Our second Race Preview for the NASCAR GP Germany takes a look at what can be expected from the EuroNASCAR PRO drivers at Oschersleben.
The 2023 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series season is about to reach its climax with the final round of the regular season, the NASCAR GP Germany at Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, scheduled to be held this weekend.
This year’s NASCAR GP Germany will be the fourth edition of the event and the first since 2019, held at the Hockenheimring circuit in Baden-Wurtemberg. EuroNASCAR’s return to Germany will present a new challenge to drivers and teams as they will venture to the only new track of the season: Motorsport Arena Oschersleben.
Built in 1995 and opened in 1997, Oschersleben is one of the biggest motorsport venues in the former East Germany region. With practically no race data available to be used as a reference, it will be a challenge to master the 3.668-kilometer long circuit that was known for its smooth and fast layout.
The passionate German race fans will be treated to the sight and sound of the V8-powered EuroNASCAR stock cars entered by 26 teams, which will have 45 competitors ready to drive them across all three classes based on the data provided by the provisional Entry List.
This NASCAR GP Germany Preview article is going to be the second of a four-part article, which focuses on our preview for the EuroNASCAR 2 races. Like with previous rounds, Part 1 was focused on all of the changes listed in the Entry List while Part 3 will talk about our preview for the EuroNASCAR 2 races.
Because NASCAR GP Germany is the round where drivers have to drop their two worst results in the regular season, the upcoming Part 4 will highlight the impact that dropped points is going to have in the 2023 championship.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
The top drivers in EuroNASCAR PRO will be feeling a lot of pressure this weekend. Not only is Oschersleben a new venue for everyone on the grid, each drivers’ two worst results from the first 10 races of the season – including the two at Germany – will be dropped at the end of the round.
With this being a driver’s last chance to lock in their regular points tally before the season finale at Circuit Zolder that will award double points, there will be an added incentive for drivers to perform as best as they can and that’s exactly what Gianmarco Ercoli is planning to do this weekend.
Ercoli got himself in a pinch as a multi-car pile-up on the Saturday race at Most reduced his advantage to Lucas Lasserre significantly. Only two points now separated the main championship protagonists in the 2023 season so far, but dropped points meant that the calculations isn’t as easy as it looks on paper.
Ercoli’s misfortunes at Valencia and Most meant that he has two finishes outside of the top-10 that he can potentially drop at Oschersleben. Lasserre, who is playing his trademark consistency game, didn’t have such “luxury” as his worst finishes so far are a pair of sixths and an eighth at Brands Hatch.
Depending on how the results went at Oschersleben, this meant that Ercoli had a chance to gain a maximum of 43 points while Lasserre could only gain 28 points if the bonus points for most positions gained were taken into consideration.
Every single point that they can get is going to play a crucial role in their title hopes, especially with Vittorio Ghirelli hot on their tails following a superb round at the Czech Republic.
The driver from Fasano puts himself back to the top of the food chain after he scored his second victory of the year at Most. He is now just seven points behind Ercoli and Ghirelli can possibly gain up to 44 points at Oschersleben.
With momentum from the previous two rounds, could this be the round where the tide of the title battle switched directions to his favor?
Anthony Kumpen is still on the lookout for his first win of the season, but he is starting to run out of chances. The Belgian star always had the pace to contend for the top-5 positions, but misfortunes here and there have left him with a 17 point deficit from Ercoli in the standings.
One thing that will play in Kumpen’s favor is the fact that Oschersleben is a new venue for everybody. With everyone starting from zero, the potential for Kumpen to score his first win in six years is going to be higher than ever.
Behind Kumpen, there’s an epic battle for the Junior Trophy between leader Ulysse Delsaux and top rookie Vladimiros Tziortzis. Delsaux and Tziortzis are separated by just one point and have performed exceptionally well in the 2023 season so far.
With Delsaux favoring consistency and Tziortzis favoring raw pace, it will be difficult to predict who’s going to top the sub-classification at the end of the regular season.
To complicate matters in the Junior Trophy battle, the driver that sits two positions behind Tziortzis in the standings is Liam Hezemans. Liam, who had to contend with the pain of a weekend of two halves for the fourth time at Most, has a 13 point deficit in the Junior Trophy that he could realistically overturn at Oschersleben.
Liam’s string of misfortunes have allowed him to potentially gain up to 61 points at Oschersleben. That is more than what Delsaux and Tziortzis can get and should Liam finally have a trouble free weekend, his chances to become the Trophy leader is going to increase exponentially.
Opportunities to gain plenty of points are also in the cards for Sebastiaan Bleekemolen and Marc Goossens. Sebastiaan can earn up to 77 points, while Goossens will be the highest contender eligible to score the maximum 88 points haul as he missed the previous round at Most due to a schedule clash with the 24 Hours of Zolder.
Another driver with a chance to gain maximum points at Oschersleben is Paul Jouffreau, whose rapid development has turned him into one of the “must-see” drivers in the 2023 season.
Jouffreau is a non-factor in the title battle because he stared to compete from the third round of the year at Vallelunga, but he will have a chance to make further disruptions as he is fresh from his shock victory at Most that made him the youngest winner in EuroNASCAR PRO history.
Another driver that could disrupt the title battle even further is Ryan Vargas, who is entering his first ever EuroNASCAR race behind the wheel of 3F Racing’s No. 30 Critical Path Security Chevrolet Camaro.
Vargas has said that he is focusing on keeping his car clean in Germany, but his experience with racing stock cars in the United States should give the driver from La Mirada, California a chance to compete with the best that Europe has to offer.
The Club Motorsport’s Fabrizio Armetta continues to lead the battle for the top Grade C-rated drivers in EuroNASCAR PRO despite some hiccups at the Czech Republic. A late DNF on the Saturday race there cost him crucial points, but he will have a chance to rectify it thanks to the dropped points system.
The problem for Armetta this week is the fact that dropped points will also come to the aid of his closest contenders, teammate Riccardo Romagnoli and CAAL’s Max Lanza.
Both Romagnoli and Lanza have suffered more than two retirements in the 2023 season and the results that they can get at Oschersleben would give them a chance to slash Armetta’s advantage by a significant amount.
Adding to Armetta’s complications is the return of Kenko Miura onboard the No. 74 Team Japan Needs24 Toyota Camry. Miura, a former champion in the sub-classification, will be chasing for personal glory as his absence from the past three rounds meant that he is already eliminated from the Trophy contention.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
Disclaimer: Credits for all photos are listed underneath each image.