Stunning drive gets Advait Deodhar a silver: NASCAR2
Dedicates silver to his late brother Akshay Deodhar
Czech Republic, 28 August 2021: Indian racing maestro Advait Deodhar of CAAL Racing team looks to have found his wonted form and indulged himself in another stunning drive in wet conditions to take Silver after starting from a disadvantage of a P5, but had a good get away and kept his calm displaying his driving skills to take another podium and valuable points in the Round 5 of the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series Nascar2 class here on Saturday. He clocked 21min, 01.214sec for the 14 laps of 4.2 km Autodrom Most, just 7.2 sec behind leader Tobias Dauenhauer.
The London-based Indian’s journey from a Yachtsman to NASCAR racing brings pride to India on the eve of the National Sports Day, which celerates the legendary hockey wizard Dhyan Chand’s birth anniversary. The ace Indian racing star jumped to third in the rankings with 159 points behind Tobias and Doubek Martin and has one gold, one silver among his four points finish in top-10. Advait dedicated his trophy to his brother Akshay Deodhar, a sportsman mad about F1 and MotoGP and used to take part in Regatta races of Yachting Association of India in Mumbai. Unfortunately, I lost him last month,'' said the Mumbaikar talking to INDIAinF1.com after the race about his 36-year old elder brother. “Racing for you, my beautiful brother. This one is for you big bro. I could sense you by my side in the car,” Advait’s words after he put his TJB SuperYachts-sponsored Mustang #56 in second place for a silver. In this bereavement, all his fans are with him as he races along to bring more laurels for the country. Ace Indian rally co-driver Musa Sherif, who was nominated for Arjuna Award by the Indian Federatin this year, is the first to congratulate Advaith and by Motoport Seena, who circulated his live video links to thousands of motorsports fans in Bengaluru on Friday.
After graduating as an Automobile Designer from Turin, Italy, Advait Deodhar took part in domestic races at MMRT Chennai winning the Formula LGB 4 National Championship as a rookie in 2012 and became the vice-champion of Formula Ford 1600 Indian National Championship in 2015. Inbetween, he won a round of the Toyota Etios Cup as a guest driver and also got a drive in the MRF Challenge in Bahrain among other races. Then he says, “I took a one-way ticket to London in 2015 to take my motorsport career forward,” the late-starter, at age 22, is a quick bloomer though, winning the European NASCAR Elite Club Championship in his debut year 2018. Last month, he got his first major career victory at the prestigeous NASCAR2 at the coveted Brands Hatch circuit.
Rain was falling before the start of EuroNASCAR 2 Round 5 so all drivers had rain tires mounted for the race. At the end of the 14 scheduled laps, Tobias Dauenhauer scored his second win of the season after he already visited Victory Lane at Brands Hatch. Making it two in a row, the German led from flag to flag at the wheel of his #50 Hendriks Motorsport Ford Mustang and extended his Championship lead.
It was far from an easy race for Dauenhauer though. He went off track at the first chican, but managed to recover and keep the lead despite the incident. Afterwards, he opened the gap on Advait Deodhar, who settled in second after a wild start. Dauenhauer never allowed the other competitors to catch up on him and therefore he grabbed the win in dominant fashion.
“The conditions were pretty difficult out there and it was quite slippery”, said the EuroNASCAR 2 Championship leader. “I made a small mistake in the beginning but I managed to open the gap on the second placed car. I’m very happy and really want to thank the Hendriks team for such a great car. It was tons of fun and I’m really looking forward to racing again tomorrow.”
Deodhar was coming from fifth on the grid but took over second place in the very first lap. The Indian, who scored his first NASCAR Whelen Euro Series win at Brands Hatch, was put under pressure by local hero Martin Doubek, who was trying his best to take over second place. Deodhar defended his position and crossed the finish line in second, while Doubek completed the overall EuroNASCAR 2 podium.
DF1 Racing rookie Leevi Lintukantu had an amazing run at the wheel of the #23 Iceboys Chevrolet Camaro and stormed to victory in the Rookie Trophy classification in fourth. His teammate Simon Pilate rounded out the overall top-5 after falling through the order from 2nd on the grid. Francesco Garisto was sixth ahead of Max Lanza, who topped the Legend Trophy classification at the wheel of his #88 Caal Racing Camaro.
His fierce Legend Trophy competitor Yevgen Sokolovskiy finished right behind him in eighth claiming second place in the special classification. Paolo Valeri ended up ninth – and second in the Rookie Trophy standings as well as third in the Legend Trophy classification. Alberto Panebianco not only closed the top-10 but also completed the Rookie Trophy podium. Solaris Motorsport’s Alina Loibnegger edged Arianna Casoli in the battle for the Lady Trophy win.
Due to the difficult conditions, several drivers were involved in incidents at the 4.1 kilometer long track. On lap 1, DF1 Racing drivers Justin Kunz and Ian Eric Waden spun out. On lap 3, Naveh Talor, who started from 5th, collected heavy damage to his front bumper, while Vladimiros Tziortzis first spun and then had to retire early.
EuroNASCAR 2 will be back in action on Sunday: EuroNASCAR 2 Round 6 will start at 1:55 pm IST. All races will be broadcasted live on EuroNASCAR’s platforms – YouTube, NWES App, Facebook, Twitch – and Motorsport.tv.
