The 2023 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series season kicked off with the first of three days of the NASCAR GP Spain at Valencia’s Circuit Ricardo Tormo. The drivers of the Club Challenge division took on the twists and turns of the 4.005 km long circuit in the morning for the first round of EuroNASCAR’s regularity based championship. At the end, it was Marko Stipp Motorsport’s Victor Neumann who claimed the victory after they accumulated the closest lap times compared to the reference time in the two sessions.
Neumann, who made his debut in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series in the #46 Chevrolet, topped both sessions to claim the victory from Academy / Alex Caffi Motorsport’s Federico Monti. The Club Challenge veteran finished second in the #1 Ford Mustang and claimed three bonus points for choosing the faster reference time in both sessions.
“The cars are easy to drive, which means they are very well to handle and have very good balance, which makes it a lot of fun to drive them around a track like this,” said Neumann. “I’m really happy that I won on my first Club Challenge appearance and I’m already working hard to build up a program for the 2024 season!”
Two-time Club Challenge Champion Alain Mosqueron finished third in the #40 Speedhouse Racing Ford Mustang. The Frenchman returned to the series after a two-year hiatus and showed that he hasn’t lost his edge. Mosqueron bested teammate and fellow Club Challenge rookie Florian Richard in an exciting session at the legendary Spanish circuit. Both drivers also claimed the bonus points for choosing the faster reference time.
Another Speedhouse driver in Arianna Casoli completed the top-5 after a superb performance in the second session, finishing just behind Valencia’s winner Neumann. Neumann’s teammate, the reigning champion Gordon Barnes, could only finish sixth despite taking the three bonus points as well. The Brit was struggling with the rear grip of the car. Race Art Technology’s Edouard Fatio, Yann Schar and Viktor Schiffer completed the results in seventh, eighth and ninth respectively.
With the first Club Challenge results settled, the series continues its weekend at Valencia with the EuroNASCAR PRO and EuroNASCAR 2 divisions. You can follow all qualifying sessions and races from NASCAR GP Spain live on EuroNASCAR’s YouTube channel, Motorsport.tv, and on many TV services around the world.
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