Reigning Legend Trophy winner Melvin de Groot returned with a bang in the American SpeedFest X. De Groot was absent in the season opening Valencia NASCAR Fest in Circuit Ricardo Tormo, but the Dutchman set his goals straight to the Legend Trophy victory at Brands Hatch. After he lost out on the victory in the special classification on Saturday due to a post-race penalty, de Groot took home the top spot in the Legend Trophy on Sunday after completing a daring overtake on Martin Doubek in the grass.
De Groot finished fifth on the line in Race 1 and would have grabbed the victory in Legend Trophy, but he was penalized for overtaking a lapped car under the Full Course Yellow period. The Dutchman bounced back on Sunday with a victory on the special classification and a fourth place finish overall, aided with a daring maneuver that he did in lap 25 when he got past Martin Doubek on the grass despite the slippery track conditions. De Groot’s absence from Valencia meant that he’s only 20th in the standings, but he would have the opportunity to catch up when the joker rounds came into play at Zolder.
The overall top spot in the Legend Trophy is still being held by Riccardo Romagnoli, who currently leads with 115 points. The Italian scored two podiums in the classification and kept his top-10 finishing streak alive with a double eighth place finish at Brands Hatch. Another Italian driver in Race Art Technology’s Claudio Remigio Cappelli moved up to second place after a return to form. Cappelli was handed the victory in Legend Trophy on Saturday after de Groot’s penalty was applied and finished on the podium on Sunday despite a visit to the gravel trap. Cappelli now trails Romagnoli by nine points as they head to their home race at Autodromo di Vallelunga.
Michael Bleekemolen, de Groot’s teammate at Team Bleekemolen, ranks third in the Legend Trophy after a weekend of highs and lows. Contact with Cappelli in the first race forced the 73-year old driver to retire, but he made it up with a top-10 overall finish on Sunday after a close battle with another Team Bleekemolen teammate Thomas Dombrowski. A deficit of 30 points separated him from Romagnoli, but he would have the opportunity to catch up in future rounds if he was able to stay consistent and score important points.
Roberto Benedetti remains in fourth place despite not starting Race 2 after teammate Max Lanza rolled the #88 Chevrolet Camaro in the preceding EuroNASCAR PRO race. Important points were scored by Sven van Laere, allowing him to move up to fifth in the Legend Trophy ranks. Matthias Hauer and Lady Trophy winner are tied for sixth with 75 points each with de Groot following behind after his strong performance at the American SpeedFest. Dario Caso and Kenko Miura completed the top-10 with Gordon Barnes, Eric Quintal and Paolo Valeri closing out the Legend Trophy standings.
The unpredictable battle in the Legend Trophy will continue when the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series returns on 8-9 July for the NASCAR GP Italy at Autodromo di Vallelunga. Every qualifying session and race from the 2023 season will be streamed live on EuroNASCAR’s YouTube channel, Motorsport.tv and multiple television networks around the world.
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