Arianna Casoli claims Lady Trophy honours, Happinessa enjoys positive debut at Circuit Ricardo Tormo
- LIAM REDFORD
- Apr 15
- 6 min read
Arianna Casoli marked her return to NASCAR Euro Series with two Lady Trophy wins and her best finish in nearly three years, while newcomer Happinessa enjoyed a strong start to her campaign as she achieved a top-15 while gaining valuable experience.
Arianna Casoli celebrated a decade in the NASCAR Euro Series by claiming a pair of Lady Trophy victories at Circuit Ricardo Tormo, while Happinessa secured a top-15 on her championship debut.
The veteran Italian driver secured two top-15 finishes to begin the season, including a 13th place result in race two which was her best finish in almost three years. Debuting with Bremotion, Happinessa also enjoyed a strong start to the campaign as she achieved a highest finish of 15th while gaining valuable experience throughout the event.
Arianna Casoli returned to the NASCAR Euro Series for her tenth season and the veteran Italian driver remained with French squad Speedhouse. Casoli’s best performance in 2024 came at Autodrom Most where she challenged the top-10 drivers on her way to a season’s best finish of 14th.
Casoli was joined by Vanessa Neumann, also known as Happinessa, with the German driver choosing the NASCAR Euro Series as the championship of choice for her first foray into competitive international motorsport. Joining the Bremotion team, Happinessa was aiming to make progress throughout while challenging Casoli for Lady Trophy honours in her rookie season.
Over the winter break, the NASCAR Euro Series underwent a series of changes including a shift of name for its secondary division. Previously known as Euro NASCAR 2, Casoli and Happinessa now compete in the NASCAR Euro Series Open class. All cars have now been fitted with sequential gearboxes, while the calendar remains unchanged with a single oval remaining on the schedule with the drivers visiting Raceway Venray in June.
In addition to racing in NASCAR Euro Series Open class, Happinessa competed in the NASCAR Euro Series Rookie Challenge which allowed her to bank more experience of the Circuit Ricardo Tormo circuit. The Bremotion driver delivered a solid performance and although outright lap time was not the goal, her quickest time came in the third session where she set a 1:48.097.
Happinessa was joined by Casoli for the two free practice sessions which were held on Friday for the NASCAR Euro Series Open class drivers. In session one, Casoli was the faster of the two Lady Trophy drivers as the Speedhouse racer set the 16th fastest time, while Happinessa was just behind in 17th. Both drivers improved their lap times significantly in the second session as Casoli ended the day 18th on a time of a 1:48.787, while Happinessa was 19th with a quickest lap of a 1:49.392.
Qualifying was held on Saturday morning and was held over a duration of fifteen-minutes. Both Casoli and Happinessa again improved from the two practice sessions on Friday and were engaged in a close battle to be the best placed Lady Trophy driver. A fast final lap from Happinessa saw her claim the honours with a time of a 1:47.561 placing her in 19th position overall, while Casoli was less than one tenth of a second behind in 20th position on a time of a 1:47.625.
For the first race of the weekend on Saturday afternoon, the command to start the engines was given by Marta Garcia who was the honorary starter at her home circuit. Happinessa lined up from 19th, while Casoli started alongside the Bremotion driver in 20th position. It was the veteran Italian racer who got the better start and moved ahead of Happinessa into 18th, while Happinessa settled in behind.
Casoli was doing a nice job to remain in touch with the Marko Stipp Motorsport machine of Sven Van Laere in the early stages and remained just two seconds behind the Belgian driver. There was a similar margin between Casoli and Happinessa as both drivers were engaged in a close-fight for Lady Trophy honours. On lap four, a new personal best time for Happinessa saw her cut the deficit to Casoli, before the Speedhouse driver responded with a fast time of her own.
On lap six, Andres Beers momentarily passed Happinessa before he pitted to retire his Ford Mustang. As the race reached the halfway point, a puncture for Claudio Remigio Cappelli moved both Lady Trophy drivers up one position with Casoli now 16th and Happinessa in 17th. On lap 10, newcomer Valentino Gambarotto beached his Alumitec Racing machine in the gravel and this necessitated a full course yellow period.
Casoli was now into the top-15 under the neutralisation period, while Happinessa remained in contention in 16th place. As the racing got back underway, just one further lap was able to be completed before a puncture led to Martin Doubek becoming stranded in the gravel. At the same time, Bruno Mulders and Mario Ercoli pitted and as the race entered a second full course yellow period, Casoli was now 14th and Happinessa 15th.
As the full course yellow period ended, Casoli was now right behind Van Laere and as the drivers began the final lap, the Speedhouse racer was just half a second behind. Contact was made between Casoli and Van Laere as they battled for position with both cars spinning. Casoli rejoined ahead and took the checkered flag in 13th, while Happinessa enjoyed a clean run to the finish in 15th.
Both Casoli and Happinessa were assessed post-race time penalties for speeding under full course yellow conditions and as a result, Arianna fell behind Van Laere. Nonetheless, Casoli still matched her best result from the 2024 season in 14th, while Happinessa opened her account with a solid top-15 finish at Circuit Ricardo Tormo.
After a positive start to the season for both Casoli and Happinessa, they were targeting further improvements in race two on Sunday. Nerea Marti gave the command to start the engines with Happinessa lining up 19th on the grid, while Casoli again lined up alongside in 20th position. As the drivers entered turn one, contact was made at the head of the field which sent multiple cars spinning, while Claudio Remigio Cappelli became beached in the gravel.
This resulted in a full course yellow period with Casoli up to 18th, while Happinessa remained in 19th position. When the green flag was displayed, Casoli was running directly behind Sven Van Laere and had Happinessa in close proximity behind. While trying to challenge for Lady Trophy honours, Happinessa then had a spin at turn one. The Bremotion driver was able to continue with no damage to the car, however Casoli’s class lead was now sizeable.
Now with no pressure behind, Casoli could focus on attacking Van Laere and after running just a tenth behind her rival at the end of lap four, the Speedhouse racer completed the move on lap five. On the fringes of the top-10, Thomas Krasonis spun Florian Richard as the Greek driver was charging through the field after his lap one incident. Richard’s car was beached in the gravel and therefore the race entered a second full course yellow period.
As the racing resumed, Van Laere re-passed Casoli with the Italian now running in 16th position after Krasonis entered the pits, while Happinessa was on the lead lap in 17th. On lap nine, personal best times from both Casoli and Happinessa saw both drivers dip into the 1:47s for the first time in race two. Happinessa’s time was marginally faster than Casoli’s as the German racer continued to improve on her debut weekend.
Casoli’s fast time allowed her to bridge the gap to Van Laere once more and on lap 11, she overtook the Belgian driver for a place inside the top-15. On the same lap, Thomas Toffel pitted with a puncture which elevated Arianna to 14th, before Mario Ercoli pulled into the pits with a technical issue. Casoli was now into a weekend-high 13th position, while Happinessa had also entered the top-15.
A series of strong laps to finish the race saw Casoli take the checkered flag in 13th position and secure her best result since Zolder in 2022. Happinessa was passed by a recovering Cappelli on the final lap, however she secured a 16th place result to bank further championship points. Casoli therefore doubled up in the Lady Trophy as she began the season with two good performances.
Casoli and Happinessa enjoyed an encouraging weekend at Circuit Ricardo Tormo as they both secured top-15 overall finishes. Casoli came out on top in close on-track battles with Sven Van Laere where she showed her experience at a challenging circuit for overtaking. In Happinessa’s first competitive event, she drove well to finish both races and score her maiden top-15 result.
Both drivers will now be looking ahead to the next round of the NASCAR Euro Series which takes place at Vallelunga on the weekend of 17th/18th May.
