Tours Motor Speedway - Qualifying
ROCCA AND DEFLANDRE ON POLE
The #56 CAAL Racing Chevrolet Monopolizes The First Row
Tours Speedway, France - June 27, 2015 - Nicolò Rocca (#56 CAAL Racing Chevrolet SS) stormed to his fourth consecutive pole position by edging teammate Eddie Cheever III (#51 CAAL Racing Chevrolet SS) in today’s ELITE 1 qualifying session by .063 seconds.
PHOTO - CREDITS: NASCAR WHELEN EURO SERIES /STEPHANE AZEMARD
The Italian driver lapped the .403-mile short track located in downtown Tours in 16.491 improving the track’s record – held by Cheever in 16.872 – by .381 seconds to mathematically bring home the 2015 Race and Win Pole Award for the ELITE 1 Division. He also led the Junior “Jerome Sarran” Trophy classification.
“I'm really happy, it's my fourth pole in a row, I was not sure to make it, but CAAL Racing did once again an outstanding job and they gave me a very competitive car,” said Rocca. “I have a good feeling with the track and my #56 Chevrolet SS and so I could push hard! After Brands Hatch I'm more concentrate on the races than on qualifying.”
2014 Tours Speedway race winner and current points leader Ander Vilarino (#2 TFT-Banco Santander Chevrolet SS) was the last to take the track in qualifying and took third place, just ahead of Alon Day (#54 CAAL Racing Chevrolet SS) and free practice leader Frederic Gabillon (#3 Tepac RDV Compétition Ford Mustang).
Bert Longin (#11 PK Carsport Chevrolet SS) ended up sixth, in front of reigning champion Anthony Kumpen (#24 PK Carsport Chevrolet SS). Gianmarco Ercoli (#9 Double T by MRT Nocentini Chevrolet Camaro), 2014 race winner Mathias Lauda (#66 DF1 Racing Chevrolet SS) and Philipp Lietz (#67 GDL Racing Ford Mustang) rounded out the top-10. The Austrian also led the Challenger Trophy classification.
All the top-6 drivers went below the previous track record and 12 drivers were separated by less than 0.5 seconds.
Deflandre Scores Maiden Pole
Rocca’s teammate Guillaume Deflandre (#56 CAAL Racing Chevrolet SS) won the ELITE 2 pole position by a mere .005 seconds on Gianmarco Ercoli (#9 Double T by MRT Nocentini Chevrolet Camaro) thanks to a 16.793 lap that granted him his maiden NASCAR pole. The 16-year-old Belgian also led the Rookie Cup.
“This is the first pole of my young career. I want to thank CAAL Racing because they gave me a fabulous car. I had to adapt quickly, now we'll try to have a good race.” said the Belgian.
Free practice leader Stienes Longin (#11 PK Carsport Chevrolet SS) was third just .043 seconds behind the leader, edging Thomas Ferrando (#37 Knauf Racing Team Ford Mustang) and Ulysse Delsaux (#3 Tepac RDV Compétition Ford Mustang). The best three drivers went below the 2014 ELITE 1 track record.
2-time French Rally vice-champion Pierre Roché (#4 TLC - Leclerc Ford Mustang) was sixth, while Salvador Tineo Arroyo (#51 CAAL Racing Chevrolet SS) ended up seventh. Eric De Doncker (#98 Insulco Motorsport 98 Ford Mustang) led the Legend Trophy classification with the 8th place on the grid and points leader Philipp Lietz (#67 GDL Racing Ford Mustang) rounded out the top-10.
The ELITE 1 KNAUF 75 will begin at 14:15 CET, while the ELITE 2 WHELEN 75 is scheduled for 19:00 CET. All the races will be streamed live on Fanschoice.tv http://bit.ly/nweslive.
Tours Speedway Live Streaming on Fanschoice.tv
All the four races from Tours Speedway will be streamed live on Fanschoice.tv http://bit.ly/nweslive with the following schedule:
Saturday June 27, 2:15 PM CET - ELITE 1 Round 7
Saturday June 27, 6:55 PM CET - ELITE 2 Round 7
Sunday June 28, 10:30 AM CET - ELITE 1 Round 8
Sunday June 28, 3:30 PM CET - ELITE 2 Round 8
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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