Claudio Remigio Cappelli gave his thoughts on the upcoming showdown between him and Melvin de Groot for the Legend Trophy in the 2025 EuroNASCAR Finals.
The battle for overall Legend Trophy honors in EuroNASCAR OPEN is set to go down between Melvin de Groot and Claudio Remigio Cappelli during the EuroNASCAR Finals.
De Groot and Cappelli have had differing fortunes over the course of the 2025 NASCAR Euro Series season. And yet, they are only separated by only 25 points heading to the season finale at Circuit Zolder.
De Groot had the upper edge in the Legend Trophy right from the opening round in Valencia. A seventh and fifth place finish gave de Groot plenty of points, while Cappelli was suffering from both a puncture and a first lap spin out.
Cappelli gained some ground at his home race in Italy, but de Groot capitalized on the bad weather in Brands Hatch to not only claim his first overall victory, but also to become the outright championship leader.
Further retirements for Cappelli at Brands Hatch meant that he was third in the Legend Trophy standings – behind de Groot and Roberto Benedetti – heading to the first post-summer break round in Autodrom Most.
Most was where the tides started to turn, with Cappelli making his first podium finish in 2025. Cappelli then scored two further top-5 finishes in the double points races at Oschersleben, including his second podium finish in Race 2.
Crucially, de Groot made his first finishes outside of the top-10 in Germany. This significantly slashed Cappelli’s deficit, meaning that the battle for Legend Trophy was very much on for Zolder.
Based on previous results, Cappelli is predicted to have the upper hand at Zolder after the Italian’s dominant sweep in 2024.
Cappelli downplayed his chances, noting that the opposition has become stronger in 2025. However, he also will “never give up” and believes that anything can happen to significantly change the Legend Trophy outcome.
“It is a long and hard way to the top,” said Cappelli to World of EuroNASCAR. “Melvin is always fast at Circuit Zolder, as he showed in the past.”
“As with last year, I’ll go to Zolder to have fun and look for some good results, not for first place. This year the level of the cars in front of me is very high, but I will never give up and luck could help me.”
“But as I said, it is important to have fun. No crashes and to look for a good pace. I will do my best. 25 points could be a lot to catch, but it can also be gained in one race, so let’s see.”
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