The 2024 NASCAR GP UK signed off the festivities at Brands Hatch with a driver from the United Kingdom making history in front of tens of thousands of home fans. An early contact involving pole sitter Thomas Krasonis and championship leader Martin Doubek opened the door for Lux Motorsport’s Jack Davidson to take the lead of EuroNASCAR 2 Round 6. The Scotsman never looked back and dominated the competition in the pink #21 Lux Motorsport Chevrolet Camaro to become the first driver from his nation to win in EuroNASCAR’s most unpredictable division.
Front row starter Claudio Remigio Cappelli got caught in the incident between Krasonis and Doubek. A contact with the Czech driver caused the Italian to slip out of the top-10, while Doubek had to retire. Cappelli’s race got more eventful when he had to spun his car around on lap 18 to avoid crashing into the back of Roberto Benedetti’s #88 CAAL Racing Chevrolet after Benedetti made contact with Nick Strickler at the challenging Graham Hill Bend. Both incidents necessitated deploying the Safety Car, but Davidson held the lead in both restarts to secure a fairytale victory and be crowned the new Prince of the American SpeedFest.
“I’m still shaking and trying to catch my breath”, said the 46th winner in EuroNASCAR 2 history. “It was tough from the start to the end and there was a little bit of contact there but that gave me the lead. I had to survive two safety car periods. I’m thankful that she, the pink machine, is back in one piece and we came back with the win.”
Gil Linster had no answer to Davidson’s speed at the track where the Scotsman has turned countless laps, but he looked at the bigger picture. A runner-up finish gave the Luxembourger important points to close his deficit to his Hendriks Motorsport teammate Doubek in the championship standings. Patrick Schober and Melvin de Groot were fighting hard for the final spot on the podium when they made contact on the final lap. The Austrian RDV Competition driver earned his first podium finish since the opening round at Valencia.
Thomas Toffel revived his title ambitions with a strong race that was rewarded with a fourth place result. Thomas Dombrowski filled the last spot in the top-5 ahead of de Groot, who came home the winner in the Legend Trophy for drivers aged 40 and over. The Team Bleekemolen party was completed by the 74-year-old Michael Bleekemolen, who climbed twelve places to finish second in the Legend Trophy and earn the bonus points for the most positions gained. A trio of Rookie Trophy competitors followed with Florian Richard coming out on top in the special classification ahead of Veeti Rajala and Reza Sardeha, who completed the top-10. Julien Rehberg was on course to score his fifth Rookie Trophy win but he made contact with Victor Neumann and slipped down the order.
Krasonis was left pondering on what could’ve happened. With a quick lap in Round 5, the Greek driver had secured a maiden pole position for both himself and his team Marko Stipp Motorsport and led the opening lap before his fateful contact with Doubek. The driver of the #46 Chevrolet Camaro struggled to move up the running order after the first restart and had to retire during the second Safety Car period due to the damage to his car. He will certainly be aiming to bounce back and use his oval experience in the next round at the Raceway Venray in the Netherlands.
Doubek held on to the red Whelen championship banner for championship leaders, but Linster has narrowed the gap down to just 15 points. Toffel’s consistency brought him back to third with Schober and Krasonis rounding out the top-5 positions. Davidson’s dream win at the UK moved him up to seventh in the standings.
The American SpeedFest at Brands Hatch once again proved to be one of the most action packed rounds in the EuroNASCAR calendar as the series turns the focus to the June 29-30 Raceway Venray NASCAR Oval GP. Be sure to save the date for the first oval race in five years as all the action from the 2024 season 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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