WEST KINGSDOWN, England – Loris Hezemans put on dominant performace at the wheel of the No. 7 Hendriks Motorsport Ford Mustang at the Indy Circuit of Brands Hatch Sunday.
The Dutchman started from the pole and led all 38 laps of EuroNASCAR PRO round four despite three safety car periods and cruised to his third win of the season. By doing so, he also increased his lead in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series standings and earned the crown King of Brands Hatch for the first time.
Hezemans ran away at the start and defended his lead against Alon Day. A safety car triggered on lap nine by Igor Romanov’s car stuck in the gravel bunched the field back up. Hezemans made a good restart and kept Day behind him once again until another caution came out on lap 22 due to a spin by Scott Jeffs, whose car had to be recovered by the track marshals.
The ensuing restart marked the key moment of the race: Day tried to get around the outside of Hezemans but touched the gravel trap at Paddock Hill Bend. The Israeli damaged his car and had to retire. Hezemans mastered another restart and sped to victory ahead of Gianmarco Ercoli.
“It was a tough race due to the safety cars but we made the best out of it,” said Hezemans, who scored his 10th career Euro Series win. “We struggled a little bit on pace but we got better and better. I think the strategy from yesterday paid off when I saved my tires behind Alon Day. I’m very happy to have won my first race here at Brands Hatch and I hope we continue like that. Hendriks Motorsport team gave me a great car once again.”
Ercoli, who scored his maiden EuroNASCAR PRO race win at Brands Hatch in 2018, ended up second after a solid run at the iconic 1.94 kilometer British track. The Italian also topped the Junior Trophy standings for drivers aged 25 and under and collected important points for the overall championship. Sebastiaan Bleekemolen really built up momentum in the 2021 season. After scoring his first podium in Valencia, the Dutchman again charged into the top-three after 38 laps at the wheel of his No. 69 Ford Mustang.
2019 EuroNASCAR 2 runner-up Giorgio Maggi from Switzerland followed in fourth scoring a strong top-five result in his No. 18 Hendriks Motorsport Ford Mustang. The 23-year-old also took second place in the Junior Trophy classification, while local hero Alex Sedgwick closed the top-five driving the No. 24 NBA 2K Academy Motorsport/Alex Caffi Motorsport Chevrolet Camaro. The Brit rounded out the Junior Trophy podium in EuroNASCAR PRO round four.
Reigning EuroNASCAR 2 champion Vittorio Ghirelli was sixth ahead of Speedhouse’s Lucas Lasserre. DF1 Racing’s Nicolo Rocca and Alexander Graff followed in eighth and ninth. The Swede spun in the very first lap of the race at Paddock Hill Bend but recovered from the incident by charging right into the top-10 ahead of Frederic Gabillon. Henri Tuomaala won the Challenger Trophy race ahead of Davide Dallara.