Martin Doubek claimed his third victory of 2025 in an American SpeedFest race that was shortened due to a six car pile-up caused by oil.
Three wins in three separate rounds. That’s an unique feat that Martin Doubek has accomplished in American SpeedFest 12 after he secured his third victory of 2025 at Brands Hatch.
Doubek won after he defended from a relentless challenge from Thomas Krasonis. The Czech’s bid for the win was aided by a late red flag that shortened the race down to 30 laps.
The race was scheduled to be extended from 31 to 33 laps because of a Safety Car period. It was brought on as a result of Claudio Remigio Cappelli and Thomas Toffel’s retirement. Both drivers retired within seconds from each other at the Druids hairpin.
The race never saw the extended laps, however, because of what happened on laps 29, 30 and 31.
Jordan O’Brien, the shock pole sitter after his epic drive in the rain on Saturday, retired at Paddock Hill Bend on lap 29 because of a broken rear differential on his No. 22 Dinoil Camaro.
A lap later, Sandro Tavartkiladze also retired at Paddock Hill. The gas pedal in Tavartkiladze’s No. 9 Georgian Automobile Sport Federation Camaro had failed and Tavartkiladze coasted to a halt in a precarious position.
Chaos then took place at Paddock Hill before race control could trigger a caution. Matthew Ellis, running third in the No. 21 GT Omega Camaro, blew his engine at the front straight and dumped oil onto the track.
Patrick Schober, the first driver behind Ellis, then crashed out because he couldn’t brake after hitting the oil patch.
Seconds later, four cars crashed at Paddock Hill because of the dumped oil. In order, they were Andres Beers, Dominique Schaak, Florian Richard and Gordon Barnes.
With eight cars stranded and oil on the track, race control immediately brought out the red flags. It was quickly decided to call the race early, with results being rolled back to the classifications at the end of lap 30.
“I had to ask how many laps were left to the finish, and it turned out it was the last lap when they red flagged the race,” said Doubek in Victory Lane, recalling when he found out that the race had been called.
“I managed to hold off Thomas Krasonis. He might be a bit mad at me for closing the door too hard. But, we’re back in Victory Lane, so I’m happy.”
“Yesterday’s race was rough because I couldn’t see anything out there. Now we can head home with the trophy!”
Fortunately for Doubek, Krasonis was not mad with how the race had transpired. Problems on Saturday left the Greek down in 10th at the start of the race, so he was pleased to be able to make a recovery drive up to the runner-up spot.
What’s astonishing is just how fast Krasonis drove his No. 13 Costamare Inc. Camaro. The Greek’s fastest lap of 48.771 represented a new all-time Brands Hatch track record across both divisions.
Krasonis smashed the long-time record of 49.032 that was set by Ander Vilariño. Vilariño’s record was set all the way back in 2012, the longest standing track record in EuroNASCAR up until Krasonis beat it.
Schober ultimately completed the podium because Ellis got a 10-second penalty for being start formation infringements. This penalty also promoted Legend Trophy winner Melvin de Groot up to fourth, as he finished within 10 seconds of the Brit.
The rollback of the results allowed Ellis to bring home a top-5 result. It was his first top-5 finish in the championship. Ellis also brought home the Master Trophy win ahead of Schaak, who tied his career-best result in sixth.
Richard, Tavartkiladze and Barnes were classified in seventh, eighth and ninth in spite of their retirements. Thomas Dombrowski was only tenth after he got spun out by Beers on lap 23.
Beers’ contact also collected Valentino Gambarotto, who was speared by Dombrowski on the side of his No. 11 Alumitec Ford. This contact resulted in a 30-second penalty that relegated the Belgian down to 12th.
O’Brien was ultimately classified in 14th. The timing of O’Brien’s retirement was cruel, as he was retiring one lap shy of the final race distance. O’Brien was running inside the top-5 throughout the race, even leading in the first few laps.
Dutch duo Michael Bleekemolen and Bruno Mulders did not have a great day either. Michael Bleekemolen suffered the same fate as his PRO teammate Liam Hezemans, while Mulders retired after a first lap contact with Toffel. This contact may have instigated Toffel’s own retirement on lap 8.
Unsurprisingly, neither Roberto Benedetti or Davide Frulio took the start. With their No. 88 and No. 89 cars wrecked from Max Lanza and Max Marzorati’s PRO race crash, there was no chance for both drivers to head out onto the track.
EuroNASCAR OPEN Race 2 Results
EuroNASCAR OPEN Championship Standings
Melvin de Groot’s best ever weekend concluded with the Dutchman confirming himself as the EuroNASCAR OPEN championship leader heading to the summer break.
De Groot leads the overall standings with 199 points. As the best scoring EuroNASCAR OPEN driver across the American SpeedFest 12, he also gets to be crowned as the “Prince of Brands Hatch”.
Martin Doubek’s victory on Sunday brought him back to second place in the standings. He and Patrick Schober were level on 192 points, but Doubek has three wins to Schober’s none.
Tough weekends for Master Trophy leader Thomas Dombrowski and Thomas Krasonis left them down on points. Dombrowski is down one position to fourth, while Krasonis dropped from first to fifth. However, the PK Carsport duo are only 11 and 16 points away from de Groot.
Sandro Tavartkiladze’s finishing streak keeps him in sixth ahead of Trophy rivals Bruno Mulders and Florian Richard. Dominique Schaak and Roberto Benedetti completed the top-10.
With Arianna Casoli out injured, Vanessa “Happinessa” Neumann is promoted into the lead in Lady Trophy. Vanessa currently sits 17th, tied on 108 points with Gil Linster who missed the weekend due to prolonged effects of his illness.
Full EuroNASCAR OPEN Championship Standings
Disclaimer: Credits for all photos are listed underneath each image.