Elias Adestam and Ellis Spiezia victorious in thrilling NXT Gen Cup world premiere
Elias Adestam and Ellis Spiezia claimed one victory each from two thrilling NXT Gen Cup races of the Falkenberg world premiere which saw 18 junior talents from six different countries racing in the 100% electric LRT NXT1 race cars.
The first race featured an electrifying six-car battle for the lead between pole sitter Elias Adestam, Victor Nielsen, Linus Granfors, Oscar Pedersen, Enzo Hallman and Ellis Spiezia.
The lead changed hands several times, including a daring move by Enzo Hallman while utilising the push-to-pass functionality to jump from fourth to the lead.
But Elias Adestam re-claimed the lead three laps from the end to bag a historic first victory.
"It was a very good race. I had a plan from the beginning and it worked quite well. My competitors used too many push-to-pass at the beginning, so I had an advantage at the end. The second race was of course a disappointment, but we've showed winning form and I can't wait for the next race ," said Elias Adestam.
Linus Granfors was just four tenths behind in second place, with Oscar Pedersen third, less than seven tenths of a second from the lead.
"It was a good first race. I missed a little bit at the end with push-to-pass, but second place is still really good. It was good racing until the end with a lot of contact. I really enjoyed this and I'm happy to head from Falkenberg in second place, just four points from the lead," said Linus Granfors.
The second race saw Theo Jernberg starting from the reversed grid pole position, but he got a slow getaway and dropped down to finish ninth.
Instead it was Enzo Hallman who made a rocket start from fourth to claim second on the opening lap, making the move for the lead on lap three after going three wide on the main straight with Ellis Spiezia and local hero Alexzander Kristiansson.
Race 1 winner Elias Adestam made a mistake at Turn 1 from sixth position and collected Månz Thalin when rejoining the track. The contact resulted in a post-race 20-second penalty for Elias Adestam, dropping him from fifth to 15th, while Månz Thalin was forced to retire.
Meanwhile up front, Ellis Spiezia was relentlessly closing in on leading driver Enzo Hallman.
The American racer attacked the Swede on lap 13 of 17 to claim a lead he was to keep over the finishing line, becoming the second NXT Gen Cup winner ahead of Enzo Hallman.
"Awesome! It was definitely a race of strategy that one. I got a really good start, so got through the traffic really early. And just picked them off one-by-one. It's an indescribable feeling to head from the first NXT Gen Cup race weekend with a victory and the points lead, let's go!" said Ellis Spiezia.
"It was a good second race, although ended up in second position after leading almost the whole race. I nearly crashed with a lapped driver which cost me some time. But we had good speed the whole race weekend. Sadly, we did not get the position we wanted in the first race, but we showed what we can do in the second race," said Enzo Hallman.
The victory means that Ellis Spiezia heads from Falkenberg as the points leader, four points ahead of Linus Granfors and five ahead of Oscar Pedersen who finished third in Race 2.
"It was a good first race weekend for me with two podiums and I gained some positions in both races. My problem was qualifying this weekend, but the rest was good," said Oscar Pedersen.
Danish driver Victor Nielsen, who made a mistake in Race 1 and spun out of second place, fought his way from the back of the grid in Race 2 to finish a solid sixth.
"I started last and managed to fight my way up through the field and made the most out of the situation. Of course I wanted to be up there, but that was my own mistake in Race 1. We showed that we have strong pace and that's what I'm bringing with me from this race," said Victor Nielsen.
Best of the female drivers was Siri Hökfelt who finished ninth in the first race and eighth in the second race, currently sharing seventh place in the championship standings with Theo Jernberg on 17 points.
"It was an exciting first race weekend with a lot of action. Overall, I have found a lot of pace throughout the two races. And I can't wait to utilise this for the next race weekend in Germany," said Siri Hökfelt.
Next up for the NXT Gen Cup is a trip to Germany and Oschersleben for round two, held together with the ADAC Racing Weekend on July 28-30. If you missed this weekend’s two races, you can watch them on the NXT Gen Cup YouTube-channel.
Results
Points
2023 NXT Gen Cup entry list
Start no. – Name – Nationality
2 – Greaham Hofmans - Netherlands
3 – Linus Granfors – Sweden
4 – Theo Jernberg – Sweden
5 – Sebastian Kinnmark – Sweden
6 – Isak Arvidsson – Sweden
7 – Enzo Hallman – Sweden
8 – Elias Adestam – Sweden
11 – Ellis Spiezia – USA
12 – Filip Bartoš – Czechia
14 – Katie Turner – United Kingdom
16 – Månz Thalin – Sweden
19 – Alexander Gustafsson – Sweden
21 – Siri Hökfelt – Sweden
26 – Oscar Pedersen – Sweden
27 – Alexzander Kristiansson – Sweden
47 – Jonathan Engström – Sweden
50 – Victor Nielsen – Denmark
51 – Louse Larsson – Sweden
Regulations – Quick overview
The driver with the most points at the end of the season will be crowned the official Swedish Junior Champion by the Swedish Motorsport Federation.
A total of six race weekends are held in Sweden and Germany.
Each race weekend consists of one practice session, one qualifying session and two races of approx. 15 minutes each with standing start.
The grid for the first race is determined by the result of qualifying.
The grid for the second race is determined by the result of Race 1 with the top eight drivers in reversed order.
Qualifying points are awarded to the top 3 drivers through the following scale: 4, 2, 1
Race points are awarded to the top 16 drivers through the following scale: 30, 25, 21, 17, 14, 12, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
All drivers can utilise the push-to-pass functionality during the races which provides them with a burst of extra power. There is a delay of 5 seconds when activating it, so that driver’s can’t use it in a defensive capacity.
Key links
