Raphaël Lessard accomplished his first sweep in European NASCAR after scoring a dominant victory in Race 2 at Autodrom Most.
The roar from the Canadian fans can be felt when Raphaël Lessard crossed the line first in Race 2 for EuroNASCAR OPEN to confirm the Quebecois’ sweep in the NASCAR GP Czech Republic.
After stealing the win away from Thomas Toffel on the last lap of Saturday’s Race 1, Lessard out foxed his Swiss rival at the start of the Sunday race to clinch his first double win in the NASCAR Euro Series.
“It’s the perfect weekend!” said Lessard to series reporter Andre Wiegold in the Victory Lane. “My guys did an amazing job, the setup was really good. We got better even as the track changed a lot. I just felt that I could keep the same pace and he was falling off at the end.”
“There were a couple of corners that I was better at. Yesterday I couldn’t outbraked him in certain places, but now I feel like I can do it. I think we adjusted to it pretty well with all the guys at Alumitec.”
“Thank you everybody back home that supports us, I know a lot of you are watching. Thanks to Alumitec and my sponsors Rousseau Metal, XPN, BurnX, Permatec and Festidrag.tv for all they did to me!”
Toffel kept the pressure on Lessard for lap after lap, but the 35-year old ran out of tire life in the latter stages and had to concede defeat for the second time.
Martin Doubek brought some joy to his loyal fans after his heartbreaking retirement on Saturday. The Litomsyl-born driver finished third, completing the podium after making a crucial pass on his Hendriks Motorsport teammate Gil Linster and Claudio Remigio Cappelli on lap 4.
Linster and Cappelli then collided just as Doubek made his overtake stick. Linster lost some positions, but recovered quickly enough to end up in fifth. Cappelli, on the other hand, was penalized for his part in the incident and dropped to 11th in the final results.
Fourth place went to Thomas Dombrowski, who won a hard fought four-man scrap involving him, Linster, Cappelli and Sandro Tavartkiladze that went on for the majority of the race.
Tavartkiladze again finished sixth in Race 2. It was enough to secure a double Master Trophy win, which is also the Georgian’s fourth consecutive win in the special classification.
Jens Beeusaert came home seventh ahead of Robin Bleekemolen, who maximized her second chance in the OPEN division.
The decision by Team Bleekemolen to give Michael Bleekemolen’s seat to her at Most paid dividends as she took her third Lady Trophy win of 2026 with a mighty eighth place finish.
Dominique Schaak and Vladimiros Tziortzis completed the top-10 positions. Cappelli’s 11th place result was still enough to win the Legend Trophy, just ahead of his great rival Melvin de Groot, who charged his way from the back of the grid.
In contrast to Saturday, the Sunday race saw minimal attrition. Giovanni Faraonio was the only retirement, being forced to do so at half distance due to handling issues after he made contact with Vanessa “Happinessa” Neumann.
However, two drivers did not take the start. Mariam Davitidze’s hand injury ruled her out for Race 2, while Mike Wise was sidelined due to engine issues in his No. 20 Lux Motorsport FJ.
OPEN Race 2 Results
EuroNASCAR OPEN Championship Standings
Thomas Toffel might have lost out on both wins in Czechia, but his results were crucial in the overall battle. The double runner-up’s allowed Toffel to put his DNF at Brands Hatch Race 1 as his dropped result, enough to keep him as the championship leader with 254 points.
Thomas Dombrowski also benefited from the dropped points to move up to second overall, 16 points behind Toffel.
On the other side of the scale, there’s Gil Linster. Linster would have been 7 points behind Toffel entering the Playoffs had all results been counted towards the championship.
However, with Linster only allowed to bring the best seven results, he ended up with a 19 points deficit after losing one of his top-5 finishes to the dropped scores.
Raphaël Lessard’s sweep allowed the Canadian to maintain his championship hopes alive in fourth. Lessard was only 32 points behind Toffel, despite being mandated to carry his DSQ from Brands Hatch into his points tally as per the regulations.
Vladimiros Tziortzis completed the top-5 with 221 points. Trophy leaders Claudio Remigio Cappelli (Legend), Maxim van Laere (Master) and Beitske Visser (Lady) are sixth, eighth and 13th overall respectively.
Disclaimer: Credits for all photos are listed underneath each image.