It was a dominant performance the one Loris Hezemans put on at the wheel of the #7 Hendriks Motorsport Ford Mustang at the Indy Circuit of Brands Hatch. The Dutchman started from Pole Position, led all 38 laps of EuroNASCAR PRO Round 4 despite three safety car periods and cruised to his third win of the season. By doing so, he also increased his lead in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series standings and earned the crown King of Brands Hatch for the first time.
EURONASCAR PRO RESULTS: PRACTICE | FINAL PRACTICE | QUALIFYING | STARTING GRID | ROUND 3 | ROUND 4
Hezemans ran away at the start and defended his lead against Alon Day at the wheel of the #88 CAAL Racing Chevrolet Camaro. A safety car triggered on lap 9 by Igor Romanov’s car stuck in the gravel bunched the field back up. Hezemans made a good restart and kept Day behind him once again until another caution came out on lap 22 due to a spin by Scott Jeffs, whose car had to be recovered by the track marshals.
The ensuing restart marked the key moment of the race: Day tried to get around the outside of Hezemans but touched the gravel trap at Paddock Hill Bend. The Israeli damaged his car and had to retire. Hezemans mastered another restart and sped to victory ahead of Gianmarco Ercoli.
“It was a tough race due to the safety cars but we made the best out of it,” said Hezemans, who scored his tenth career NWES win. “We struggled a little bit on pace but we got better and better. I think the strategy from yesterday paid off when I saved my tires behind Alon Day. I’m very happy to have won my first race here at Brands Hatch and I hope we continue like that. Hendriks Motorsport team gave me a great car once again.”
Ercoli, who scored his maiden EuroNASCAR PRO race win at Brands Hatch in 2018, ended up second after a solid run at the iconic 1.94 kilometer British track. The Italian also topped the Junior Trophy standings for drivers aged 25 and under and collected important points for the overall championship. Sebastiaan Bleekemolen really built up momentum in the 2021 season. After scoring his first career podium in Valencia, the Dutchman again charged into the top-3 after 38 thrillings lap at the wheel of his #69 Ford Mustang.
2019 EuroNASCAR 2 runner-up Giorgio Maggi from Switzerland followed in fourth scoring a strong top-5 result in his #18 Hendriks Motorsport Ford Mustang. The 23-year-old also took second place in the Junior Trophy classification, while local hero Alex Sedgwick closed the top-5 driving the #24 NBA 2K Academy Motorsport / Alex Caffi Motorsport Chevrolet Camaro. The Brit rounded out the Junior Trophy podium in EuroNASCAR PRO Round 4.
Reigning EuroNASCAR 2 champion Vittorio Ghirelli was sixth ahead of Speedhouse’s Lucas Lasserre. DF1 Racing’s Nicolo Rocca and Alexander Graff followed in eighth and ninth. The Swede spun in the very first lap of the race at Paddock Hill Bend but recovered from the incident by charging right into the top-10 ahead of Frederic Gabillon. Henri Tuomaala won the Challenger Trophy race ahead of Davide Dallara.
While the EuroNASCAR PRO Championship will return to action on August 28-29 at Autodrom Most in the Czech Republic, the EuroNASCAR 2 Round 4 at Brands Hatch Circuit will take place at 4:55pm CET. The race will be broadcasted live on EuroNASCAR’s social media platforms – YouTube, Facebook, Twitch – and Motorsport.tv.
NWES PR
