Our third and final Race Preview for the 2024 NASCAR GP Czech Republic takes a look at what we can expect from the title contenders and Trophy battles in EuroNASCAR 2.
After a lengthy summer break, NASCAR Whelen Euro Series is ready to get things back in gear with the fifth round of the 2024 season, the NASCAR GP Czech Republic at Autodrom Most.
Once again held alongside the FIA European Truck Racing Championship (ETRC) as part of the Czech Truck Prix, the 4.212-kilometer long Autodrom Most is a popular venue for stock car racing due to its challenging nature.
Most’s fast and flowing corners require skillful precision to get the optimum line around and the first chicane is a prime spot for high intensity dramas. Put the two together, and you have elements that will make or break a driver’s race.
There will be added pressure for the competitors in the 2024 edition because the event is set to be the final round of the regular season.
Maximizing results will be the goal for the 44 drivers and 27 teams that entered the round, all ready to earn some momentum before the all-important double points playoffs at Oschersleben and Zolder.
Twenty-one drivers will be entered to the two races for EuroNASCAR 2 at Autodrom Most, but all eyes will be focused on the driver that’s leading the championship: Martin Doubek.
Doubek is enjoying a massive resurgence in form by becoming the most dominant driver of the season. The Czech driver has scored five wins so far and is looking to make it six or maybe even seven as he enters his home race.
The driver of the No. 7 Orion Ford has shown glimpses of speed at home, but his opposition has always managed to outfox him when it mattered. Would 2024 provide the same story for Doubek, or is it going to be his chance at redemption?
With Doubek facing the pressure of performing well at Most, his rivals are all eager to find cracks in his defense that they can exploit. No driver is more determined than his teammate Gil Linster, who wants to kick all of his misfortunes away in the second half of the season.
Linster enters the regular season finale with a deficit of 34 points from Doubek, but he’s not worried about it as he knows that he can make up lost ground on both Most and the playoff rounds at Oschersleben and Zolder.
As for third place driver Thomas Toffel, the Swiss driver is facing pressure from both Patrick Schober and Thomas Krasonis following a sub-par round at the oval in Venray that left him with only a 3-point advantage from the two youngsters.
Despite this, last year’s performance showed that Toffel has the speed to make it to the top. If he was to repeat this feat this weekend, then he would put himself as the strongest outside contender in the EN2 championship battle.
The same can also be said for both Schober and Krasonis, who both enjoyed a fine round on their last visit to the Czech Republic.
Their top-5 consistency has been commendable, but they have lacked that extra edge that they needed to take home the victory. With both of them recharged, they will make sure to give it all on Saturday and Sunday.
Others to watch include Jack Davidson, the only non-Hendriks race winner in 2024 so far, and Claudio Remigio Cappelli, who was confident that he had what it takes to beat Doubek had things gone his way at Venray.
The Trophy battle remains just as intense as it has been in the previous rounds. This is best exemplified in the Rookie Trophy, where Julien Rehberg and Florian Richard are separated by only one point.
Both Rehberg and Richard had been the class of the pack in the road courses, but Victor Neumann schooled them around in Venray by lapping his rivals on course to a fourth place overall finish at the half-mile oval.
Can Neumann carry this momentum to the road courses and place himself as the third contender of the battle to become the top debutant of 2024?
The Legend Trophy battle for drivers aged 40 and above is also close with only 15 points separating leader Michael Bleekemolen from teammate Melvin de Groot and hot favorites Cappelli.
In contrast to his rivals, Bleekemolen has had a clean and relatively incident-free season, a remarkable achievement for a driver that’s already 74 years old.
However, it’s clear that de Groot and Cappelli have the better speed. It will be a matter of when – not if – they will overtake Bleekemolen and resume their duel, one that has defined the Trophy for the past two seasons.
For once, Lady Trophy will have a competition at stake after Luli del Castello announced her comeback as a substitute driver for Sven van Laere in the No. 54 CAAL Racing machine.
Arianna Casoli, the sole full-time female driver in EuroNASCAR this year, would need to step up her game against del Castello if we were to look by their relative performance when they shared the track together in 2022.
However, losing the Lady Trophy wins will be the least of Casoli’s worries. That’s because Most presented Casoli with her first opportunity to reach 100 starts, a milestone that would further extend her status as the most experienced driver in EuroNASCAR 2.
Disclaimer: Credits for all photos are listed underneath each image.