Veeti Rajala expressed his happiness after he and his team Granducato Speed showed plenty of improvement in the NASCAR GP Czech Republic at Autodrom Most.
Young Finnish driver Veeti Rajala expressed his happiness on the improvement that he achieved after each race of his debut EuroNASCAR 2 season with Granducato Speed’s No. 90 Wihuri Camaro.
After missing the oval race at Raceway Venray, Rajala returned to the track last weekend for his first event at the Autodrom Most in Czechia.
Both Granducato Speed and Rajala had been working hard to improve their speed in the summer break and the results looked promising from the get go, finishing 11th in the combined Practice times and 12th in Qualifying – the Finn’s career-best Qualifying result.
However, problems emerged just before the start of Race 1 on Saturday. An oil leak had developed in Rajala’s car as it was sitting on its grid position. Enough fluids were dropped that marshalls had to quickly put quick dry sand in before the formation lap could start.
Rajala’s car had to be pushed to the pits for some quick repairs. Several laps later, Rajala was sent out to the track and showed good pace during the green flag period, lapping times that would be good enough for tenth position overall.
Even though Rajala eventually retired with an axle problem, he had done enough to put himself in a good position for Sunday’s Race 2.
The 17-year old driver managed to keep his car away from incidents and brought home a ninth place finish, his second top-10 of the season.
The results made Rajala happy with his steady improvement and with the double points playoffs coming next, he wants himself and Granducato Speed to think forward in order to achieve better results at Oschersleben and Zolder.
“It was a really decent race, I’m really happy with the results,” said Rajala to Andre Wiegold after Race 2. “There’s a good momentum right now with the car. I think I’ve gained experience and am improving in every track and every race.”
“It doesn’t matter if we got engine problems and the axle broke, it’s racing. It’s just bad luck and we have to think forwards, not backwards.”
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Last Updated: 20 January 2025