Frederic Gabillon, Gianmarco Ercoli score first wins of the season

Gianmarco Ercoli becomes the first ELITE 2 division champion to win in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series ELITE 1 division.

Ercoli led all the way in the action-packed race that featured a three-way battle to grab his maiden win. The Italian fended off both Marc Goossens and defending series champion Alon Day to score his first ELITE 1 division win.

Ercoli edged Goossens by just 0.162 seconds and Day by 0.651 seconds.

“It was such a hard race,” said Ercoli, who last led laps in Venray in 2016. “All the drivers behind me were very fast so I had to defend my position at every corner of every lap.

“The last lap was the hardest of all because I ran a little bit wide and left the door open for Marc. I am so happy to have grabbed my first victory in ELITE 1. It was a dream of mine to win a NASCAR race here at Brands Hatch and now we did it!”

Frederic Gabillon finished fourth with Christophe Bouchut fifth. Rounding out the top 10 were Alex Sedgwick, Martin Doubek, Lucas Lasserre, Loris Hezemans and Romain Iannetta.

Gabillion also picked up his 10th career victory during the American Speedfest races at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit in Saturday’s race.

Gabillion entered the annual American Speedfest at Brands Hatch in the points lead following the penalty handed down to Alon Day after the last event in Italy a couple of weeks ago and it appears he likes being out front.

The Frenchman led flag to flag en route to his first win of the season on Saturday in the Elite 1 division race.

Although he led every lap he had to hold off a hard-charging Goossens on two restarts to secure the win.

“It was a tough race with Marc right behind me,” said Gabillon in Victory Lane. “He was really fast and he put a lot of pressure on me. My car was quite good so I was able to keep him behind.

“I am so happy and my team did such a great job this weekend, it is a great reward for us and the work we put in the cars. It was a long race and because of the safety car it was hard to keep the tyres warm.”

Loris Hezemans finished third with Francesco Sini fourth and Anthony Kumpen rounding out the top five.

Rounding out the top 10 is sixth was Lucas Lasserre followed by Christophe Bouchut, Alex Sedgwick, Thomas Ferrando and Nicolo Rocca.

NASCAR Legend Bobby Labonte started 15th and finished 12th in his first race at the historic road course in the United Kingdom in Saturday’s race.

In ELITE 2 action, Deflandre and Venturi give their teams first NWES wins

Florian Venturi and Guillaume Deflandre both scored ELITE 2 division wins over the weekend to give their respective teams - Memphis Racing and Go Fas Racing - their inaugural wins in the series.

On Sunday, Venturi passed polesitter Guillaume Dumarey on Lap 15 and drove away to cross the finish line with a 7.6-second advantage on the Belgian, becoming the fifth different winner in six ELITE 2 races.

“I really love this circuit,” said the 17-year-old former Formula 4 driver. “It was a really hard race because Guillaume Dumarey was very fast.

“I am so exhausted but I am also so happy about the first win for me and my team. I am so proud of the great work we are doing with the Go Fas Racing team.”

Franciacorta race winner Guillaume Dumarey went on finish second edging Freddy Nordstrom who climbed on the podium in his NWES return. Wilfried Boucenna was fourth with Guillaume Deflandre coming home fifth.

“The race was really good”, said the 19 year old Belgian. “After the restart I was able to create a gap very quickly. Felipe was two or three seconds behind me. The car and the setup were incredible. Thanks Memphis Racing for that. It’s not easy for us as we are a new team in NWES. To finish first that early in the season is really incredible. Tomorrow I hope to win the race again.”

After winning Racing Total’s first race in 2017, Deflandre gave another team it’s maiden win in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series.

Felipe Rabello edged Florian Venturi by just 0.130 seconds to finish second with Franciacorta race winner Guillaume Dumarey fourth and ELITE 2 points leader Wilfried Boucenna finishing fifth.