World of EuroNASCAR takes a look at how the big crash at Vallelunga is going to affect the Lady Trophy classifications within EuroNASCAR OPEN.
The three-car incident that took place in the first EuroNASCAR OPEN race at Autodromo Vallelunga is among one of the hardest crashes to have happened in the series’ long history.
The crash greatly affected EuroNASCAR’s two current female drivers Arianna Casoli and Vanessa “Happinessa” Neumann, as both got themselves involved in this incident.
As mentioned in our race report, the crash began when Vanessa and Thomas Toffel collided on lap 2. Toffel was trying to get back up the running order from his opening lap collision with Martin Doubek.
The Swiss spun the defending champion at Soratte, which also spun his No. 34 M Racing Camaro around. Doubek recovered almost immediately, while Toffel only did so once everyone overtook him.
Toffel encountered Vanessa at the fast Curva Grande corner. Curva Grande requires a lot of bravery to take as it was taken at full speed, leaving little to no room for mistakes to happen.
It was here when the disaster occurred. Vanessa and Toffel’s racing lines intersected with each other, leading to the collision as they raced at speeds of over 200 kph.
Both drivers made contact twice, sending them sideways to the run-off area. Their cars then hit the tire barriers, with Toffel hitting it at an angle.
“I was entering the fastest and I would say the most dangerous part of the track because you have no zones for security,” Vanessa said to EuroNASCAR reporter Andre Wiegold before Sunday’s race.
“I was going 210 when he touched me and I couldn’t do anything. He touched me again in the front. I don’t know if he could control his car [anymore].”
“The wall was in front of me, so I tried to brake and stay stiff. As I’m on the grass, I removed my hands to not break anything.”
The angle of impact sent Toffel’s car back to the racing line. Sven got past it unscratched, but Casoli was unable to avoid Toffel and crashed into the Swiss.
“I was trying to avoid them when Vanessa and Thomas crashed hard,” Casoli said to Andre Wiegold. “It’s a pity because it was only the second lap.”
“I had no chance to avoid it. Luckily, Sven van Laere, who was in front of me, made it through otherwise it would have been even worse.”
Casoli’s impact tore off the front-left corner of her No. 14 Ford. Vanessa and Toffel’s cars also suffered heavy damage to the front and were done for as well.
This caused a major change to the way the weekend proceeds. With no cars left in the Lady Trophy, there were no post-race Lady Trophy ceremonies held in either race.
Additionally, it’s subsequently known that Casoli suffered a fracture in her right arm. The Italian is expected to be absent for the next round at Brands Hatch. Her absence is expected to open the room for Vanessa to leapfrog her in the Trophy standings.
We are wishing Casoli a speedy recovery and hope to see her back in the EuroNASCAR grid as soon as possible.
“I’m okay,” said Casoli last Sunday. “I just have a small fracture of the radial in my arm. It will be long, unfortunately for the championship and the big damages. I don’t know what to say because it can happen, but it should not.”
“The pain is not so much. They just put my arm in a cast to make sure everything is okay. I’ll get another X-ray because it was swollen a little bit. It can happen. Let’s see when I can get back on track.”
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