Roller-coaster drive for Advait Deodhar in penultimate round

Zolder, 10 October 2021: The only Indian in NASCAR races, Advait Deodhar had a roller-coaster of a weekend at the penultimate round of the Euro Nascar2 Championship at Circuit Zolder in Belgium on Saturday and Sunday.

Official Practice 1 : The Indian could not take part in the official practice due to a clutch problem.

Official Practice 2 : The Indian was running in P2 overall, but the session ended with a blown engine on his #56 Ford Mustang in the final minutes. “We are still not sure what caused it, but a piston rod punched a hole in the engine. The mechanics did a remarkable job at installing a new engine over night,” Deodhar said.

QUALIFYING – The Mumbai Yachtsman came 4th in the qualifying session. “It was a close qualifying and I managed to qualify on the second row of the grid for the first race of the weekend,” he added. 

Race 1 : In Race 1 he came 4th. “I managed to have a few on-track battles and ended up bringing the car home in 4th, gaining valuable Championship points.”

Race 2 : However, in Race 2, he had to limp home in a heavily damaged car in P16. It was due to three dramatic on-track incidents. “I ended up with severe damage on the car and had to limp home in P16 in order to get points, rather than retiring the car,” he explained.

“I moved up to 4th in the Championship on Saturday and am now back down in 5th after Sunday’s result,” with double points for the last round, the championship is still open.

The final round takes place on the October 30 & 31at Circuit Vallelunga in Italy. “Still there is a lot left to be gained,” he grinned.

You can watch the race here.