Words cannot describe what happened at the iconic Brands Hatch Indy Circuit in the ELITE 2 Round 5. Coming from 26th on the grid Lasse Sorensen overtook the whole field to grab his second career NASCAR Whelen Euro Series win. At the end of a furious comeback, the Dexwet-df1 Racing driver overtook a slowing Florian Venturi in the very last lap to capture the checkered flag.
Drama already struck early in the first ELITE 2 Division race of the NASCAR GP UK. It was Andre Castro who lead the pack to the green, but the American was put under pressure by championship leader Giorgio Maggi. The two got together at Graham Hill bend and the #24 PK Carsport Chevrolet of Castro went into a spin and Florian Venturi took advantage of it to pick up the lead.
The Safety Car was deployed after Matthias Hauer got stuck in the gravel at Clearways and on the ensuing restart Venturi managed to build a gap on the competition and was on his way to his second win of the season. But Sorensen was already on his way to the top and charging in fourth place behind Scott Jeff and Vittorio Ghirelli.
In the final laps Jeffs attacked Ghirelli for second at Paddock Hill Bend. They touched and Ghirelli went sliding through the gravel. Sorensen grabbed the opportunity and climbed up to second. A few moments later Venturi suddenly slowed down while beginning the last lap of the race. Sorensen immediately passed Venturi for the lead and grabbed his second NWES win in what was just his fifth Euro NASCAR race. Jeffs finished second, but a 30-second post-race penalty moved him down the order to 17th place.
“It was just amazing”, said the Danish rookie. “I would have never thought about it when I was climbing into the car. I would have been happy with a top-10. I was lucky because there were some spins and crashes ahead of me. When you come from 26th you also need a little bit of luck. I want to thank my team Dexwet-df1 Racing and my awesome sponsor flexlease.nu. I’m so happy for everyone. It’s going pretty well right now here in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series.”
Advait Deodhar, driving the #31 CAAL Racing Chevrolet SS, came from eighth to second, also conquering his first ever NWES podium finish and Venturi managed to bring home third place. Vittorio Ghirelli was fourth and took the ELITE 2 Division points lead.
“This is technically my second home race as I live in London,” said Deodhar. “CAAL Racing was the third team for me in this season. They are amazing, I’m so happy, I don’t know what to say. It was a crazy race right from the beginning. I am sure the spectators enjoyed it as well. It was a funny race for a driver and it was going crazy until the very last lap.”
Points leader Giorgio Maggi had a troubled race: he had to serve a drive-through penalty after the contact with Castro, while the American got the same penalty following a clash in restart with Myatt Snider.
Michael Bleekemolen ended up seventh after a strong run in his #69 Ford Mustang. It was the first Legend Trophy win for the former Formula One driver. He edged Eric De Doncker and Ian Eric Waden. Bleekemolen is the fifth different Legend Trophy winner in the 2019 season so far. Arianna Casoli won the Lady Trophy.
The ELITE 2 Division will return to action on Sunday at Brands Hatch with Round 6 of the 2019 season. The race will start 17:13 CEST and will be streamed live on Fanschoice.tv, the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series Facebook and YouTube channel, Motorsport.tv and a vast network of websites and social media pages from around the world.
PENALTY REPORT
77 Freddie HEMBORG – Avoidable collision # 11 at Turn 2 – Drive Through (equivalent add 30 seconds to the elapsed time of the Race 1)
64 Mathias HAUER – Avoidable collision # 78 at Turn 3 – Drive Through (equivalent add 30 seconds to the elapsed time of the Race 1)
77 Freddie HEMBORG – Avoidable collision # 8 at Turn 3 – Drive Through (equivalent add 30 seconds to the elapsed time of the Race 1)
90 Scott JEFFS – Force another car (# 9) out the track – Drive Through (equivalent add 30 seconds to the elapsed time of the Race 1)
8 Nicholas RISTIANO – Avoidable collision # 2 at Turn 2 – Drive Through (equivalent add 30 seconds to the elapsed time of the Race 1)
NWES PR
