Vict Motorsport’s team owner Dario Caso is happy that he was able to achieve his goal of winning the Challenger Trophy in Race 1 of the 2024 American SpeedFest 11.
Vict Motorsport’s Dario Caso continues to make an impression in the Challenger Trophy with a victory in Race 1 of the 2024 American SpeedFest 11, Powered by Lucas Oil at Brands Hatch. It was the Italian’s first win in the sub-classification since 2020.
Caso was looking to bounce back in the UK after a poor showing at his home race. After he scored his first top-10 finish in EuroNASCAR PRO at Valencia, the 61-year old got himself involved in several collisions that left him with two finishes outside of the top-20 in Vallelunga.
Thus, Brands Hatch was hoped to be the round where he’ll bounce back to the podium positions. Even though he had missed the 2023 edition, Caso is still among the most experienced drivers at the circuit with five previous SpeedFest outings.
This experience certainly was the key for him to take the Challenger Trophy victory last Saturday. Aided by a retirement for Trophy leader Thomas Toffel and Max Lanza’s late puncture, Caso comfortably led Riccardo Romagnoli to take home the top prize in 16th place overall.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to make it a double on Sunday. Caso got stuck behind Nick Strickler all-race long and chose to preserve his No. 8 Italicus Camaro so that teammate Mario Ercoli could race in Race 2 for EuroNASCAR 2.
“Finally, the goal has been achieved!” said Caso in Scuderia Speed Motor’s post-race release. “And it’s done in the best way.”
“I always aim for a podium position and this time I even got the highest one thanks to an undoubtedly positive performance in what was also a race of elimination. Some cars’ retirement allowed me to recover and take first place.”
“On the other hand, in Race 2 I was delayed because the driver in front of me was going slowly and I preferred to keep the position that I had in order to not risk an overtake that would compromise my car. Overall, the balance of the weekend is more than positive.”
The results meant that Caso is still in third place on the overall Challenger classification. He sits 17th with 124 points, just nine points behind new leader Max Lanza.
Within the overall standings, Caso is part of a three-way tie with Marc Goossens and Riccardo Romagnoli. Goossens beat both Caso and Romagnoli on the best finish, but Caso’s own top-10 gave him the edge over his Trophy rival.
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