Hendriks Motorsport drivers Martin Doubek and Gil Linster shared victories in EuroNASCAR 2 at Valencia, but contact between the two caused Linster to be angry at his teammate.
Hendriks Motorsport should have exited the 2024 Valencia NASCAR Fest with plenty of smiles after they swept the EuroNASCAR 2 weekend at Circuit Ricardo Tormo, yet this was not the case as a collision between Martin Doubek and Gil Linster created plenty of tension within the Dutch team.
The collision took place on the opening lap Race 1, resulting in a Doubek victory after Linster received a puncture. Still reeling in anger from the contact on the previous race, Linster then dominated Race 2 to show that he’s ready to fight for the title.
The recap from each race can be seen in their respective sections below.
Race 1 Recap
At approximately 17:32 CEST on Saturday, the first race of the 2024 EuroNASCAR 2 season kicks off with 24 out of the 25 entrants taking part – Dominique Schaak sadly sidelined by the driveshaft issue that Bremotion’s No. 99 IZECC Camaro suffered in the preceding EuroNASCAR PRO race.
Linster led the field to the green flag, but Doubek was able to get alongside the Luxembourger entering the first corner. The two then touched at the corner exit, resulting in a puncture that took Linster out of the contention.
Thomas Toffel and later Patrick Schober took their turns to become the Czech driver’s new main challenger, but neither had an answer to the pace that the No. 7 Orion Ford Mustang showed as Doubek claimed his first win since Vallelunga in 2021.
“It was really good from the start to finish, so I’m really happy,” said Doubek in the Victory Lane. “I think this win is my first in two and a half years, so I hope that the fans enjoyed it!”
“I don’t know what happened in the first turn, but it was on the straight and not on the corner. I have to check on the video, but I had a good start and was entering the first corner.”
Linster was only able to finish 21st in the end, leaving him with a lot of frustration as he lambasted his Czech teammate after the race.
“From my side, I was thinking that we’re starting the season fairly, but I told you before the race that fights with him are fairly rare. He’s just too aggressive and that was just a bitchy move,” said Linster.
“He knows that he cannot beat me on the race track. That was his only chance to win the race today. It’s a very stupid move. If we are on the same team, have the same guys working on our cars and then do such a stupid move on turn 2, like come on, you don’t do it. Not for me, not for the team and not to win a race.”
Back at the front, Schober and Toffel crossed the line in second and third respectively. However, Toffel would not taste the champagne in the podium as he was penalized for track limits infractions, which promoted Claudio Remigio Cappelli up to third.
Cappelli also took home the win in the Legend Trophy, but it wasn’t without any issues. He was battling with main Trophy rival Melvin de Groot when he ran off the track on lap 2 and accidentally rejoined in front of the Dutchman, causing damage that ultimately put an early end to de Groot’s race.
Thomas Dombrowski completed the top-5 ahead of Kenko Miura and top Rookie Trophy driver Julian Rehberg, the latter being ecstatic to finish inside the top-10 given that he only aimed for a top-20 finish.
Jack Davidson, Victor Neumann and Roberto Benedetti rounded out the top-10 with the latter completing the top-3 in Legend Trophy. Mario Ercoli completed the Rookie Trophy podium in eleventh while Arianna Casoli finished 18th as the sole contender in the Lady Trophy.
Two drivers did not enjoy the best debut race in EuroNASCAR: Reza Sardeha’s race ended early due to a broken differential while a front-right puncture sent Simone Giussani to the gravel trap with just two laps to go.
Another debutant with an issue is Veeti Rajala, who experienced brake issues in the No. 90 Wihuri Chevrolet Camaro all-race long. Fortunately for the Finn, the Granducato Speed car managed to last the entire race and score a hard-fought 16th place finish.
Race 2 Recap
All 25 drivers reconvened for the second EuroNASCAR 2 race on Sunday. Linster was back on pole position and in his pre-race interview with Andre Wiegold, he aimed to do the same strategy that he had on Saturday.
“The fact is that I lost a lot of points and I hope I got a lot of them back today,” said Linster on the grid. “I will do exactly the same today. I held my line yesterday. He tried to push me to the inside, I think everyone saw that in the race.”
Fortunately for the Luxembourger, this time things went according to plan. He beat Doubek to the first corner and was able to completely dominate the race, securing his first visit to Victory Lane on his second career EN2 victory.
“Finally, the feeling of being in Victory Lane is so good!” said Linster post-race. “We wanted it for so long.”
“The preparations were very hard and I consider this to be my first race of the year as I didn’t get many laps yesterday. I’m so happy and thanks to the team, we have an amazing car that was so consistent in the lap time and easy to drive.”
There was a close call for Linster late in the race as he had struggles with lapping Eric Quintal on the penultimate lap. Fortunately for him, Doubek and Schober also had their problems with lapping Quintal, giving Linster an open path to the checkered flag.
Doubek narrowly defended the runner-up position from Schober after the Austrian made a late charge in the latter stages of the race. Toffel again finished fourth, albeit nearly 13 seconds behind from the podium positions.
Cappelli topped the Legend Trophy in fifth, being unchallenged for the Trophy victory after Miura spun out on lap 3 and de Groot had to retire due to the damage sustained by the No. 69 Race Planet Toyota Camry following contact with Giussani on the opening lap.
Two Thomases, Dombrowski and Krasonis, were sixth and seventh ahead of Rehberg, who again took the win in Rookie Trophy. Legend Trophy competitor Benedetti was ninth ahead of rookies Mario and Neumann, both finishing on the podiums of their respective Trophies.
Michael Bleekemolen showed that he’s still competitive at a ripe old age of 74 by finishing third in the Legend Trophy classifications. Casoli, who won the Lady Trophy by default, also showed good speed by finishing 13 seconds quicker than her race time on Saturday.
Frederic Perriat was running strongly when he had to retire with just 4 laps to go. Nick Strickler and Davidson had their own mechanical issues while Schaak and Sardeha’s race were hampered after the two made contact on lap 2.
With Doubek finishing inside the top-2 in both races, the Czech driver leaves Valencia as the championship leader in EuroNASCAR 2 for the first time since his title winning campaign in 2021.
Schober was six points adrift in second place with Toffel another three points behind in third overall. Cappelli leads the Legend Trophy competitors in fourth place with 65 points to his name.
Dombrowski was fifth with 61 points, one point ahead of Rehberg. The young German led Mario by three points in both the overall standings and the Rookie Trophy. Linster, Benedetti and Neumann completed the top-10 positions with 56, 55 and 54 points respectively.
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