The final Elite 2 race of the 2019 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series at Zolder saw Racing Engineering drivers Hugo De Sadeleer and Myatt Snider line up ninth and tenth on the grid following yesterday’s race when both men had their race ruined by contact from other competitors that saw Myatt retire and Hugo lose several laps. As had been forecast it had been raining and the circuit was wet so the cars were starting on wet treaded tyres for the 15-lap race.

A fall of rain just before the start meant that the opening laps were held behind the Safety Car and it was lap five before the race got under way with eleven laps still to run. The cars started in single file from the rolling start and Myatt was able to pass Hugo to lie ninth but a lap later Hugo regained the place. After just two laps of racing the Safety Car was back out again as two cars left the track and were in the gravel trap and , as racing resumed, there were six laps left and Myatt was now ahead of Hugo again as the cars were reordered into their positions on the lap before the Safety Car was deployed. Both Myatt and Hugo made great restarts and within a lap Myatt was up to sixth and Hugo was eighth and the young American was challenging Deodhar and was ahead a lap later to take fifth position but sadly the chequered flag fell before he could gain any more places. Hugo’s progress was stopped when he had to pit on lap eleven following contact from another car and retire.

It was the turn of Ander Vilariño and Romain Iannetta in the Racing Engineering Ford Mustangs in the final 18-lap Elite 1 race with Ander starting from fourteenth and Romain from the pitlane as the result of a post-race penalty from yesterday. The track was wet so all the cars were, once again, on the treaded tyre and the race started behind the Safety Car with the cars in single file. After one lap the Safety Car pulled off and racing began with Ander in thirteenth and Romain in twenty-second following some cars non-starting. Ander gained two places at the start to move up to eleventh and Romain also had a great opening lap to lie nineteenth.

Lap three saw Ander up to tenth and he was pushing hard to overtake Delfandre in ninth and on lap five he was ahead but on the following lap Delfandre repassed him while further back Romain was now seventeenth. With nine laps still to go Ander lost a further position to Rocca leaving the Spanish driver in eleventh and he was now clearly struggling in the difficult conditions as he was down to twelfth on the next lap. In the closing laps it began to rain very hard as Ander fell to thirteenth, but Romain was again gaining places and he was now fifteenth, and on lap sixteen he was fourteenth. A late retirement saw Ander finish twelfth and Romain thirteenth.

Team Comments:

Alfonso de Orléans-Borbón - Presidente de Racing Engineering: "It was a very tough year in a championship we knew nothing about. And even though we won the first races of the season, we quickly found out that these cars are much more complicated than we had anticipated. Finishing third in the team championship is actually a wonderful relief considering the huge amount of work everyone has put into it. It was great working with all our drivers this season, especially the younger ones who came into this championship never having driven this car and actually doing an impressive job. I’d like to also thank Ander and Romain for the hard work they put into it. Pity the results we expected didn't materialise. I would also like to thank every single member of the team for the tremendous amount of work and effort they put in during the whole season. Without them, all this would have been impossible. I would also like to thank NASCAR and the Organization for the warm welcome and great championship, which seems to be growing year by year."

Ander Vilariño: "We had a very tough weekend. And even though we suffered from some problems, they were not the reason for today’s result. We lacked speed today."

Romain Iannetta: "It was a difficult race starting from the back of the field. I had very bad visibility and therefore kept a distance to the cars in front. Towards the end of the race the rain became worse and I could even see less. This was not the end of season we were hoping for."

Myatt Snider: "I had a blast today. I love how rain evens out the field and we got a good 5th place finish in our Ford Performance Racing Engineering Mustang. I would have probably been able to get to 3rd, but I ran out of laps. Overall I have enjoyed my season with Racing Engineering, they have been a great group to work with."

Hugo De Sadeleer: "I had a very competitive car again today. In the warm-up I felt like we were the quickest among the Elite 2 drivers and P6 overall. So, I was confident into the race even though it was a wet race. Unfortunately, it was tricky to overtake because drivers were pushing me off quite often. I had contact and this ended our race. Thanks to Racing Engineering for the opportunity and I really enjoyed working with them and participating in the series."