Double points and plenty of “bump-to-bump” battles: the 2023 Finals of the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series are set to offer fans a thrilling last weekend of racing at the famous Zolder circuit in Belgium. History is yet to be written, the fight for trophies is still open on all fronts. Anything could potentially happen.
Patrick Schober, currently in fifth place in the overall standings, aims to bring the #27 Double V Racing Ford Mustang back to the podium after gaining his first EuroNASCAR 2 victory at Oschersleben. The Austrian is closely followed by Martin Doubek of Hendriks Motorsport and Claudio Cappelli of Race Art, trailing by 2 and 8 points respectively, seeking to overtake him. However, Schober has other plans and decides to aim high by placing two amazing performances earned in a second-place finish in Race 1 and a third-place finish in Race 2. The two consecutive podiums leave no way out for competition and even, due to Alberto Naska’s forgettable weekend, allow Schober to surpass the famous Italian driver and YouTuber, achieving a fourth-place finish in the championship. He just touched the podium taken by Gil Linster (Hendriks Motorsport), Vladimiros Tziortzis (Academy Motorsport), and the new EuroNASCAR 2 Champion Paul Jouffreau (RDV Competition).
Certainly a very positive epilogue for the 19-year-old Austrian driver who closed the sports season by achieving an impressive 4 podiums in the last 6 races with the Double V Racing #27 Ford Mustang .
club challenge finals
Final act of the Club Challenge category that runs in Zolder exceptionally on Thursdays. No longer able to aim for the podium of the general classification, Viktor Schiffer fights to achieve the best possible placement, concluding in the best way his debut season in EuroNASCAR.
The first big difficulty is the Belgian weather: rapid changes between rain and sun making it difficult to choose tires and time to declare. In fact, during the first two rounds it’s practically impossible to maintain constant laps. In the third finally Schiffer manages to find a discreet regularity on the lap, but not enough to get on the podium. He finishes the GP in P6 Belgium and confirms P6 also in the general classification. Season certainly unlucky for the Austrian who however demonstrated a interesting potential, also achieving a podium in Vallelunga.
EN 2 FINALS
Schober arrives at the 2023 Finals determined to defend the momentary Top-5 and with the concrete goal of climbing again on the podium after the exciting victory in the German GP. A good Free Practice and then a good Qualifying session allow the Austrian ace to starts from P7 in Race 1.
final 1
Careful start for Schober who maintains his position in the first turns to avoid dangerous contacts. On lap 2 he starts dueling with Tziortzis and managing to overtake him for a couple of laps later. The #27 Mustang of Double V Racing flies on the Belgian track and at fifth lap Schober makes an incredible double overtaking Cappelli and De Groot in a single corner, thanks to a perfect trajectory. Lap after lap the #27 gets closer to the #50 Camry of Linster but after a contact between Naska and Jouffreau in head of the group, the Italian leaves the scene and Schober is virtually on the podium at lap nine. After a Full-Course-Yellow De Groot tries to mock Schober on the restart, but the 19-year-old Austrian counter-overtakes him immediately, finishing the race in P2 thanks to a penalty which takes away the victory from Jouffreau after the race.
final 2
Schober starts from P4 in the last race of the season and the pace of Race 1 suggests that the podium is the minimum goal to achieve. Naska immediately tries to attack several times with the Camaro #54, but Schober defends himself with order and even reaches a super-overtake at the fifth lap on Linster's #50 showing once again how fast the #27 Mustang is. The hunt begins to Doubek's #7, but on lap 10 the rain starts to fall strong and the cars begin to lose grip dangerously. With a wet track, the drivers are forced to lift their foot from the accelerator and the race ends without other emotions. Schober conquers his second consecutive podium in these Finals and overtakes Naska in the general classification, closing this amazing season in P4.
