Martin Doubek survived a late gearbox failure to win the second OPEN race at Vallelunga, but it led the Czech to bring his scooter to Victory Lane.
When Martin Doubek crossed the finish line to win the second EuroNASCAR OPEN race at Vallelunga, it created one of the most unusual Victory Lane celebrations in NASCAR’s history.
Doubek barely won the race after his gearbox failed right on the last laps of the race. The Czech driver was unable to bring his car to the Victory Lane, leaving him and Hendriks Motorsport with no machine to celebrate their triumph.
The celebrations were saved when Doubek arrived to the Victory Lane with an electric scooter. A humble scooter is normally used as a cheap and easily accessible transportation method, but in Doubek’s hands, it was turned into a star of the NASCAR Euro Series.
“I had to ride a scooter to Victory Lane!” said Doubek in his post-race interview. “Last two laps, I lost my gearbox. I can only go in first and fourth gear and then only fourth gear in the last lap.”
“It’s an amazing race, there’s too many restarts but I’m happy. I had a gap during the FCY, the restart was good and we’re back on the Victory Lane!”
Runner-up Thomas Dombrowski rued the fact that he missed out on the victory by just a tiny bit more. The Master Trophy winner acknowledges that Doubek ran a great race and praised the champion for his ability to create a 4-second gap that was vital for the finish.
Patrick Schober completed the podium after he overtook Thomas Krasonis and Melvin de Groot during one of the FCY restarts. Melvin returned to the top step of Legend Trophy, beating Roberto Benedetti who got his season-best finish of sixth.
Valerio Marzi, Sandro Tavartkiladze, Mario Ercoli and Florian Richard complete the top-10. Mario had an eventful Sunday as he got involved in the incident that brought out the first FCY period.
This FCY was triggered on the opening lap after Valentino Gambarotto got swiped by Andres Beers on the run to Curva Grande. Gambarotto’s car suffered suspension damage and sent the Italian careening down the pack.
Gil Linster spun his car in the mess, while Mario took a trip to the gravel trap to avoid hitting Gambarotto’s Ford. Fortunately, no cars were heavily damaged, given that Curva Grande is the site of Saturday’s big accident that brought out the red flag.
This FCY period lasted until the end of lap 2. Bruno Mulders timed his launch to perfection, dispatching the late starting Thomas Krasonis almost immediately. Mulders then made a move on Claudio Remigio Cappelli in the next lap.
Cappelli tried to repass Mulders, but in doing so he ran to the back of Mulders’ Toyota Camry. The contact sends both cars spinning, with Mulders being unlucky to be beached in the gravel.
Mulders rejoined during the ensuing FCY period, but he was one lap down from the leaders. With no Safety Car periods, the Dutchman never stood a chance to recover. Cappelli received a 30-second penalty for his transgression, dropping the Italian down to 11th in the final results.
Two more FCY periods were called due to separate single car incidents involving Dominique Schaak and Giovanni Faraonio. Like Mulders, Schaak and Faraonio rejoined the race after their problems were sorted out.
Linster was running as high as seventh place, having started from 18th and last after his illness problems on Saturday prevented the Luxembourger from setting a competitive fastest lap time.
Unfortunately, Linster was still not at 100% health and after seven laps, his body called it quits. With plenty of points lost in Italy, Linster will have a lot of work to do for the next round at Brands Hatch.
EuroNASCAR OPEN Race 2 Results
EuroNASCAR OPEN Championship Standings
Thomas Krasonis maintains his lead in the championship after he reclaimed the top spot in Saturday’s race. The Greek now has a total of 131 points, three points ahead of both Thomas Dombrowski and Patrick Schober. Dombrowski sits in front of Schober as he had a better best finish record.
Consistency allowed Melvin de Groot to continue to rack up the points in the standings. De Groot is yet to finish on the podium, but he’s only 5 points behind Krasonis thanks to his flurry of fourth place finishes.
Martin Doubek’s victory propels him back up to fifth place with 121 points. Sandro Tavartkiladze, Bruno Mulders, Roberto Benedetti, Gil Linster and Florian Richard round out the top-10. Only 26 points separated the top-10 drivers heading to the American SpeedFest 12 in the UK.
Lady Trophy did not see much action after Saturday’s crash destroyed both Arianna Casoli and Vanessa Neumann’s cars. Casoli still leads currently, but with her fractured right arm, it’s highly expected that she will miss the next few rounds to make a full recovery.
Full EuroNASCAR OPEN Championship Standings
Disclaimer: Credits for all photos are listed underneath each image.