After he was forced to miss Vallelunga due to being tested positive for COVID-19, Martin Doubek’s comeback at Zolder begins in a very high note as the Czech driver secured his first career pole position in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series in a Qualifying session that is interrupted by three red flags.
After being forced to sit out from Vallelunga due to being tested positive for COVID-19, Hendriks Motorsport’s Martin Doubek returns back in form in the most positive way possible after he secured his first career pole position in yesterday’s EuroNASCAR 2 Qualifying session.
In a session that was interrupted by three red flags due to drivers spinning out in the worsening weather conditions, Doubek edged out Hendriks teammate Tobias Dauenhauer by just 0.035 seconds to claim pole position for the first race of EN2 at Zolder.
Nicholas Risitano qualified third ahead of Julia Landauer, who secured the best qualifying result for a female driver in the series since Francesca Linossi qualified 3rd in the 2015 Valencia NASCAR Fest. Landauer, however, will be starting Race 1 in 9th after she received a 5-place grid penalty yesterday.
Rookies Simon Pilate and Andreas Jochimsen completes the third row in Qualifying as experienced drivers Alessandro Brigatti and Guillaume Dumarey lines up behind the two promising junior drivers.
Francesco Garisto secured an impressive 9th place result, but he too will be receiving a 5-place grid penalty for the race. Dylan Derdaele completes the Top 10 ahead of Vittorio Ghirelli and Evgeny Sokolovsky in a double duty effort for the Ukrainian.
Vladimiros Tziortzis, Max Lanza, Matthias Haier, Pol van Pollaert, Eric Quintal, Alex Ciompi, Arriana Casoli, and Igor Romanov completes the grid for Race 1. Due to the very limited track time that the drivers had as a result of the three red flags, yesterday’s EuroNASCAR 2 Qualifying saw an unusually huge gap divider as there’s a staggering 29 seconds gap between Doubek in first and Romanov in 20th position.
Andre Castro continues to have bad luck in his EuroNASCAR career as he was taken out of Qualifying after he caught a stomach bug, leaving the American as the sole driver to not set a lap time in Qualifying.
Qualifying Results
| RANK | DRIVER | QUALIFYING |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Martin Doubek (7) | 1:53.185 |
| 2. | Tobias Dauenhauer (50) | 1:53.220 |
| 3. | Nicholas Risitano (12) | 1:54.143 |
| 4. | Julia Landauer (11) | 1:55.157 |
| 5. | Simon Pilate (6) | 1:55.235 |
| 6. | Andreas Jochimsen (66) | 1:55.603 1 |
| 7. | Alessandro Brigatti (8) | 1:55.784 |
| 8. | Guillaume Dumarey (24) | 1:56.097 |
| 9. | Francesco Garisto (42) | 1:56.720 |
| 10. | Dylan Derdaele (98) | 1:57.601 |
| 11. | Vittorio Ghirelli (18) | 1:58.471 |
| 12. | Evgeny Sokolovsky (48) | 1:58.830 |
| 13. | Vladimiros Tziortzis (1) | 1:59.080 |
| 14. | Max Lanza (88) | 1:59.942 |
| 15. | Matthias Hauer (64) | 2:02.375 |
| 16. | Pol van Pollaert (43) | 2:04.779 |
| 17. | Eric Quintal (33) | 2:13.423 |
| 18. | Alex Ciompi (17) | 2:13.808 |
| 19. | Arianna Casoli (54) | 2:22.071 |
| 20. | Igor Romanov (89) | 2:22.490 |
| 21. | Andre Castro (22) | No Time |
Disclaimer: Unless noted, all photos used in this article are courtesy of NASCAR Whelen Euro Series / Stephane Azemard / Bart Dehaese.