The 2024 NASCAR GP Germany was a blast, with 16,500 fans in attendance to enjoy the second edition of the event and start the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series playoffs with a big American-themed festival of speed and passion at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben. Highlighted by four thrilling NASCAR races, the race weekend had a lot to offer. Fans found NASCAR merchandise, concerts, demo runs, plenty of muscle cars, parties, and delicious food and drinks. With double points on the line, the EuroNASCAR PRO and EuroNASCAR 2 championship standings were shaken up and spectators were thrilled by plenty of on-track drama.
In perfect Talladega and Daytona style, die-hard NASCAR fans parked their campers right up to the fences of the track to watch the races and party in the evenings. Families enjoyed the event with BBQs and campfires at the campground. Olympic winners, local and international politicians and VIPs such as Grammy Award nominee John Lee Hooker Junior and singer-songwriter Garlev filled the grid to make the Oschersleben race weekend one to remember.
Vittorio Ghirelli extended his lead in the EuroNASCAR PRO championship with a win on Sunday and a strong comeback run on Saturday after being involved in a Turn 1 incident. The Italian, driving the #24 PK Carsport Chevrolet Camaro, is eager to bring the Tijey trophy home to Fasano from the Zolder circuit in Belgium on October 12-13, but his rivals will do everything they can to challenge the ice-cold championship leader.
Reigning champion Gianmarco Ercoli battled his way back to Victory Lane on Saturday and is the closest challenger heading into the final races of the 2024 NWES season. The Rome native is just 23 points behind Ghirelli and is hungry to defend his title with CAAL Racing. Paul Jouffreau follows in third place, just one point behind Ercoli. The RDV Competition youngster wasn’t happy with Ghirelli’s driving style at the end of the second race and promised to fight as hard as he can to beat the Italian.
A dark horse in the battle is 2022 EuroNASCAR 2 Champion Liam Hezemans in fourth. The Hendriks Motorsport driver from the Netherlands is 28 points behind Ghirelli. Hezemans is also second in the Junior Trophy behind Jouffreau, while Marko Stipp Motorsport’s Thomas Krasonis took over third after what he said was the strongest EuroNASCAR weekend of his career. The Greek from Athens is ninth in the overall standings, just seven points ahead of Junior Trophy driver Ryan Vargas.
Martin Doubek was looking at the big picture at the start of the playoffs to defend his lead in the EuroNASCAR 2 standings and the Czech was successful despite some hurdles on his way to keeping the red Whelen banner. The Hendriks Motorsport driver holds a comfortable 33-point lead in the overall standings over Patrick Schober, who visited Victory Lane at Oschersleben, the track where he scored his first career win in 2023. Doubek’s teammate Gil Linster follows in third, 51 points behind the Czech. Krasonis sits in fourth ahead of Toffel, who also scored his first EuroNASCAR PRO podium.
Melvin de Groot defended his lead in the Legend Trophy despite losing it to Claudio Cappelli for less than 24 hours. Cappelli scored his first NASCAR win on Saturday, but was forced to retire on Sunday. De Groot took advantage of the Italian’s misfortune to score another Legend Trophy win, and with his 18th class win, the Dutchman overtook Eric de Doncker at the top of the all-time standings in the special classification. Florian Richard retook the Rookie Trophy lead from Victor Neumann, with Mario Ercoli in third waiting for his chance to shine and win the class battle. Arianna Casoli, who celebrated her 100th start in Germany, still leads the Lady Trophy, but it was Luli Del Castello who topped the class twice in Germany.
Leaving Germany with a big boost for NASCAR in Europe, the teams will now begin preparations for another exciting season finale at Circuit Zolder. The Belgian track will host the final race weekend for the seventh time and the traditional and historic track in the woods of Limburg is a guarantee for close battles and sudden turns of events in the EuroNASCAR playoffs. Once again, double points will be on the line and two drivers will be crowned champions. The Club Challenge, the regularity based division, will also be decided. Buckle up for pure racing in Belgium and buckle up for a nail-biter at Circuit Zolder – home of the 2024 EuroNASCAR Finals.
NWES PR
