Advait Deodhar finishes 5th in Race 1

Cavle, Near Rijeka (Croatia), 18 Sept 2021: Ace Indian driver Advait Deodhar finished 5th in Race of Round 7 in the NASCAR2 Whelen Euro Series here on Saturday.

But it was Martin Doubek, who got closer to the championship leader at Grobnik by winning EuroNASCAR 2 Round 7 in a tight battle against Vladimiros Tziortzis. A penalty for then race leader Tobias Dauenhauer had a crucial impact on the outcome of the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series race at Automotodrom Grobnik.

For Doubek it was the third win of the season and the fifth of his career in EuroNASCAR 2. The Czech crossed the finish line just 0.465 seconds ahead of Vladimiros Tziortzis, who reached his goal of collecting big points in the first of two races at the NASCAR GP Croatia. The Cypriot attacked Doubek several times but never got past the Hendriks Motorsport driver.

“I don’t know what happened to Tobias but I think I would have caught him in two laps”, said Doubek, who is now only 28 points shy of championship leader Dauenhauer. “I got the lead and put the pedal down, but Vladimiros put a lot of pressure on me. It was a really stressful race for me. I did it and I collected the big points for me and my team, who did a great job. Now we are looking forward to tomorrow’s race!”

The two teammates will start side by side again tomorrow for Round 8, with Dauenhauer on pole and Doubek in second on the first row on the grid.

Justin Kunz rounded out the overall podium in third place and therefore collected the second EuroNASCAR 2 podium of his career. The German was battling with his DF1 Racing teammate Simon Pilate for third and got past the Belgian when he suffered a puncture late in the race. Not Only Motorsport’s Alberto Panebianco ended up fourth overall and topped the Rookie Trophy classification. It was already his second top-5 result in the 2021 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series season.

Brands Hatch race winner Advait Deodhar was fifth under the checkered flag. The Indian gained one position after starting from sixth. He was followed by Tobias Dauenhauer, who served his penalty on lap 10. The sanction was due to unauthorized operations on the car on the grid and the German therefore got a drive through penalty in the race. The Hendriks Motorsport driver fell back to eighth and then fought his way back up the ranks.

NASCAR Whelen Euro Series newcomer Melvin de Groot not only surprised with a strong seventh place overall but also grabbed the win in the Legend Trophy for drivers aged 40 and more and the second place in the Rookie Trophy. The Dutchman, who’s racing for Team Bleekemolen, enjoyed every second of the competition and the pure power of the V8 beasts without any electronic driving aids.

He was followed by 42 Racing’s Francesco Garisto, DF1 Racing’s Gil Linster and CAAL Racing’s Max Lanza, who not only rounded out the top-10 but also took second in the Legend Trophy classification. Yevgen Sokolovskiy joined him on the podium in third with a twelfth place overall. Alina Loibnegger topped the Lady Trophy standings.

Making his EuroNASCAR 2 debut at the young age of 16, Leonardo Colavita ended up third on the Rookie Trophy podium by finishing eleventh. With 16 years and 3 days on his first day, Colavita got the new record of NWES’ all-time youngest driver – before him, it was Ben Creanor with the age of 16 years, 29 days.

Two strong title contenders both had very bad luck: Pierluigi Veronesi got off track on lap 3 and had to bring his Double V Racing car back to the pits. Naveh Talor parked his Not Only Motorsport Chevrolet Camaro on lap 10 with technical issues. Therefore, the Israeli didn’t score many points in the first EuroNASCAR 2 race at the Automotodrom Grobnik.

Both championships will return to action on Sunday: While EuroNASCAR 2 Round 8 begins at 10:10 am CEST, the second EuroNASCAR PRO race is scheduled for 2:25 pm CEST. All races will be broadcasted on EuroNASCAR’s social media channels – YouTube, Facebook, Twitch – as well as on the NWES App and Motorsport.tv.

Deodhar qualifies P6

Earlier, Deodhar secured P6 in the qualifying of the  EuroNASCAR 2 even as the pole position for Round 7 went to Tobias Dauenhauer at the 4.168km Automotodrom Grobnik here on Saturday. Deodhar of CAAL Racing team clocked 1:31.047 in his #56 Ford Mustang. “P6 in qualifying today. Not ideal but it was my first time outing on this track in the dry as all practice sessions were in the wet. looking forward to the race,” said Deodhar after the qualies.

Tobias did a 1:29.830 lap in the closing stages of the 30-minute session to get the pole. It wasn’t easy though for the current points leader, as the Hendriks Motorsport team had to quickly work on a technical issue to the brakes of the #50 Mustang and Dauenhauer had only a few minutes to post his best time.

Vladimiros Tziortzis, at the wheel of the #1 Academy Motorsport / Alex Caffi Motorsport Mustang, was just 0.167 seconds slower than the German and held the lead for most of the session, which was interrupted by a red flag to recover the stopped car of Leonardo Colavita. Martin Doubek drove the #7 Hendriks Motorsport Mustang to third ahead of the DF1 Racing duo of Simon Pilate and Justin Kunz. The top-5 drivers were separated by just 1 second.

Advait Deodhar was the first CAAL Racing driver in sixth and edged the first Rookie Trophy contender Alberto Panebianco, driving the #89 Not Only Motorsport Camaro. Max Lanza took eighth place and the lead in the Legend Trophy just ahead of the #48 Marko Stipp Motorsport Camaro of Yevgen Sokolovskiy.

In his first outing on a dry track aboard the #69 Team Bleekemolen Mustang, Melvin de Groot rounded out the top-10.

All the races of the NASCAR GP Croatia from Automotodrom Grobnik will be streamed live from 13:35 CEST on the EuroNASCAR social media platforms – Youtube, Facebook and Twitch – as well as on the NWES app and on Motorsport.tv.