Alina Loibnegger scores career best NASCAR Whelen Euro Series finish

Displaying great speed in qualifying, as well as in both races, Alina Loibnegger achieved a brilliant ninth place result in race one and swept the lady trophy class at her return to EuroNASCAR 2 at Autodrom Most.

Alina Loibnegger, Bremotion, EuroNASCAR, Most — Credits: NASCAR Whelen Euro Series / Japo Santos

Alina Loibnegger marked a successful return to Euro NASCAR 2 with a career best finish at Autodrom Most. Driving for the Bremotion team, Loibnegger achieved a brilliant ninth place result in race one and swept the lady trophy class with a comeback victory in race two where she passed Arianna Casoli to secure the honours. Alina’s pace was impressive throughout the weekend, putting into practice the experience she has gained from running in the Euro NASCAR Pro class for the first half of the season.

After scoring a top-10 finish at Most last season, Loibnegger was confident of her speed heading into the weekend. Finishing the opening practice session in 14th, this was a good start as the Bremotion driver was just one second away from eighth. Despite an issue limiting her running in the second session, Alina’s first practice speed gave cause for encouragement ahead of qualifying.

Qualifying on Saturday morning was held in difficult conditions, with the track damp but drying, providing a further test for Alina and the Bremotion team. Tyre choice was a further dilemma for the drivers, with Alina making a pitstop during the first half of the session. Continuing her strong form from practice, Loibnegger qualified 17th overall and topped the lady trophy class on her return to Euro NASCAR 2.

Starting race one from 17th, Alina made an excellent start to avoid a number of first lap incidents to move into 12th by the conclusion of lap one. A lengthy safety car period followed in order to remove stricken cars and debris, with the race getting back underway on lap five. Loibnegger did a good job on the restart to negotiate faster cars coming through the field, dropping to 14th before losing a further position to Valerio Marzi on lap six.

By the halfway mark, Alina had settled into 15th and set about running fast lap times and chasing down the drivers ahead. On lap 10, a full course yellow period led to the neutralisation of the race for a second time with an issue for Claudio Cappelli elevating the Bremotion driver back to 14th. Racing resumed with two laps to go and a typically chaotic restart followed, with Alina moving into an excellent 11th.

Holding this position to the line, while setting her personal best time on the final lap, Loibnegger secured her best result of the season on her return to Euro NASCAR 2 which was further improved to ninth with post-race penalties for Roberto Benedetti and Martin Doubek.

"I'm super happy," Loibnegger said. "I switched from the Pro class to EuroNASCAR 2 for Most and it paid off completely."

"The race was chaotic, but overall it was great. I would like to thank Bremotion, my sponsors and my supporters", the 28-year-old Austrian added.

After securing the best result of her NASCAR Whelen Euro Series career, Alina was searching for another top-10 in race but her task would be made harder with extremely wet conditions at Autodrom Most.

"I want to remain accident-free", Loibnegger explained before Sunday's race. "We'll see whether the rain will play a role. Then everything will be mixed again, but I'll do my best. In any case, I want to build on [Saturday's] result."

Lining up 16th, the race began behind the safety car, with Loibnegger gaining two positions on the first racing lap. On the tail of Michael Bleekemolen, the Bremotion driver was applying the pressure to her Dutch rival and by lap four, Alina was up to 12th.

Lap five saw Loibnegger have a small spin which dropped her to 16th, however by setting a personal best time on lap seven highlighted her fighting spirit. Alina also made a move on Arianna Casoli to re-enter the top-15 and this put her in position to sweep the lady trophy honours for the weekend. Running competitive times in the closing stages, Loibnegger crossed the line 15th to round off an excellent weekend of racing on her return to the Euro NASCAR 2 class.

"My first wet race was a real challenge", she summed up. "The car behaved very differently, I tried to find the pace. I succeeded and I've won again the Lady Trophy. I want to say thank you to everyone."

"I didn't see anything at the start because of the spray and I was hoping not to hit a car. Then, unfortunately, my windscreen wipers failed after two laps. Visibility was definitely a challenge."

"But the rain also had its advantages, because I got to know the car differently. That's a good learning process for the future."

Alina should be extremely pleased with her results across the weekend, with a switch to a new team and a return to Euro NASCAR 2 adding to the challenge. Displaying great speed in qualifying, as well as in both races, Loibnegger’s ninth place result in race one beat her previous best of tenth which she achieved three times in 2022.

"I fought for that result", Alina continued. "Especially at the start I had to be careful and concentrated to leave the number 99 in one piece."

Alina will be targeting further strong results as the regular season of the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series is brought to a close on the weekend of 23rd/24th September when the drivers battle it out at Oschersleben in Germany.