Our third and final Race Preview for the 2024 Valencia NASCAR Fest takes a look at what we can expect from the EuroNASCAR 2 drivers and Trophy battles at Valencia.
After a lengthy off-season period, NASCAR Whelen Euro Series is back in action for the start of the 2024 season. The series heads to the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Spain for the traditional season opening round Valencia NASCAR Fest.
After celebrating the event’s tenth anniversary in 2023, the Valencia NASCAR Fest continues its festivity vibes as the 2024 event is part of the track’s 25th anniversary celebrations.
Plenty of memories have been made in the previous editions and this year is shaping up to be no different, facilitated by a Provisional Entry List that featured a field of 29 cars and 51 drivers across all three divisions.
Just like last year’s Preview articles, the Preview for the 2024 Valencia NASCAR Fest is going to be split into three parts. Part 1 was focused on the Entry List while a dedicated preview for EuroNASCAR PRO was released on Part 2. Part 3 is focused on the preview for EuroNASCAR 2.
Twenty-five drivers are set to enter the Valencia NASCAR Fest in EuroNASCAR 2 and once again, the reigning champion will not defend his title.
Paul Jouffreau, the newly crowned champion, is ineligible to compete because he had already won a race in EuroNASCAR PRO. It automatically qualifies him as a Grade A driver for 2024 onwards, which excludes him from the ability to race in EN2 anymore.
In addition, Alberto Naska and Vladimiros Tziortzis will not return to the division. Naska made the decision to switch to other racing championships while Tziortzis focuses his efforts solely in ENPRO.
The absence of 2023’s “Big Three” left a big hole to fill, but the unpredictable division already has a few candidates that will be able to do so.
One of which is Patrick Schober, who joins RDV Competition after two successful seasons with the underdogs at Double V Racing.
Schober has blossomed into one of EuroNASCAR’s most exciting young prospects. Naturally, joining a powerhouse team in RDV places a lot of expectations on the 19-year old, who aims to become the first Austrian NASCAR champion in 2024.
Fellow race winners Martin Doubek and Gil Linster are also ready to fill in the gap left by the ”Big Three”.
Both have shown what they can do behind the wheel of their respective Hendriks Motorsport machines and they’re ready to bring Hendriks back to the top after an overall weak season for the team in 2023.
Doubek, of course, is the 2021 EuroNASCAR 2 champion and he’s still vying to become the first driver to win multiple titles in the junior division.
As for Linster, he has built a reputation as a very consistent driver in his first season with Hendriks. Rarely making mistakes, “Mr. Fourth Place” is certainly eager to promote himself to “Mr. First Place” onboard the No. 50 HOOSH/GIMS Toyota Camry.
Outsiders such as Claudio Remigio Cappelli and Melvin de Groot are looking to make an impression at Valencia.
Cappelli’s hopes will be bolstered by his decision to move to Academy Motorsport’s No. 5 Ford Mustang, one of the hottest seats in the division.
He might be 49 years old this season and is a friendly figure off the track, but Cappelli is a fierce competitor on the track. He has shown flashes of speed in the past two seasons and Academy’s support could be the key that he needs to become a bona fide title contender.
De Groot, on the other hand, opts for consistency by staying at Race Planet Team Bleekemolen. The 47-year old closed the 2023 season with back-to-back podiums, which should be a good omen for the Dutchman’s desire to be in the title battle in 2024.
Double duty participants such as Thomas Toffel, Thomas Krasonis and Nick Strickler are hoping that extra track time will thrust them to possible title contention.
Jouffreau and Tziortzis showed just how much double duty plays a factor in 2023, something that the trio aims to emulate with their planned full season campaigns with Race Art Technology (for Toffel) and Marko Stipp Motorsport (for Krasonis and Strickler).
Another returning face to look for is Jack Davidson, who now races for his family team Lux Motorsport. The top rookie from 2023 is plotting for a strong finish at Valencia as he knows that the overall championship will not be decided until it’s over.
On the topic of rookies, there are nine drivers set to contest the Rookie Trophy battle. Three of whom are familiar faces from 2023: Mario Ercoli, Victor Neumann and Dominique Schaak, all had competed part-time with their respective teams last year.
They will be joined by six debutants in French rally driver Frederic Perriat, Dutch entrepreneur Reza Sardeha, Italian legends car graduate Simone Giusanni, SpeedHouse academy driver Florian Richard and young talents from German and Finland in Julien-Noel Rehberg and Veeti Rajala.
Legend Trophy also had nine drivers entered, with de Groot and Cappelli expected to once again lead the sub-classification for drivers aged 40 and above.
Familiar veterans such as Roberto Benedetti, Michael Bleekemolen, Arianna Casoli, Kenko Miura, Eric Quintal and Sven van Laere all returned to the division in 2024 with the same goal: Finish their story in the Legend Trophy.
Disclaimer: Credits for all photos are listed underneath each image.