, while Vladimiros Tziortzis, who was second in the Rookie Trophy, inherited fourth place.
CAAL Racing’s Dylan Derdaele ended up fifth after a solid race and completed the Rookie Trophy podium.