All things American head to Brands for Speedfest
BRANDS HATCH MSVR JUNE 9-10
Victory spoils in the headlining NASCAR Whelen Euro Series Elite 1 double-header were shared between France’s Frederic Gabillon and Italian Gianmarco Ercoli as thousands of fans descended upon Brands Hatch for its sixth American Speedfest.
Gabillon got the jump on the pack from pole in the opener, but hopes of building up an advantage were promptly slowed due to the intervention of the safety car.
When racing resumed, Alon Day attempted to dive inside third-placed Ercoli. At the same time, former Formula Ford Festival winner Marc Goossens tried to outbrake both as the trio thundered into Paddock Bend. Contact was made, dropping Day down the order and leaving Ercoli’s car beached in the gravel. Goossens’s role in the incident did not go unnoticed by the officials and, after finishing a close second to the victorious Gabillon, the frustrated Belgian was later handed a 30-second time penalty. Dutchman Loris Hezemans inherited the runner-up spot ahead of Francesco Sini.
A three-car pile-up marred the start of race two as Stienes Longin was pitched into a spin along Cooper Straight and was collected by Julien Schell, who in turn was hit by Longin’s father Bert. A fire ignited in Schell’s car in the aftermath, contributing to a race stoppage. Ercoli led the restarted event from start to finish, despite the close attentions
of Day. The Israeli almost made a decisive pass at Graham Hill Bend on the final tour, but was forced wide by Ercoli before being pushed back to third by Goossens.
Guillaume Deflandre took a lights-to-flag victory in the opening Elite 2 race, despite driveshaft problems requiring frantic repairs just seconds before he was due to lead the field onto the starting grid. In the duel for second, Florian Venturi appeared to have timed his move to perfection when he dived inside Felipe Rabello at Clearways on the final lap, but Rabello snatched the position back on the drag to the line. Venturi won race two after forcing his way past Guillaume Dumarey at Druids at half-distance.
Multiple Champion of Brands victor Oliver White added two more wins to his tally in his Medina Sport JL17 in a pair of races where backmarkers played an inadvertent, but crucial, role in the final outcome. White passed early leader Michael Eastwell in the opener when Eastwell’s Spectrum 011C was boxed in by battling traffic at Druids on lap 12 of 18.
A tangle with Nico Gruber’s Ray GR dropped Eastwell out of contention in race two, leaving Luke Cooper to take the fight to White. The tussle lasted for much of the race until Cooper’s Swift SC16 was baulked by a slower car at Clearways, offering
White decisive breathing space.
John Mickel and Steve Whitelegg were at the centre of the drama in the six
Legends races staged. Both drivers won two races each but not without an element of controversy. In Saturday’s final, winner Mickel was adjudged to have gained an unfair advantage when he pushed leader Whitelegg wide at Clearways on the last lap. A time penalty for the three-time champion reversed the positions post-race.
Michael Lyons dominated both ‘Anglo American’ Formula 5000 contests in his Lola T400. Neil Glover staved off race-long pressure from the Surtees TS11 of Greg Thornton to claim second in race one. Thornton was denied the spot again by Steve Farthing
(Lola T332) in the second race after Glover’s Chevron B37 was sidelined by a split hose.