Patrick Schober said that he’s “out of the title fight” after he retired from one of the races in Oschersbelen due to contact with Martin Doubek.
Austrian driver Patrick Schober admits that he’s “out of the title fight” following a collision between him and Martin Doubek in Race 1 of the 2025 NASCAR GP Germany.
Schober was fourth in the EuroNASCAR OPEN standings entering the round at Oschersleben. After he had his first DNF of the season in Most, Schober is aware that he needed to score as many points as possible to keep him in the title fight for the Finals at Zolder.
Oschersleben is traditionally a strong track for Schober, having won at the venue in both 2023 and 2024. However, the 2025 running was rough from the get go.
Schober was only eighth fastest in the combined Practice times, more than one second behind the fastest time set by championship leader Thomas Krasonis.
The 21-year old gained some tenths to the leaders in Qualifying. However, the improvement was only enough to put him seventh in the grid for Race 1.
During the race, Schober was unable to advance his way up the running order. He was battling for sixth for the majority of the race alongside Doubek and Thomas Dombrowski, both qualified near him in Qualifying.
Schober looked set to grab seventh at the minimum when he and Doubek collided at the Triple corner with just three corners to go. The contact took down Schober’s front-right tire and he was unable to bring the No. 3 RDV Competition Ford back to the pits despite his best efforts.
“I got a better exit from the corner and was about to overtake car #7,” explained Schober through social media. “Suddenly, he swerved sharply to the left and crashed into me. That destroyed my right front tire. Any further comment is unnecessary.”
His times from Race 1 was good enough to put him sixth on the Race 2 grid. This proved to be beneficial as it meant that he was in position to join the six-way battle for the lead.
Taking advantage of his rival’s struggles on tire management, Schober made his way up to second position and clinched his first podium finish since Brands Hatch.
With a 70 point deficit to Krasonis and dropping down to seventh in the overall championship, Schober concluded that he is effectively out of the title race despite still having a mathematical chance of winning it.
However, the Austrian driver will still “give his all” for the fans during the season finale in Belgium.
“This second place finish feels good,” said Schober on his podium finish and subsequent title chances. “After an unprecedented run of bad luck, I managed to fight my way to second place yesterday in a thrilling race, starting from sixth on the grid.”
“Unfortunately, I’m out of the title fight. The tire puncture, the results from a controversial collision with the reigning champion Martin Doubek during Saturday’s race, has so severely diminished my chances that it would be an illusion to still think about winning the title.”
“I can’t expect that my bad luck, which has plagued me throughout this season, will suddenly shift to other competitors at Zolder. However, I will still give my all in Zolder because nothing is impossible.”
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