Martin Doubek built the perfect defense in the EuroNASCAR 2 Round 5 held at Brands Hatch in the context of the 2024 NASCAR GP UK. The Czech driver turned his pole position into a lead at the start of the extended 34-lap race and mastered a late restart to clinch his fourth win of the season in the eleventh edition of the American SpeedFest. With his closest rivals Thomas Toffel and Gil Linster not finishing inside the top-5, the Hendriks Motorsport driver also extended his overall lead in the EuroNASCAR 2 standings. As Vittorio Ghirelli did in EuroNASCAR PRO, the 2021 Champion secured his third consecutive NASCAR Whelen Euro Series win in the 2024 season.
Doubek had a strong launch at the start of the race and defended his lead against his teammate Linster. His opponents stacked behind the #7 Ford Mustang with a matching pace, but they lacked the consistency that the Hendriks Motorsport pilot showed. The Czech opened a gap of 2.5 seconds, but that was erased when the Safety Car was deployed after Simone Giussani crashed at the infamous Paddock Hill Bend. A four-lap dash to the checkered flag determined the outcome of Round 5 and in the end, Doubek held the lead and took home the eleventh victory in his career.
“I’m f****** happy that this car made it to the finish because I heard strange noises after just five laps”, said Doubek about his fourth win of the season. “I don’t know what’s wrong but we made it to Victory Lane again. But I think that my mechanics will have some work tonight. We did it again and I’m speechless. Of course I want to win the EuroNASCAR 2 title again and we will work hard to make it happen. My team does a great job and we are ready for the next one tomorrow.”
Gil Linster put up a strong challenge to his teammate Doubek in the first half of the race, but issues on his #50 Toyota on lap 24 handed second position to Academy / Alex Caffi Motorsports’ Claudio Cappelli. Cappelli took the opportunity and squeezed everything out of the #1 Ford to defend second – the best finish of his career so far. The Italian also grabbed first place in the Legend Trophy for drivers aged 40 in his effort to come back from a difficult weekend in Italy.
Third place went to the surprise of the day: Marko Stipp Motorsport’s ace Thomas Krasonis. The Greek is working with four-time EuroNASCAR PRO Champion Alon Day to optimize his racing skills and operations onboard the #46 Chevrolet and the guidance paid off immediately. Not only did the 22-year old secure the first podium finish of his career, the Athens native also clocked the fastest lap of the race. Therefore, the driver of the #46 Chevrolet Camaro will start Sunday’s EuroNASCAR 2 Round 6 from the pole – the first time since he joined EuroNASCAR in 2019.
Patrick Schober and Jack Davidson had a solid pace at the front and completed the top-5 positions ahead of Linster. Melvin de Groot made the best out of a tough weekend at Brands Hatch with a seventh place finish. His Team Bleekemolen teammate Thomas Dombrowski followed closely and was trailed by Julien Rehberg, the winner of the Rookie Trophy. The German driver for Bremotion took the lead late when Mario Ercoli had an incident on the restart that eliminated the Italian from contention. It was Rehberg’s fourth Rookie Trophy win in five races.
Second among the rookies, Victor Neumann rounded out the top-10 ahead of Kenko Miura who was third amongst the Legend Trophy competitors behind Cappelli and de Groot. Giovanni Faraonio rounded out the Rookie Trophy podium in 13th place in his second NWES race. Alain Grand’s first race in more than eleven years resulted in an 18th place result for the 71-year old driver. Arianna Casoli took the Lady Trophy win in 21st position. Toffel’s race got derailed when he suffered a rear-right puncture on the late Safety Car restart.
With 195 points, Doubek’s lead in the standings has been extended to 38 points. Linster scored enough points to move up to second place with Krasonis a further four markers behind in third. Toffel’s retirement drops the Swiss pilot down to fourth with Schober and Rehberg level on points for fifth.
With the Saturday program concluded, the EuroNASCAR field shifts into gear to prepare for Sunday’s Rounds 6. EuroNASCAR PRO will be competing first at 14:00 CEST / 13:00 local time followed by EuroNASCAR 2 at 17:20 CEST / 16:20 local time. The races from American SpeedFest 11 will be broadcast live on EuroNASCAR’s YouTube channel and several TV networks from all around the world.
EuroNASCAR PRO Results | EuroNASCAR 2 Results
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