Nogaro 200 - Day 3 - Race 1
Flag-to-flag for Vilarino and Burdon!
NOGARO, France - The first two rounds of the 2013 Euro-Racing NASCAR Touring Elite and Open races took place today on the Nogaro circuit. Spaniard Ander Vilarino and Australian Josh Burdon took full advantage of their pole positions and won their races leading from start to finish. The Euro-Racecar NASCAR Series was faithful to its reputation and once again provided the many spectators with a thrilling spectacle both on the track and in the paddock. And it’s only just the beginning!
ELITE DIVISION: ANDER VILARINO CONTINUES HIS WINNING WAYS!
With the exception of the 2012 finals at Le Mans Ander Vilarino (#2 TFT-Banco Santander) always won last year when he started from pole. Today, in the Gers, bathed in Easter sunshine, the Spaniard scored his seventh victory since the Euro-Racecar has become part of the NASCAR family. Despite visibility problems due to exhaust gases he opened up a comfortable gap before the deployment of the safety car due to Carole Perrin’s accident, which reduced his lead to zero. On the restart he had no problems retaining first place.
Behind, there was a no-holds-barred battle for the last two places in the top 3. Frédéric Gabillon (#5 Rapido Racing by Still) was in an unchallenged second place, but after the neutralization he tagged Romain Ianetta (#28 RDV Compétition) and a puncture led to his retirement. Yann Zimmer (#64 Gonneau Racing-Overdrive) who was in third spot up till then with Ianetta behind him made a decisive attack on the latter on the last lap and snatched second place on his first outing at Nogaro giving him the win in the Junior category.
After Gabillion’s retirement Freddy Nordström (#44 Rapido Racing by Still) gave Eric Hélary’s team cause for joy by bagging fourth place from Guillaume Rousseau (#13 Bull Racing Team) who had made a big impression in the morning’s race in the Open Division and this afternoon won the Challenger Trophy classification. Anthony Gandon (#7 TFT-E. Leclerc) finished just outside the top five in front of his team-mate Anthony Garbarino (#3 TFT-Alpes Carrelages), Sébastien Dhouailly (#20 Scorpus Racing), Bruno Costin (#55 Pole Position 81), first in the Challenger classification, and Nicolo Rocca in the top 10 on his debut in the Euro-Racecar NASCAR.
OPEN DIVISION: JOSH BURDON’S FIRST VICTORY!
After the previous evening’s violent storms the track was still slightly damp this morning when the cars came out for the first round of the 2013 Euro-Racecar NASCAR Open Division Championship. Pole sitter Josh Burdon (#18 Scorpus Racing/Forza Motorsport) stamped his authority on the race and kept increasing his lead as he reeled off the laps. He took the flag with 6.3s in hand over Anthony Gandon (#7 TFT-E. Leclerc) who was alongside him on the grid.
There was a ding-dong battle for third place between Julien Goupy (#44 Rapido Racing by Still) and Guillaume Rousseau (#13 Bull Racing Team). It looked like Rousseau had got the better of his rival, but when they came up to lap a tail-ender the #13 driver was obliged to take to the wet grass which caused him to spin. He finally finished sixth behind Vincent Gonneau (#15 Gonneau Racing) and Sébastien Baron (#20 Scorpus Racing).
Philippine driver Enzo Pastor (#3 TFT-AlpesCarrelages/Philippines), who was making his first appearance since Brands Hatch last year, fought his way up to seventh place from Italian Gabriele Volpato (#64 Gonneau Racing-Overdrive) who made a great comeback after falling to the rear of the field at the start of the race. Then came Swiss Joaquin Gabarron (#5 Rapido Racing by Still), 1st Gentleman, and Spanish woman driver Zihara Esteban (#9 Scorpus Racing –Spirit) – six different nationalities in the top 10! To conclude, Jérôme Laurin, 14th, win Legends Trophy class.