Last weekend was the second event of the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series on the agenda.
This time in Franciacorta, Italy. With a second place on Sunday and wins in the Junior Trophy on both days, Loris had a strong follow-up of his good seasonstart in his #50 Ford Mustang of team Hendriks Motorsport.
Loris Hezemans started the weekend Saturday morning magnificent with the fastest time in qualifying. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to match this time in the Superpole which resulted in a fifth starting place for the Saturdays race. At the start Loris managed to keep his position and he could then work on a fast lap. This to have a good starting spot for the race on Sunday. After he succeeded in this, he soon began to put more pressure on Nicolo Rocca. With a well thought overtaking maneuver starting in turn 7 and ending with a splendid cross-over action in turn 9 he got by the Italian on the inside. Because the gap to the top 4 was too big, Loris chose to ease of the throttle and saving his tyres for Sunday.
“We did expect a bit more in the qualifying on Saturday. In the first segment I was first with what turned out to be the fastest time of the whole weekend. Unfortunately we couldn’t get the tyre pressure perfect for the Superpole, but made up for it in the race with eventually a fourth place and a win in the Junior Trophy. Also I drove the second fastest time which ment I got to start from P2 on Sunday. All and all a fine result for the Saturday.”
After a problem free warm-up on Sunday morning, Loris Hezemans had a good start. From the beginning of the race he managed to put pressure on polesitter and championship leader Alon Day. A small error in the fourth lap resulted in damage on the left front side of his #50 Ford Mustang. Loris got immediately under pressure himself from the former F1 world champion and Indycar champion Jacques Villeneuve. They had a fight for second place which lasted for several laps and saw some contact between them on multiple times. In the end Loris managed to keep the Canadian behind him and taking his first podium in the Elite 1 class of the season.
“I’m very happy with P2 but at the same time I think when I could have kept the car in one piece I would have had a good chance to get the win. In the fourth lap I was very close to Alon [Day] and actually even faster, certainly at the beginning. In the fast lefthander I overdid it a bit and tore up the left side of the car; no more brake cooling, and offcourse the [bodywork on the] leftside was flapping heavily. Jacques [Villeneuve] and I had a good fight. It was more like racing in the USA, bumper-tobumper and wheelbanging. It was a bit on the limit from the both of us but certainly a great fight. Actually when we touched each other a piece of my fender, which I think slowed me down for a large part, flew off. That resulted in being able to pick up the pace again for a bit.”
In the standings of the Elite 1 championship Loris Hezemans climbs to a shared second place with Stienes Longin, only 15 point behind leader Day. In the Junior Trophy championship he extends his lead to 5 points over second place Rocca after this weekend. In about two weeks the following event of the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series is due on the calender. On the first and second of Juny it is time for the GP of England which will be driven on the track of Brands Hatch.
Loris Hezemans Racing PR
