Piquet Jr, Visser and Eaton star at Brands Hatch’s American SpeedFest

Euro NASCAR once again proved to be the headline act during Brands Hatch’s American SpeedFest event, as drivers including Nelson Piquet Jr, Beitske Visser and Abbie Eaton battled the elements last weekend.

Ex-Formula 1 driver Piquet Jr was competing in the newly rebranded V8GP category and returning to a venue where he had won four times from five previous races, including the inaugural A1GP contest in 2005.

The Brazilian eventually finished runner-up in Saturday’s first race, which was hit by ever-increasing rain and concluded under a red flag due to several incidents.

“It was a fun race, the car was great – a lot of people had penalties around me, but I don’t know for what reason,” said Piquet Jr after initially finishing fourth. “It was a shame for the safety car at the end, I was sure I could catch the #24 [of winner Vittorio Ghirelli], I was much quicker than him but starting from 10th and arriving second, I can’t complain.”

Gianmarco Ercoli finished first on the road after an impressive drive, but the Ford Mustang racer was pinged with a 10-second penalty after contact with poleman Garrett Lowe into Paddock Hill Bend at the start. The lightest of touches sent Lowe’s Chevrolet Camaro into the side of fellow front-row starter Paul Jouffreau as both skated through the gravel before rejoining.

The penalty dropped Ercoli to fourth, one spot behind Jack Davidson after the Briton had steadily climbed up through the order as the conditions deteriorated, finishing second across the line. But he too was hit with a penalty for aggressive driving that dropped him to the final step of the podium. All this left back-to-back reigning champion Ghirelli to come through from fifth and claim his third win of the season having shadowed Ercoli and after staying out of trouble.

Ercoli was again on course for victory in Sunday’s dry sequel after a mid-race overtake on poleman Jouffreau, but the Italian was out of luck as his engine let go with five laps remaining. Piquet Jr also failed to see the chequered flag, the Brazilian suffering a puncture on the opening lap and retiring his Mustang after a fourth-place start promised another strong result. Davidson, who had started on the front row, was also a retiree.

Out front, Jouffreau was left to claim victory from Jordan O’Brien and Martin Doubek as Mustangs filled the podium, with Ghirelli’s Camaro fourth.

Doubek enjoyed further success in the two Open races for more inexperienced drivers, claiming the double. His Saturday victory came in the wet and after early race leader Raphael Lessard had gone off at Paddock Hill, dropping the Mustang driver to 11th before recovering to finish as runner-up. The pair repeated the order in Sunday’s dry sequel, Doubek having taken victory once more with an opportunistic move at Druids that jumped him from third to first at the expense of Lessard and early leader, Sandro Tavartkiladze.

Two-time W Series runner-up Visser was also in action in the Open category but suffered with issues all weekend, finishing second in class both times to Robin Bleekemolen. The 16-year-old was making her Euro NASCAR Open series debut after taking the seat of grandfather and ex-F1 driver, Michael Bleekemolen, and finished 10th overall in both races.

Visser’s fellow former W Series racer Eaton returned to the top step of the podium in the Ford vs Chevy contest, surging up from 13th in Sunday’s dry affair aboard a Chevrolet Camaro that had been imported from the US only days earlier.

“I know the other guys who were in the top four from yesterday were going to put up a good fight, but this car is pretty special,” said Eaton, who has been without a full-time drive since 2024. “When I got up behind them, I thought this is going to be more hard work than I anticipated because they were defending really well.”

Eaton stormed through from 13th on the grid to win second Ford vs Chevy contest

Photo by: Gary Hawkins

The Porsche Carrera Cup GB race winner had started on pole for Saturday’s opener, but a fogged up windscreen in the worst of the wet conditions forced an early unscheduled pitstop, allowing Jake Swann and Robert Hollyman to lap the rest of the field in their Camaros as they finished 1-2.

The closest racing across the two-day event was supplied by Legends, with five of the six bouts decided by fewer than two tenths. Aaron Cooke was the only double winner courtesy of Saturday’s wet races, having been helped in the latter as leader Andy Bird crashed at Paddock Hill. 

Guest entrant Trevor Krouse became the first American to win a race in the series on Sunday, but he was beaten in the final by reigning champion Tyler Read, the margin the closest of the weekend at just 0.044s. Peter Barrable won the opener before the rain arrived, where the top six were covered by three tenths, while Oli Schlup visited the podium five times, three of them as runner-up.

The Pickups were almost as entertaining having produced three different winners, with Allen Cooper holding off Dale Gent and Aaron Thompson in the opener, before Thompson headed Cooper in race two after a mid-race stoppage. Thompson won on the road in race three, which again featured an early red flag, but a penalty for track-limits abuses dropped him to fourth. Gent claimed victory despite his own, less severe, penalty for going beyond the edge of the track.

Colin Smith (Ginetta G40) was handed SpeedFest Silhouettes race-one victory after Reuben Taylor was awarded a penalty for a false start, dropping his G40R to third. Vauxhall Tigras dominated the sequel, with Warren Farazmand climbing from 15th to first and beating Joe Russell, as Smith completed the podium.

Michael Saunders led a TVR Tuscan Challenge 1-2 in the first Bernie’s V8s race, besting Peter Ankers by less than one second, with Matthew Ellis’ Chevrolet Camaro third. Switching to a Talbot Sunbeam Lotus for Sunday’s dry sequel, Ellis romped to victory ahead of Saunders and Ankers by more than 7s.

The Pickups provided plenty of entertainment and produced three different winners

Photo by: Gary Hawkins

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