Alon Day and Tobias Dauenhauer on top of Nascar Euroseries Free Practice at Circuit Zolder 08.10.2021: The Israeli and the German clocked the fastest laps in both free practice sessions The regular season finale of the 2021 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series season has officially started with a total of 4 free practice sessions – 2 in each championship.

The Israeli and the German clocked the fastest laps in both free practice sessions



The regular season finale of the 2021 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series season has officially started with a total of 4 free practice sessions – 2 in each championship. While reigning Champion Alon Day topped the standings in EuroNASCAR PRO by the narrowest margin, championship leader Tobias Dauenhauer was fastest in EuroNASCAR 2.



By clocking the 4-km long Circuit Zolder in 1:37.463 minutes, the Israeli set the pace at the wheel of his #88 CAAL Racing Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro entering a thrilling weekend in Belgium. The German’s best lap was a 1:38.845.





EuroNASCAR PRO: Three-time Champ strikes back



Sitting in fifth in the overall standings, Alon Day has a 60-point deficit to overcome if he wants to crown himself the first four-time EuroNASCAR PRO Champion.



While championship leader Loris Hezemans is absent due to his participation in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Charlotte, USA, Day topped the combined free practice classification. The 29-year-old needs to grab two strong finishes in the forest of Limburg – a track he won sixth time at – if he wants to keep his title ambitions alive.



But there was a local hero and NWES returnee, who put a lot of pressure on the Ashdod native’s back: Stienes Longin. PK Carsport is doing a one off start in the 2021 NWES season at their hometrack and the Belgian flew past the turns as he never missed any EuroNASCAR PRO race.



Longin was just 0.016 seconds slower than Day and showed that he was able to get rid of the rust in just a couple of laps. Championship contender and Day’s CAAL Racing teammate Gianmarco Ercoli followed in third. The Italian also topped the Junior Trophy standings.



Hendriks Motorsport’s Vittorio Ghirelli finished fourth at the wheel of the #50 Hendriks Motorsport Ford Mustang. The 2020 EuroNASCAR 2 Champion was 0.606 seconds shy of Day in the combined result. Closing the top-5 was Marc Goossens, who switched teams late in the season and joined CAAL Racing. Speedhouse’s Lucas Lasserre was sixth ahead of Giorgio Maggi, Patrick Lemarie and Nicolo Rocca, who completed the top-10 at the end of the two 30-minute practice sessions.




Fastest Challenger Trophy driver was Henri Tuomaala in twelfth place, while Davide Dallara finished 17th and Yevgen Sokolovskiy ended up 19th. NWES newcomer Pierre Comot was a solid 13th quickest in practice. The French TV analyst took over the wheel of the #46 Marko Stipp Motorsport Chevrolet Camaro.




EuroNASCAR 2: EuroNASCAR 2 dominator Dauenhauer again at the top



Tobias Dauenhauer continued where he left off at the Automotodrom Grobnik 3 weeks ago: The German placed his #50 Hendriks Motorsport Mustang in first place and reaffirmed his title ambitions in the 2021 NWES season. The 23-year-old already won four races so far and again seems to be the man to beat at Circuit Zolder – a track he didn’t win at in 2020. Dauenhauer edged CAAL Racing’s Brands Hatch race winner Advait Deodhar from India by 0.380 seconds.


After a solid debut in Croatia, Team Bleekemolen’s Melvin de Groot took a solid third place, topping the Legend Trophy and the Rookie Trophy classifications. The Dutchman’s had a 0.690 deficit on the German at the top of the standings.


Academy Motorsport / Alex Caffi Motorsport’s Vladimiros Tziortzis followed in fourth ahead of 42 Racing’s Francesco Garisto, who rounded out the top-5. Not Only Motorsport’s Naveh Talor finished sixth, while DF1 Racing’s Simon Pilate was seventh quickest ahead of Yevgen Sokolovskiy the wheel of his #48 Marko Stipp Motorsport Camaro.



The Ukranian’s fiercest rival in the special classification for drivers aged 40 and more, CAAL Racing’s Max Lanza, was ninth. Rookie Leonardo Colavita completed the top-10 at the wheel of the #9 Vict Motorsport’s Camaro. Alina Loibnegger edged Arianna Casoli in the Lady Trophy standings.



The regular season finale is on and all races of the NASCAR GP Belgium will be broadcasted live on EuroNASCAR’s platforms – YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, NWES App – and Motorsport.tv. On Saturday, the EuroNASCAR PRO race starts at 2pm CEST, while EuroNASCAR 2 Round 9 will begin at 4:50 pm CEST.
 





Gian Luca Guiglia, NASCAR Whelen Euro Series / Stephane Azemard