Tobias Dauenhauer completes the sweep in his debut NASCAR Whelen Euro Series outing at Vallelunga as he secured the victory in Race 2 in dominating fashion, leading from start to finish and winning by more than 12 seconds from Alessandro Brigatti and Nicholas Risitano.
Tobias Dauenhauer’s impressive debut outing in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series EuroNASCAR 2 class continues in yesterday’s Race 2 as the German led from start to finish to sweep the weekend at Vallelunga in a dominating fashion.
Starting from pole for a second time after he got the Fastest Lap in Race 1, Dauenhauer got a brilliant start and never looked away afterwards as the Hendriks driver stormed off into the distance, eventually winning by 12.880 seconds from Alessandro Brigatti.
“I’m absolutely happy,” said Dauenhauer in the Victory Lane. “I can’t describe it in words, it’s the perfect weekend for us, especially for me as a rookie. Thank you to Hendriks Motorsport and RZOIL, I’m speechless.”
Alessandro Brigatti makes it two podiums in two races as the FEED Vict driver had to fought hard in order to secure the 2nd place finish in Race 2.
“This podium is amazing because we know we’re fast. We wanted more from our car and we got more. I’m very happy with the podium and now we go to Zolder and think to get the last position on the podium that we missed,” said Brigatti in the post-race interview.
After finishing 5th in Race 1, Nicholas Risitano secured a maiden podium finish for the Solaris Motorsport team in the EuroNASCAR 2 class after fending off Vittorio Ghirelli and Andreas Jochimsen to the finish line.
Ghirelli and Jochimsen completes the Top 5 ahead of Alex Ciompi, who secured yet another impressive performance in the Shadow-sponsored No. 17 42 Racing team. Vladimiros Tziortzis makes it a double Top 10 finish on the Cypriot’s debut ahead of fellow debutants Davide Dallara, while Guillaume Dumarey secured the most positions gained bonus points after he climbed from 18th on the grid to 9th at the line.
Finishing 10th is Max Lanza, who had an interesting Race 2. As the field rolled out from the pits to form up on the grid, Lanza’s No. 88 Wakala Chevrolet experienced an engine issue that initially made it look as seem he won’t be able to start the race. Fortunately for him, the CAAL mechanics managed to fix the issues in time for the start of the race and Lanza charged back from the pit lane to secure a second Top-10 finish of the week the Italian.
Arianna Casoli finished in 11th to secure the win in both the Lady Trophy and the Legend Trophy. Giovanni Trione experienced issues during the race that dropped him to 12th, while 13th place finisher Eric Quintal became the final classified finisher of Race 2.
Kris Richard and Julia Landauer was battling for 6th late in the race when Landauer misjudged the gap as she tried to overtake the Swiss driver at Soratte on lap 12. The resulting collision tookboth cars out of the race and left Marko Stipp Motorsport with yet another big repair job to do after Dernovšek’s accident in Race 1 prevented the Slovenian from taking the start in Race 2.
Dylan Derdaele was forced to retire at half-distance after the No. 98 Derdaele Ford Mustang experienced overheating issues by the pedals of the car, while both Andre Castro and Simon Pilate retired on Lap 7 – Castro after spinning off from 3rd place while Pilate experienced electrical issues in his No. 6 FEED Vict car.
Joining Dernovšek as a non-starter in Race 2 is Francesco Garisto, as the 42 Racing team was unable to repair the damage suffered by the No. 42 car in the high-speed off on Race 1 in time for the Italian rookie to take part in Race 2.
RACE RESULTS
| POS | GRID | DRIVER | LAPS | TIME / GAP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 1 | Tobias Dauenhauer (50) | 15 | 25:39.945 |
| 2. | 2 | Alessandro Brigatti (8) | 15 | + 12.880 |
| 3. | 5 | Nicholas Risitano (12) | 15 | + 20.906 |
| 4. | 4 | Vittorio Ghirelli (18) | 15 | + 21.075 |
| 5. | 9 | Andreas Jochimsen (66) | 15 | + 21.248 |
| 6. | 6 | Alex Ciompi (17) | 15 | + 31.681 |
| 7. | 8 | Vladimiros Tziortzis (1) | 15 | + 32.878 |
| 8. | 14 | Davide Dallara (89) | 15 | + 35.431 |
| 9. | 18 | Guillaume Dumarey (24) | 15 | + 39.832 |
| 10. | 11 1 | Max Lanza (88) | 15 | + 53.555 |
| 11. | 17 | Arianna Casoli (54) | 15 | + 1:19.625 |
| 12. | 13 | Giovanni Trione (31) | 15 | + 1:22.281 |
| 13. | 16 | Eric Quintal (33) | 15 | + 1:43.478 |
| 14. | 7 | Kris Richard (48) | 12 | DNF (Collision) |
| 15. | 12 | Julia Landauer (11) | 12 | DNF (Collision) |
| 16. | 10 | Dylan Derdaele (98) | 9 | DNF (Overheating) |
| 17. | 2 | Andre Castro (22) | 6 | DNF (Spun Off) |
| 18. | 19 | Simon Pilate (6) | 6 | DNF (Electrical) |
| 19. | 15 | Francesco Garisto (42) | 0 | DNS (Did Not Start) |
| 20. | 20 | Gašper Dernovšek (46) | 0 | DNS (Did Not Start) |
| 21. | 21 | Marcel Lenerz (99) | 0 | WD (Withdraw) |
In the Championship Standings, Dauenhauer’s sweep meant that he earned 80 points from Vallelunga, the maximum amount of points possible from finishing results. Dauenhauer leads the Italian contingent of Brigatti, Ghirelli, Risitano, and Ciompi, who were all within 5 points of each other in the driver’s standings. Completing the Top 10 in the standings is Tziortzis, Giovanni, Dallara, Richard, and Lanza, who are also currently sitting within 5 points of each other in the standings.
The EuroNASCAR 2 drivers will be returning for the NASCAR GP Belgium at Circuit Zolder on 3-4 October. The qualifying and races at Zolder will be streamed live on the official YouTube, Facebook, and Twitch pages of the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series as well as on Motorsport.tv.
Disclaimer: Unless noted, all photos used in this article are courtesy of NASCAR Whelen Euro Series / Stephane Azemard.