Martin Doubek sped to victory in EuroNASCAR 2 Round 1 at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, Spain. The Czech led all 15 laps to claim his third career win at the wheel of the #7 Hendriks Motorsport Ford Mustang. The 26-year-old, who started from the pole, crossed the finish line ahead of Academy Motorsport / Alex Caffi Motorsport’s Vladimiros Tziortzis from Cyprus.
RESULTS EURONASCAR 2: PRACTICE | FINAL PRACTICE | QUALIFYING | ROUND 01 RESULTS
It may have looked easy for Doubek as he managed to break away from the field in the second half of the race, but he had to sustain intense pressure in the beginning from Tziortzis and Tobias Dauenhauer, but the Hendriks Motorsport driver put together a perfect race and sailed to his first ever win at Circuit Ricardo Tormo.
“It was not that easy as it looked but also not that hard”, said the race winner, who was clearly out of breath after the demanding race in Valencia. “Starting from Pole Position was the key to success and I’m very happy to be back in Victory Lane. I hope to confirm the momentum we have tomorrow. It was only the first race of the season but I’m confident that we can fight for the title in the 2021 EuroNASCAR 2 season.”
Tziortzis really had to fight for his second place. The Cypriot was passed by 2020 EuroNASCAR 2 runner-up Dauenhauer on the first lap but never gave up and kept pressuring the German ahead of him. On lap 12, he finally made the decisive move to take over second while Dauenhauer ended up third with a gap of 2.350 seconds from Tziortzis.
With his new team Double V Racing, Pierluigi Veronesi scored a strong fourth place driving the #27 EuroNASCAR FJ. CAAL Racing’s Max Lanza not only closed the top-5 but also won the race in the Legend Trophy standings – the classification for drivers aged 40 and more.
Naveh Talor drove the wheels off the #90 Camaro. The Israeli missed Qualifying due to a technical issue on his Not Only Motorsport car and started from 23rd, but then made up 17 positions to be sixth under the checkered flag. The 19-year-old also grabbed the 4 bonus points for the most positions gained. He was followed by Thomas Krasonis from Greece and Francesco Garisto from Italy.
Not Only Motorsport’s Alberto Panebianco topped the Rookie Trophy standings by finishing ninth at the end of an intense race. “I’m totally out of breath, because it was very hot in the cockpit”, said the Italian after the race. “But it’s just so much fun to drive those EuroNASCAR cars without any electronic aids. It’s just pure racing!”
Yevgen Sokolovskiy rounded out the top-10 and ended up second in the Legend Trophy. He was joined by Ian Eric Waden, who finished third in the special classification by claiming eleventh place in the overall standings. Arianna Casoli was 13th and beat Alina Loibnegger in her maiden EuroNASCAR 2 race – she finished 16th – in the race for the Lady Trophy.
Trouble hit Justin Kunz, who was running inside the top-10 when a tire went down and damaged the body of his Chevrolet Camaro. Advait Deodhar was also in a good spot, but a mistake while downshifting put him out of the race. Simon Pilate also had to retire after getting stuck in the gravel.
EuroNASCAR 2 Round 2 will take place on Sunday at 10:15 CEST, while the second EuroNASCAR PRO race of the season will follow at 14:15 CEST. All races will be broadcasted live on EuroNASCAR’s social media channels – YouTube, Facebook, Twitch – and Motorsport.tv.
NWES PR
