The 2024 NASCAR GP Italy couldn’t have gone any better for Hendriks Motorsport driver Martin Doubek. After his dominant victory on Saturday, the Czech driver started the EuroNASCAR 2 Round 4 on Pole Position and transformed the best starting position into a perfect sweep at the 4.085 kilometer long Autodromo di Vallelunga. The championship leader sustained constant pressure from teammate Gil Linster throughout the race and secured his third victory of the season – the 10th of his EuroNASCAR 2 career – to further extend his lead in the standings.
Doubek had a good start and held onto the lead in a thrilling side-by-side battle with Linster on the opening lap. The Luxembourger tried his best to find a way past his Hendriks Motorsport teammate, but Doubek’s defense was rock solid until the checkered flag. The driver of the #7 Ford Mustang took the win to round out an amazing weekend. Already a champion in 2021, the Czech driver from Litomsyl is vying for an opportunity to become the first to win two titles in EuroNASCAR’s most unpredictable division.
“It’s a nice feeling to be on the podium again!” said Doubek, who now sits second in the EuroNASCAR 2 all-time winners list, after 15 laps of fantastic close racing. “I won again, so I’m really happy and there’s still one race left where I will start from P3. I hope to get another podium and I will do my best for that. I really liked this track, the fans are also amazing and it’s really nice to have them here!”
The final podium position was taken by Melvin de Groot, who was finally able to kick his bad luck out of the way. The Dutchman, driving for Team Bleekemolen, additionally clinched the victory in the Legend Trophy. Thomas Krasonis had to fight hard to secure a back-to-back fourth position in EuroNASCAR 2. Running as high as third in the early stages of the race, the Greek driver gave everything to keep Vladimiros Tziortzis at bay and succeeded. Tziortzis therefore finished ahead of Thomas Toffel, who once again showed a promising pace. The Swiss driver initially finished in fourth, but a penalty for overtaking under FCY relegated him to sixth place.
Vict Motorsport drivers Valerio Marzi and Mario Ercoli gave the Tifosi a reason to celebrate: they secured a 1-2 finish in the Rookie Trophy for the best debutants in the series. They traded positions with fellow trophy competitor Florian Richard, who still came home with some silverwares in ninth overall and third in the class. Michael Bleekemolen rounded out the top-10 positions and was second in the Legend Trophy for drivers aged 40 and over. Sven van Laere in twelfth finished on the special classification podium, while Arianna Casoli once again took the Lady Trophy honors.
Full Course Yellow conditions slowed down the race on two occasions. The first neutralization was triggered by two separate incidents: Julien Rehberg retired with a mechanical issue on the final corner on lap 5 before Roberto Benedetti also had his race ended for the same reason just a lap later. Veeti Rajala later retired on lap 11 and the Full Course Yellow was called to allow marshalls to recover the Finn’s #90 Chevrolet Camaro fielded by Granducato Speed.
The sweep in the NASCAR GP Italy allowed Doubek to further extend his lead in the provisional standings. With 155 points, the Hendriks Motorsport driver now has a 24-point advantage from Toffel. Linster gained important points and is a further five points behind in third. Krasonis’ consistency allowed the Marko Stipp Motorsport driver to retain fourth place with Rehberg completing the top-5 despite not taking the checkered flag.
One race remains in the 2024 NASCAR GP Italy: the EuroNASCAR PRO Round 4, which will go live at 13:55 CEST. Catch up to the exciting action from the best NASCAR drivers in Europe as it will be broadcast live on EuroNASCAR’s YouTube channel and numerous TV channels around the world.
EuroNASCAR PRO Results | EuroNASCAR 2 Results
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