VALLELUNGA, Italy – The first day of the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series season finale went into the history books with a strong performance by Tobias Dauenhauer, who expanded his EuroNASCAR 2 championship lead thanks to a dominant win at Autodromo di Vallelunga.
The German led all 15 laps and therefore expanded his championship lead to 13 points on his Hendriks Motorsport teammate Martin Doubek, who stormed from sixth on the grid to second under the checkered flag.
Dauenhauer made a good start and defended his lead from the pole. The German quickly opened a gap ahead of the rest of the field, while title contender Doubek began his comeback. A caution on lap nine bunched the field back up, but Dauenhauer kept his cool on the ensuing restart and fended off all attacks by the Czech, who climbed up the ranks to second. The 23-year-old Heppenheim native scored his fifth win of the season and expanded his championship lead on his #50 Ford Mustang.
“It was the perfect start to the weekend for us,” said Dauenhauer. “We grabbed the Pole Position in Qualifying and now won the first Final. I’m very happy and the whole Hendriks Motorsport team did a great job. Tomorrow it’s all about giving my maximum and going full gas. There is no other strategy than to go full power and win the championship.”
Doubek kept his championship dreams alive despite starting from sixth in Saturday’s race. The Czech was already up to fourth on lap two and on lap six he took over third from Vladimiros Tziortzis, who was shuffled down the order after starting from the front row. Doubek then also got past Franceso Garisto to finish second under the checkered flag.
42 Racing’s Garisto followed in third and celebrated his second podium of the season. The Italian bested DF1 Racing’s Simon Pilate on the No. 66 Chevrolet Camaro. Pilate overtook Tziortzis on lap 6 to take over fourth place and score a solid top-five result – the fifth of the season. Naveh Talor was fifth at the finish, but a penalty dropped him down the order. Justin Kunz inherited the last spot inside the top-five.
DF1 Racing youngster Leevi Lintukanto ended up sixth and topped the Rookie Trophy ranks, while Leonardo Colavita took second place for Vict Motorsport in the special classification by finishing seventh. 42 Racing newcomer Alfredo De Matteo took first place in the Legend Trophy ahead of Max Lanza and Talor, who rounded out the top 10.
Alina Loibnegger and Arianna Casoli were battling for the win in the Lady Trophy. In the last lap, the Austrian tried to pass Casoli but made a mistake and therefore made contact with the Italian CAAL Racing driver, who was forced to retire. Loibnegger – who got a penalty – won the Lady Trophy race, but refused to lift the trophy at the podium as she “felt sorry for Arianna”.