Three-time Club Challenge champion Gordon Barnes continues his winning ways by bringing home the victory in the division’s season opener at Valencia.
Gordon Barnes once again proves himself as the king of EuroNASCAR Club Challenge at Valencia. The reigning champion continues where he left off by winning the season opening round of the 2024 season.
Barnes beat Federico Monti and Edouard Fatio, who gave him tough opposition on Friday morning. Barnes topped the first session and was beaten by Monti in the second session, but it was enough for the victory as Monti only finished third in the first session.
“It’s great, it’s the best way to kick the season off,” said Barnes in the Victory Lane. “Last year we started with a few problems, but this weekend we had none.”
“We drove better than everyone else around us and that’s all it takes. We didn’t feel that we could set the fastest time comfortably, so we went with what we knew we could achieve, the slower reference time.”
Fatio’s podium was secured after he finished second and third. The Swiss driver also received three bonus points for choosing the faster reference time in both sessions, which helped to close the gap between him and Barnes in the final classification.
Home crowd favorite Dani Briz was fourth ahead of SpeedHouse teammate – and 2017 champion – Andreas Kuchelbacher on his long-awaited debut in the series.
Briz also earned the bonus points for faster reference time, a decision that proved vital for the Spaniard as it allowed him to move ahead of Kuchelbacher after they both ended up with the same amount of points.
Another British driver in Kelvin Hassell was sixth on his debut with Bremotion’s No. 77 EffectXmed Chevrolet Camaro. Hassell had took part in several Drivers Recruitment Program tests prior to his first official appearance at Valencia.
Reza Sardeha, also with the bonus points, was seventh ahead of Bruno Costa, whose participation ended early due to an engine failure – something that put Lux Motorsport on the backfoot heading to the main show.
Disclaimer: Credits for all photos are listed underneath each image.