The second round of the D-BOX eNASCAR International iRacing Series powered by Digital Motorsports went North of the border to Canadian Tire Motorsports Park on Tuesday night (22nd November) a week removed from the opening round of the series last week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
It was a Canadian who took the victory, NASCAR Pinty’s Series competitor Treyten Lapcevich, who held off the Frenchman Paul Jouffreau throughout the entirety of the race to claim his second career victory in the series.
Lapcevich becomes the second driver in series history with multiple wins, the only other driver being the champion from earlier this year, Alon Day, who has three victories, all at road courses. However, with his win last season at Phoenix, Lapcevich becomes the first to have a win at both an oval and road course.
A FEW OFF TRACK EXCURSIONS
Lapcevich started alongside NASCAR Mexico Series representative Alex de Alba, the pole decided by only 0.001 seconds. de Alba was victorious in a practice race prior, so he had the speed to keep in the early stages. However, de Alba had pressure from Jouffreau and the result was a visit off into the grass.
With de Alba rejoining between Clayton Corner and Quebec Corner, a domino effect began that came to contact in the hairpins at Moss Corner. Gordon Barnes (Whelen Euro Series) went off, then Andres Pérez de Lara (Mexico Series) took a loop and got hit by Alberto Naska (Whelen Euro Series) as a result.
A few laps later, things looked to be calmed down, but both Lapcevich and Jouffreau were long gone from the rest of the field.
TO PIT OR NOT TO PIT
In a 30 lap race at Mosport, fuel wouldn’t be a concern. Tires, on the other hand, would be the question at hand as the race continued onward. Drivers also had a fast repair at their disposal to utilize in case of emergency.
For the top two of Lapcevich and Jouffreau, they had gotten such a lead that it prompted one driver in the second pack to attempt the strategy. Jake Cosio (Mexico Series) was running in fourth between Rajah Caruth (Drive for Diversity) and last week’s winner Victor Barrales (Mexico Series). He decided to pit at halfway, but nobody else took that option.
Caruth and Barrales wound up getting together after a Caruth excursion into the grass, which crippled Caruth’s car, but as the laps were coming to a close, he decided to ride it out until the end and not pit. The Top 4 of Lapcevich, Jouffreau, Barrales and Giorgio Maggi (Whelen Euro Series) stayed out.
Cosio would be the only front runner to take the gamble, but it didn’t pay out as he was only able to fight back for a fifth place finish.
CANADIAN MINISTER OF DEFENSE
From the drop of the flag, Lapcevich was on defense to keep the lead from de Alba at first, then Jouffreau for the remainder of the night. Only Alon Day has been able to score multiple victories in the series in the previous nine races. Jouffreau was looking to add his name to the winners list in race 10.
Neither would pit, and towards the end of the race, tire grip was hard to come by as both drivers slid into and out of the corners. At times through each lap, Lapcevich would pull away, but at other points Jouffreau would close right back in.
It came down to the final corner of the final lap. Jouffreau threw it in as Lapcevich played the defensive line. It didn’t stick as Jouffreau slid off into the grass. Lapcevich coasted to the line to score the victory.
SEASON 3 RACE 2 – MOSPORT TOP 10 FINAL RESULTS
| FIN | ST | NUM | DRIVER | SERIES | INTERVAL | LED | PTS |
| 1 | 1 | 20 | Treyten Lapcevich | Pinty’s Series | 30 LAPS | 30 | 40 |
| 2 | 3 | 33 | Paul Jouffreau | Whelen Euro Series | +2.436 | 0 | 35 |
| 3 | 7 | 39 | Victor Barrales | Mexico Series | +14.735 | 0 | 34 |
| 4 | 6 | 8 | Giorgio Maggi | Whelen Euro Series | +15.473 | 0 | 33 |
| 5 | 4 | 51 | Jake Cosio | Mexico Series | +28.445 | 0 | 32 |
| 6 | 2 | 14 | Alex de Alba | Mexico Series | +29.933 | 0 | 31 |
| 7 | 9 | 13 | Rajah Caruth | Drive for Diversity | -35.286 | 0 | 30 |
| 8 | 15 | 7 | Jean-Philippe Bergeron | Pinty’s Series | -48.787 | 0 | 29 |
| 9 | 17 | 54 | Alberto Naska | Whelen Euro Series | -51.578 | 0 | 28 |
| 10 | 11 | 148 | Gordon Barnes | Whelen Euro Series | -53.393 | 0 | 27 |
BARRELES STAYS ON TOP OF THE STANDINGS
The winner at Las Vegas, Barrales followed it up with another podium finish, maintaining his points lead entering the halfway race in a week and a half at Daytona. Lapcevich finished sixth in the first race after starting last on the grid. He’ll go into Daytona as the runner-up in points, three points back.
Caruth faltered back to a seventh place finish this week after his runner up last week. He falls to fourth in the points behind Cosio, with his third and fifth place finishes on the season so far. Jouffreau moves up the eighth after a poor start at Vegas.
POINTS STANDINGS AFTER RACE 2 – MOSPORT
| POS | NUM | DRIVER | SERIES | POINTS | BEHIND |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 39 | Victor Barrales | Mexico Series | 74 | LEADER |
| 2 | 20 | Treyten Lapcevich | Pinty’s Series | 71 | -3 |
| 3 | 51 | Jake Cosio | Mexico Series | 66 | -8 |
| 4 | 13 | Rajah Caruth | Drive for Diversity | 65 | -9 |
| 5 | 7 | Jean-Philippe Bergeron | Pinty’s Series | 61 | -13 |
| 6 | 14 | Alex de Alba | Mexico Series | 60 | -14 |
| 7 | 8 | Giorgio Maggi | Whelen Euro Series | 59 | -15 |
| 8 | 33 | Paul Jouffreau | Whelen Euro Series | 57 | -17 |
| 9 | 10 | Ulysse Delsaux | Whelen Euro Series | 52 | -22 |
| 10 | 46 | Miguel Gomes | Whelen Euro Series | 51 | -23 |
| 10 | 18 | Aaron Cosio | Mexico Series | 51 | -23 |
NEXT: A SUPERSPEEDWAY SUNDAY AT DAYTONA
Next Tuesday, the series will be off as the third race is scheduled instead for a Sunday morning in Germany. On 4th December, the third race of the series at Daytona International Speedway will be broadcasted live from the ADAC SimRacing Expo in Nuremberg, Germany.
It’s unknown which drivers will be participating live, in-person from the expo at this time, but it will likely include some of the drivers that compete in the Whelen Euro Series. Lapcevich will be there according to a tweet from the official DBOX account.
The action starts at 9:00 a.m. ET / 2:00 p.m. BST / 15:00 CET. Tune into eNASCAR.com or iRacing’s social channels to watch the broadcast which will be presented by Podium Esports.
2022 ENASCAR INTERNATIONAL IRACING SERIES SEASON 3 SCHEDULE
15th November– Las Vegas Motor Speedway22nd November – Canadian Tire Motorsport Park- 4th December – Daytona International Speedway (9 a.m. ET)
- 13th December – Circuit Zolder
- 20th December – Darlington Raceway
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