Our third and final Race Preview for the 2024 American SpeedFest 11 takes a look at what we can expect from the title contenders and Trophy battles in EuroNASCAR 2.
Brands Hatch will be hosting the third round of the 2024 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series season for the eleventh edition of EuroNASCAR’s “crown jewel” event: American SpeedFest 11, Powered by Lucas Oil.
The SpeedFest has always provided thrills and excitement both on and off the track, which contributes to the event’s great popularity among the fans in the United Kingdom.
With more than 50,000 spectators visiting SpeedFest 10 last year, EuroNASCAR and organizers MotorSport Vision (MSV) are ready to ensure that this year’s running will be just as grand as ever.
It wasn’t just the fans that were enthusiastic about the event as the Provisional Entry List revealed a colorful cast of 28 cars and 43 drivers that will be entered to Brands Hatch, all ready to give the fans the best show possible at the 1.944 kilometer Indy Circuit.
The conflict that was brewing between Martin Doubek and Gil Linster, the two Hendriks Motorsport drivers, seems to have been resolved in a peaceful manner after Linster embraced his teammate following the Czech’s sweep at Vallelunga.
With their drivers back in harmony, Hendriks can now go full speed ahead to reclaim their position as winners of Brands Hatch in EuroNASCAR 2. The Dutch team had previously won with Tobias Dauenhauer and Liam Hezemans in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
Of course, Doubek would be eager to be the victor for Hendriks after his impressive showing in Italy that proved his critics wrong. However, he only visited the podium here once in the past three years and didn’t have an answer to match the winners’ pace in last year’s SpeedFest.
This factor can be exploited by Linster to earn him a chance to visit the Victory Lane. Even though he also had not much to show for in his past results at Brands Hatch, the Luxembourger is undoubtedly fast and can deliver impressive achievements when everything aligns together.
Their closest opposition is expected to come from RDV Competition’s Patrick Schober and Race Art Technology’s Thomas Toffel. Both drivers are hoping for a better American SpeedFest in 2024 as they were unable to show what they can do in 2023’s event.
Toffel is currently on the rise after he impressed many people with his daring pass for the podium at Vallelunga. With a podium in the books and extra experience from his double duty campaign, the Swiss driver understands what he needs to do to score his maiden EuroNASCAR 2 victory.
Schober will enter the SpeedFest with some pressure because the incident with Claudio Remigio Cappelli in Italy left him with no “jokers” to play with.
Thus, the Austrian knew that every result that he achieved from this point onward must be “perfect” to keep him in contention for the title.
The same can also be said for Cappelli himself, who lost more ground than Schober did. The Italian can overcome his 18 points deficit in the Legend Trophy, but some misfortune to the leaders would be needed to regain some of the 75 points gap that he has in the overall standings.
With the wrecked No. 5 Cremona Gronde Ford still out of commission, Cappelli will have to share a ride once again with Academy Motorsport teammate Vladimiros Tziortzis in the Cypriot’s No. 1 HTFX Ford Mustang.
One dark horse driver to keep an eye for is Thomas Krasonis, who has the momentum from three consecutive top-5 finishes to regain some of the ground he lost after his unfortunate last lap mechanical failure in the first race at Valencia.
This run of top-5 finishes included a back-to-back fourth place at Vallelunga, which is a new career-best result for the Greek driver. Keeping the streak alive would be ideal for the Marko Stipp Motorsport driver as he continues to chase for the first podium of his career.
The Legend Trophy classification will be one of the Trophies to watch across both divisions at Brands Hatch. Roberto Benedetti is looking solid at the lead with 100 points, but rivals such as Cappelli, Michael Bleekemolen and Melvin de Groot are not that far behind.
Bleekemolen and de Groot in particular will be hoping that they can carry their Vallelunga momentum to the UK, a historically good country for their outfit Race Planet Team Bleekemolen.
Bleekemolen secured his career-best finish of seventh at Brands Hatch on his debut season in 2019, while de Groot came narrowly close to a podium in 2023. If they can replicate this set of results this weekend, then they’re set to close the gap to Benedetti in the Legend race.
Rookie Trophy is also just as fierce with the top-3 debutants separated by just four points. In fact, it’s a tie at the top between Bremotion’s Julien Rehberg and SpeedHouse Racing’s Florian Richard.
Both Rehberg and Richard are not afraid to go extra in order to beat the opposition, an ideal trait for rookies in EuroNASCAR.
Being able to maximize what was on offer is also an important trait that a rookie needs to learn, something that Mario Ercoli found out with his results at home in Italy.
The younger brother of reigning EuroNASCAR PRO champion Gianmarco will be lurking to pick up the scraps should his rivals encounter trouble.
One special name that will join the field of 26 drivers for EuroNASCAR 2 at Brands Hatch is Alain Grand. Grand, who last competed in 2012, will be making his first start in EuroNASCAR in more than a decade.
Many things in the world had changed since Grand last set foot in the sport, but the Frenchman is still enjoying racing at a competitive level. Regardless of what happened this weekend, the 71-year old will set a new record as the driver with the longest gap between two starts in EuroNASCAR history.
Disclaimer: Credits for all photos are listed underneath each image.