The second race in the 2022 D-BOX eNASCAR International iRacing Series presented by Digital Motorsports took the International racers to Canada for 30 laps around Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, often referred to as Mosport for short.
Israeli NASCAR Whelen Euro Series driver Alon Day rebounded from a tough outing at Homestead-Miami Speedway to dominate at Mosport and take the second trophy of the season. Day started on the pole and led every lap en route to victory. Now with five races in total in the series, there have been five different winners.
The second leg of five on the eNASCAR International iRacing Series calendar for 2022, Mosport features 10 corners and high speeds around the 3.957-kilometer (2.459-mile) Canadian venue in Ontario. It was the first of three straight road races on the schedule, the meat of the invitational series.
“I was pretty sad after the first race,” Day said post-race. “I got wrecked after about five or six laps. This race, I really wanted to prove what I’m capable of doing… I surprised myself, to be honest.”
Exiting Mosport, Rajah Caruth maintains his point lead that he earned by winning last week at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Day moves up to eighth overall, 14 points behind the leader. Next up is Circuit Zolder on the 22nd of January.
CONTACT APLENTY AROUND MOSPORT
Day took the pole position for the event, and from the get go, he was unmatched. His closest competition throughout the race was fellow NASCAR Whelen Euro Series driver Tobias Dauenhauer. There were only 30 laps on the board this week, whereas the ovals will run double the distance. At CTMP, pitting wasn’t a requirement, but if you overworked the tires, it was a necessity.
From the drop of the flag, there were plenty of contested positions throughout the field. Some drivers seemed to have more run-ins than others. NASCAR Pinty’s Series winner Alex Tagliani had a moment where he was bumped off by a driver, returning the favor a few laps later when catching back up. The real Mosport is a track that Tags is quite familiar with, having raced at multiple times, even winning back in 2018 in the Pinty’s Series.
Road races do not have cautions, but there were plenty of on-track scuffles and off-track excursions. Drivers like Yevgen Sokolovskiy and Vladimiros Tziortzis had tough races through the entirety. Both wound up finishing off of the lead lap with the highest incident count, at 36 and 22 incidents respectively.
POINTS RACING IN A LIMITED SERIES
Points are being kept for the first time this season after not being kept in the 2021 edition. Caruth didn’t have the best luck last season in the trio of road races. Only at Daytona was he able to score a Top 10 finish last season. Now with points on the line and the majority of races on road, Caruth will need to step up his road racing to be a title contender.
Caruth made a big step up on Saturday with a solid result around the Mosport facility. After starting ninth, Caruth worked his way up to eventually finish in sixth, tying his best road course result in the series. Victor Barrales Jr started a spot ahead of Caruth and was able to work his way forward even more so. Barrales Jr made his way up to third by the end of it and closed to within two points of the top spot as a result.
TO PIT OR NOT TO PIT?
Last season, the de facto champion was Simon Pilate. Pilate had the best average finish plus a win at Brands Hatch to kick off the series. This season has been a little more of a struggle for the Whelen Euro Series driver. After starting in fourth, Pilate was able to race in the Top 5 for the majority of the first half of the race. His tires started to fall off heavily, however, and on lap 16, he came in for pit service.
Drivers could make it to the end on gas, but tires would virtually melt if not taken care of properly. Pilate, along with a handful of other top drivers, opted to pit. The strategy didn’t pan out, however, as Pilate was only able to make it back to finish in seventh. All of the Top 6 finishers were able to make it to the end on the tires they started with.
RACE #2 MOSPORT FINAL RESULTS
- 21 Alon Day | NASCAR Whelen Euro Series | 30 LAPS
- 50 Tobias Dauenhauer | NASCAR Whelen Euro Series | +10.645 sec
- 39 Victor Barrales Jr. | NASCAR PEAK Mexico Series | +18.936 sec
- 20 Treyten Lapcevich | NASCAR Pinty’s Series | +25.513 sec
- 14 Alex de Alba | NASCAR PEAK Mexico Series | +26.072 sec
- 13 Rajah Caruth | ARCA Menards / NASCAR AAP Weekly | +26.780 sec
- 8 Simon Pilate | NASCAR Whelen Euro Series | +33.981 sec
- 5 Aaron Cosio | NASCAR Mexico Trucks Series | +34.358 sec
- 64 Paul Jouffreau | NASCAR Whelen Euro Series | +36.624 sec
- 10 Ulysse Delsaux | NASCAR Whelen Euro Series | +47.415 sec
- 46 Miguel Gomes | NASCAR Whelen Euro Series | +1:04.264 sec
- 18 Alex Tagliani | NASCAR Pinty’s Series | +1:06.737 sec
- 9 Leonardo Colavita | NASCAR Whelen Euro Series | +1:10.313 sec
- 81 Justin Campbell | Bojangles Summer Shootout | +1:12.682 sec
- 90 Davide Dallara | NASCAR Whelen Euro Series | +1:13.351 sec
- 6 Diego Ortiz | NASCAR Mexico Trucks Series | +1:14.433 sec
- 23 Federico Gutierrez Hoppe | NASCAR Mexico Trucks Series | +1:26.928 sec
- 148 Gordon Barnes | NASCAR Whelen Euro Series | +1 LAP
- 51 Jake Cosio | NASCAR PEAK Mexico Series | +1 LAP
- 1 Vladimiros Tziortzis | NASCAR Whelen Euro Series | +1 LAP
- 69 Giorgio Maggi | NASCAR Whelen Euro Series | +2 LAPS
- 48 Yevgen Sokolovskiy | NASCAR Whelen Euro Series | +4 LAPS
- 77 Jocelyn Fecteau | NASCAR Pinty’s Series | +21 LAPS
- 88 Massimiliano Lanza | NASCAR Whelen Euro Series | +28 LAPS
- 22 Andres Perez de Lara | NASCAR Challenge Mexico Series | +30 LAPS
POINTS STANDINGS AFTER RACE #2 – MOSPORT
- 13 Rajah Caruth | ARCA Menards / NASCAR AAP Weekly | 71 points
- 39 Victor Barrales Jr. | NASCAR PEAK Mexico Series | 69 points
- 20 Treyten Lapcevich | NASCAR Pinty’s Series | 67 points
- 50 Tobias Dauenhauer | NASCAR Whelen Euro Series | 61 points
- 14 Alex de Alba | NASCAR PEAK Mexico Series | 61 points
- 5 Aaron Cosio | NASCAR Mexico Trucks Series | 60 points
- 46 Miguel Gomes | NASCAR Whelen Euro Series | 59 points
- 21 Alon Day | NASCAR Whelen Euro Series | 57 points
- 8 Simon Pilate | NASCAR Whelen Euro Series | 57 points
- 6 Diego Ortiz | NASCAR Mexico Trucks Series | 53 points
81 Justin Campbell | Bojangles Summer Shootout | 53 points
BOX SCORE
- LAPS LEAD: Alon Day, 30 (1-30)
- HARD CHARGER: Leonardo Colavita (+9 spots)
- CAUTIONS: Zero for zero laps
- TIME OF RACE: 41 minutes, 41 seconds
- FASTEST LAP: Alon Day, Lap 2 (1:21.320 seconds)
2022 eNASCAR International iRacing Series Schedule
8th January 2022 – Homestead-Miami Speedway – 60 Laps15th January 2022 – Canadian Tire Motorsport Park – 30 Laps- 22nd January 2022 – Circuit Zolder – 30 Laps
- 29th January 2022 – Daytona International Speedway Road Course – 30 Laps
- 5th February 2022 – Phoenix Raceway – 60 Laps
