The first day of racing of the second round of the 2019 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series at the Autodromo Di Franciacorta, Brescia in Italy proved to be mixed for Racing Engineering with both of their cars retiring in the Elite 1 race but Myatt Snider taking an excellent second in the Elite 2 race. Following yesterday’s Free Practice sessions when all four of the team’s drivers Ander Vilariño, Romain Iannetta, Myatt Snider and joining the team this weekend in the Elite 2 Rookie Legend class, Frenchman Eric Clement, set some competitive times so hopes were high for today’s Elite 1 and Elite 2 races.

The morning Elite 1 Qualifying saw Ander set a lap of 1:13.591 to finish eleventh and move into the five minute Superpole qualifying while Romain could only manage eighteenth with a lap of 1:13.954 as he had to miss some of yesterday’s free practice with an engine problem that required a new engine for today’s racing so losing valuable set-up time. Superpole did not go well for Ander when he lost his quick lap when he exceeded the track limit so was only able to set a 1:14.127 for twelfth. It was Myatt’s turn in the Elite 2 Qualifying but almost immediately the session was red flagged when a car spun off into a gravel trap. When the cars returned to the track Myatt was immediately amongst the fastest runners going fourth with a 1:14.267 but the session was red flagged again with nine minutes remaining and when the session started again Myatt stayed in the pits to save his tyres as his time was good enough for the Superpole session. Eric, who was still familiarising himself with the Mustang, finished twenty-sixth on 1:15.798. The five-minute session saw Myatt lap in 1:14.139, good enough for fifth in this afternoon’s race.

At the start of the 29-lap Elite 1 race Ander made a clean start holding his position but the Spanish driver had contact with another car half way round the first lap and he spun resuming the race at the back of the field and the Safety Car was deployed to remove another damaged car from the track. Romain made a good start and quickly gained positions moving up to 12th when the Safety Car came out on the track, but his car had sustained damage to the front bodywork and the team were hoping that he would be able to continue without being handicapped.

Racing resumed on lap seven with the cars returning to their original grid positions returning Ander to 12th and Romain to 18th. Ander immediately gained two positions to take tenth place and he was chasing Ercoli hard but lap thirteen saw two cars off the track, so the Safety Car was deployed again. Romain wasn’t able to make such a good start on the restart after the Safety Car period and he dropped two places before he lost time on one lap with his car no longer performing and he dropped to b 23rd position when the second Safety Car ended.

The Safety Car returned to the pits with thirteen laps remaining and Ander gained a place when another car ran wide and once again he was chasing Ercoli but he began to fall away as he came under pressure from Longin and the gap was just 0.6 seconds with six laps remaining. With just three laps remaining it all went wrong for both of the Spanish team’s cars when both Ander and Romain were forced to pit and neither man was able to continue leaving Ander in 25th and Romain in 26th.

The afternoon 24-lap Elite 2 race saw Myatt lose a place dropping from fifth to sixth and he was soon chasing Longin as the top six began to pull away from the rest of the field. On lap six a retirement promoted Myatt back to fifth but, as the race reached the halfway point, the young American was having a lonely race as he pulled away from the cars behind but was gradually falling away from the leaders. On lap fifteen the Safety Car was deployed to allow a stranded car to be removed from a potentially dangerous position and racing resumed on lap 18 with six laps to go and all the cars were now closed up again, Myatt was able to keep his fifth position and he was trying to pass Maggi into the second corner, but he had Kunz right on his tail. Then on lap twenty-one, in a superb manoeuvre, Myatt passed both Maggi and Longin in one corner to take third and two laps later he was second when the car ahead retired.

The second car for Eric Clement was, unfortunately, unable to start following the damage sustained in the Elite 1 race.

The team will now be preparing the cars for tomorrow’s races.

Team Comments:

Alfonso de Orléans-Borbón - President of Racing Engineering: "A real pity about what happened during the Elite 1 race. Even though it was a very exciting race for the fans, the driving was much too aggressive and caused a lot of damage to both cars. It's a shame that both Ander and Romain had so much damage on their cars that they had to abandon the race. So much so, Romain’s car could not be repaired on time for the Elite 2 race. Although the Elite 1 race was a real heartbreak for us, Myatt made up for it with his fantastic drive in the first Elite 2 race of the weekend, which netted him his first podium of the year in second place. The entire Racing Engineering crew did a fantastic job and a special thanks goes to the guys, who didn’t get any sleep last night changing the engine on car #88. Now let’s get ready for tomorrow’s races!"

Ander Vilariño: “The result of the race is the consequence of not having done a good qualifying, we didn't find the best set up and I didn't feel comfortable either. Starting in the group I was hit on the first lap and despite having recovered up to ninth place in the end the chassis broke down where I was hit and I had to stop. A shame as we lost the leadership of the series but there is one race to drop from the results of the first seven, so I hope it will be this one.”

Romain Iannetta: "During the opening lap I hit Tineo, in turn 7 the cars in front slowed down a lot and even though I tried, I could not slow down my car enough to avoid contact. On the following straight the damaged front bumper exploded inward into the chassis. I tried to hold on, but the car was worsening with every lap, so I decided to retire so as to avoid more damage.”

Myatt Snider: "I had a fast Ford Performance Racing Engineering Mustang in today’s race. I struggled a bit early on to find when the car was at its best, but it really came to me in the middle of the race. The race really played out in my favour. I made some daring moves, made a three-wide pass for third and finished second. Really proud of my Racing Engineering guys for giving me a good Ford Performance Mustang."