Euro NASCAR: Beitske Visser seals Lady Trophy title in dramatic Zolder finale
Beitske Visser ended her NASCAR Euro Series season on a high by wrapping up the Lady Trophy title while twice finishing inside the overall top-10 at Zolder. Mariam Davitdze enjoyed one of her strongest results of the season, while Happinessa finished her second season in the NASCAR Euro Series with a top-15 result.
Beitske Visser ended her NASCAR Euro Series season on a high by wrapping up the Lady Trophy title while twice finishing inside the overall top-10 at Zolder. Visser continued her excellent late-season form after switching to Team Bleekemolen as the Dutch raced secured a best result of sixth to match her season's best.
Georgian racer Mariam Davitdze enjoyed one of her strongest results of the season as she excelled in wet conditions to secure a 13th place finish in the opening race of the weekend at Zolder.
Happinessa finished her second season in the NASCAR Euro Series with a top-15 result in Zolder after the Rette Jones Racing by Hendriks Motorsport driver battled changeable conditions while enjoying a number of close midfield battles.
Arriving at the season finale with a commanding lead in the Lady Trophy standings, Visser was aiming to finish the season on a high. After switching to a Team Bleekemolen prepared Toyota Camry, Visser enjoyed a strong showing at the technical Vallelunga circuit in Italy. Now sitting in 12th position in the Open standings, the Dutch driver was targeting a top-10 championship finish as she sat just 18 points behind French racer Florian Richard.
In her second season in the NASCAR Euro Series, Happinessa has continued to take strides forward. Securing a career-best eighth place result at Valencia, the Rette Jones Racing by Hendriks Motorsport driver has enjoyed a consistent campaign where she has taken the fight to more experienced rival Visser in the Lady Trophy classification. Happinessa entered the weekend 17th in the overall Open class standings but just 23 points behind Visser.
Rookie driver Mariam Davitidze has also impressed during the campaign with the Kolkhi Georgia Racing Team driver occasionally displaying the fastest outright pace of the trio. Despite an injury setback midway through the season, Davitidze has shown great determination to get back behind the wheel for the Playoff events and she was now searching for her maiden top-10 finish.
The first action of the weekend at Zolder took place on Friday afternoon as the drivers participated in a pair of short free practice sessions. It was an encouraging start to the day for all three female drivers who banked valuable experience in the opening session. Visser led the way with a time of a 1:40.631 which placed the Dutch driver in 12th position. Davitidze and Happinessa were also inside the top-20 as they closed out free practice one in 18th and 19th positions respectively as they turned the fastest laps towards the end of the session.
In the second practice session, the trio took significant steps forward as they continued to gain confidence at the challenging Zolder circuit. Visser ended the day inside the top-10, improving by almost two seconds from the earlier session. The Team Bleekemolen driver set a quickest lap of a 1:38.765 in her #76 Toyota Camry. Davitidze completed practice in 16th position with the Georgian driver clocking a time of a 1:40.847. Happinessa also took steps forward as the German driver set the 20th fastest lap for Rette Jones Racing by Hendriks Motorsport on a 1:42.659.
Qualifying was held early on Saturday morning and after overnight rain at Zolder, the drivers faced an additional challenge with a damp track. However, with no rain falling and the Euro NASCAR Pro drivers having already been out on circuit, a dry line was forming and therefore the slick were in use.
Due to the low grip conditions, it was a session of improvement for all of the drivers with the fastest laps coming in the final stages. Visser impressed during the middle portion of qualifying with the Team Bleekemolen driver jumping inside the top-5 as she looked to progress to the top-10 shootout.
After displaying good speed of her own, a technical issue forced Davitidze to stop out of circuit and therefore she missed the chance to improve when the track was at its driest. This resulted in a 20th place qualifying effort for the rookie driver with the Kolkhi Georgia Racing Team now hard at work to make the necessary repairs ahead of the opening race of the weekend.
Despite the challenging conditions, Happinessa was showing some of her strongest pace of the season. Displaying particularly impressive speed through the middle sector, the German racer qualified in 17th position with a lap of a 1:44.984 which was only two seconds away from her fastest free practice time despite the damp track surface.
Visser was the first driver to take the chequered flag in qualifying and this was a tough break as she was unable to improve while her rivals found more grip. Just missing out on the top-10 shootout by one hundredth of a second, the Team Bleekemolen driver qualified in 11th position with a fastest lap of a 1:41.188.
Conditions began dry for the opening race of the weekend which took place on Saturday afternoon. Due to a number of grid positions, including for Visser's #76 machine, the starting order was revised. The Dutch racer lined up from 16th position with Happinessa in 17th and Davitidze in 19th position.
As the lights went out, Visser made a superb start and used her racecraft to make up a number of positions through the opening turns. Completing lap one in 11th position, Visser was back up into her original starting position and beginning to apply pressure to Fabrizio Armetta. Happinessa had also enjoyed a good start as she gained one spot to move up to 16th, while Davitidze slipped to 20th position.
On lap two, Visser began building up a comfortable gap to the drivers behind which allowed her to focus forward on securing a top-10 position. Despite being overtaken by Maxim van Laere, Happinessa had settled into 17th position as she aimed to extend her margin over Davitidze.
As the drivers began lap three, a heavy rain shower passed over Zolder with the race initially neutralised via a full course yellow period before the red flags were displayed. All of the cars made their way to the pit lane where the teams fitted the wet weather tyres ahead of a restart.
Just a single lap was driven behind the safety car prior to the green flags being displayed with Visser looking confident on the restart. The Dutch driver immediately overtook two drivers to move up to ninth position, while setting the second fastest final sector of any driver on the restart lap.
It was a more challenging restart for Happinessa who received contact from Valentino Gambarotto which dropped the Rette Jones Racing by Hendriks Motorsport driver to 19th position. This elevated Davitdze up the order with the Georgian driver now into 17th position and lapping faster than those directly ahead.
On lap six, debutant Maximilian Seth spun into the gravel and this led to a full course yellow period which was then extended by the deployment of the safety car. The race resumed with seven laps remaining and Raphael Lessard pitted from fourth position which immediately promoted all three female drivers up one position.
Searching for a season's best result, Visser continued to move forward as she overtook Jens Beausaert to move into seventh. After Henri Timonen fell back in the challenging conditions, this elevated Davitidze into 16th position and Happinessa into 17th as they both built up their confidence.
After passing Beausaert, Visser was continuing to show excellent pace as the leading eight drivers began breaking clear. Visser was doing a superb job to apply pressure to the group ahead with a number of rivals battling for the overall Open class championship.
On lap 10, Davitidze drew level with compatriot Sandro Tavartkiladze and after completing the move into turn one, she was into the top-15. An unfortunate spin then delayed Happinessa, however she remained in 17th position after Tavartkiladze slowed with a technical issue.
Visser then came back under attack from Beausaert with the Belgian driver moving ahead on lap 11. The race was then shortened due to curfew constraints with the race distance reduced by two laps. Nonetheless, Visser still remained in contention for a strong finish as the battles among the leading group of drivers continued.
After slipping back from Davitidze, Happinessa came under threat from Federico Monti with the pair enjoying a fantastic late race battle. After closing to within one second of Happinessa on the final lap, Monti mounted a challenge with the German racer displaying her defensive skills. Taking the chequered flag just nine hundredths of a second ahead of Monti, Happinessa crossed the line in 17th position.
Davitidze enjoyed a consistent end to the race and after a spin for Michael Bleekemolen on the final tour, she gained a further position. Driving a clean and mature race, the Georgian driver finished in 14th position to bank valuable championship points.
Visser meanwhile, extended her lead atop the Lady Trophy standings by taking the chequered flag in eighth position as the Team Bleekemolen driver enjoyed one of her strongest races of the season. Following post-race penalties, Davitidze was elevated to 13th position in the final classification with Happinessa promoted to 16th.
The season finale took place on Sunday morning and with dry conditions returning to Zolder, all drivers fitted the slick tyres. The grid positions were based upon the fastest race laps from the opening contest and therefore Visser lined up from eighth position. Happinessa started her Rette Jones Racing by Hendriks Motorsport machine from 17th spot with Davitidze in 20th position.
As the lights went out, it was an initially clean start with Davitidze making excellent progress from the tenth row of grid. Moving up from 20th position, the Georgian driver ended lap one in 15th position, just ahead of Happinessa who was in 16th position after gaining one spot herself. Although Visser slipped to ninth, she was firmly in contention for another strong result as she remained in the leading group.
On lap two, Happinessa closed back up to Davitidze and this saw her come under attack from Dominique Schaak. As the drivers began lap three, Schaak drew level with Happinessa and he cleared the German racer into the first turn. As Schaak continued to move forward, this shuffled Davitdze back with the Georgian racer now in 18th position while Happinessa remained in 16th after she passed her fellow female driver.
Just inside the top-10, Visser was enjoying a fantastic battle with Fabrizio Armetta and after putting a significant amount of pressure on the Italian driver, she drew level with her rival to begin lap four. Although Armetta held on, Visser was driving well and keeping her car clean in preparation for a late-race charge.
After moving ahead of Davitidze, Happinessa was displaying excellent pace as she set her fastest laps of the entire event. On lap five, she dipped below a time of a 1:42 for the first time, before setting a lap of a 1:41.232 which was quicker than those directly ahead. This allowed her to build a small margin to those behind, while keeping Schaak in her sights as he pushed towards the top-10.
As the race reached the halfway mark, the battles for the top-5 positions remained intense and Jens Beausaert was keen to move forward. The Belgian racer overtook Visser on lap eight, before he overtook Armetta on the following tour. This allowed Visser to close up on Armetta once more with the duo resuming their fantastic battle.
Meanwhile, Davitdze was fighting back from her early race misfortune and after applying significant pressure to Federico Monti, she overtook the Italian racer on lap nine before setting a personal best time of a 1:41.405.
On lap 11, the race entered a short full course yellow period after the tyre stack was displaced at the chicane. After a single lap at a reduced pace, green flag conditions resumed and Visser's superb anticipation saw her overtake Armetta. Happinessa also enjoyed a good restart as she overtook Henri Timonen for a spot inside the top-15.
This brief neutralisation led to smaller gaps in the leading group and although Visser was in eighth position, she was just four seconds away from second-place driver Claudio Cappelli. On the penultimate lap of the race, an off-track moment for Beausaert saw him drop down the order with Visser now up to eighth position.
With a number of championship positions decided by small margins, the racing on the final lap was intense. Contact between Thomas Dombrowski and Vladimiros Tziortzis saw the Cypriot driver spin and Visser capitalised. Taking the chequered flag in seventh position, the Dutch driver secured one of her best results of the campaign with a determined drive. Following a post-race penalty assessed to Dombrowski, Visser was elevated to sixth match her season's best NASCAR Euro Series result.
Happinessa and Davitidze also enjoyed close battles in the final laps of the season with the German racer shuffled back to 16th position on the penultimate tour. After Michael Bleekemolen moved ahead, this delayed Timonen who also lost out to Davitidze who climbed to 18th prior to the final lap.
After a fantastic battle, Happinessa slipped behind a recovering Gil Lister before taking the chequered flag in 17th position, a tenth behind Linster. Davitidze crossed the line just half a tenth of a second behind Happinessa as she closed out her season with an 18th place result. Following post-race penalties, Happinessa was promoted to 15th to secure a well-deserved top-15 result while Davitdze remained in 18th position.
It was a thrilling final weekend in the NASCAR Euro Series with the drivers battling changeable conditions at Zolder. Visser enjoyed one of her strongest events of the campaign with two top-10 results while continuing to improve alongside Team Bleekemolen.
Both Happinessa and Davitidze wrapped-up their seasons with a top-15 finish apiece, demonstrating their racecraft in a number of close midfield battles.
