Reza Sardeha beat Bruno Costa by the slimmest of margins to score his first Club Challenge victory under the soaring skies of Autodrom Most.
The regularity-based EuroNASCAR Club Challenge crowns a third different race winner in as many rounds after Reza Sardeha brought home his maiden victory with the newly re-liveried No. 11 Anyone.com Ford Mustang at Autodrom Most.
Sardeha’s victory was determined by a razor thin margin as he and Bruno Costa were tied on points at the end of the round. Both drivers scored a first and a second place and also took home the bonus points for choosing the faster reference time in the two sessions.
The victor was determined by whoever is the one that topped the Club Challenge-only second session. Since Sardeha topped the session, the Iranian-born Dutchman was declared as the overall winner.
“I’m very happy, but I’m quite tired because on the last lap, due to the heat and everything, I went off the track and into the sun,” said Sardeha after the podium ceremony. “It’s the worst sauna out there and it doesn’t even come close!”
Kelvin Hassell completed the podium to make it an all-rookie top-3. The fastest of the veterans was Federico Monti in fourth, with championship leader Gordon Barnes only fifth after a technical issue cost him a lot of points in the first session.
Another rookie in Vanessa Neumann went into “Happinessa” mode by finishing sixth on her debut. She managed to beat highly rated debutant Dani Briz and top contenders Edouard Fatio and Andreas Kuchelbacher, all three struggling in the heat.
The final classified finisher is RDV Competition’s team owner Franck Violas, who made a surprise entry. Violas, who last properly raced in 2014, joined the session to help test his team’s car.
Sardeha’s maiden win allowed the Team Bleekemolen driver to go level on points with Barnes at the top of the standings. However, Barnes still kept his lead as he had two second place finishes compared to Sardeha’s one.
Only two and three points separated Monti and Costa from the leaders, with Kuchelbacher relegated to fifth after his poor round. Fatio, Hassell, Briz, Yann Schar, Neumann, Mario Buscemi and Violas filled the remaining positions.
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