EuroNASCAR: Happinessa and Visser share Lady Trophy wins in Vallelunga
Beitske Visser, Happinessa and Mariam Davitidze all produced encouraging performances at Vallelunga as the NASCAR Euro Series OPEN entered its playoff phase, with Visser maintaining her lead in the Lady Trophy standings after a promising debut with Team Bleekemolen.
Beitske Visser, Happinessa and Mariam Davitidze all produced encouraging performances at Vallelunga as the NASCAR Euro Series OPEN entered its playoff phase, with Visser maintaining her lead in the Lady Trophy standings after a promising debut with Team Bleekemolen.
Happinessa secured a class victory in Race 1 and overall top-15, while Davitidze completed a solid comeback weekend after returning to competition just weeks after suffering a hand injury at Most. Visser's weekend ultimately ended with a Race 2 Lady Trophy victory after she recovered from an opening-race retirement, while Davitidze added a second-place class finish and Happinessa continued to score valuable points despite an unfortunate incident outside of her control in the second race.
Three female drivers headed to Vallelunga for the first NASCAR Euro Series OPEN playoffs round, with the battle for the Lady Trophy remaining one of the closest contests in the championship. Visser arrived in Italy as the class leader after a promising regular season that had nevertheless been repeatedly interrupted by technical issues, and the Dutch driver entered the playoffs with a new team, moving to Team Bleekemolen while retaining the support of BS+Competition.
Happinessa, the reigning Lady Trophy champion, continued her second EuroNASCAR season and her first campaign with Hendriks Motorsport in partnership with Rette Jones Racing. After claiming her first class victory of the year at Valencia and recording an overall top-15 finish at Paul Ricard, she had shown particularly strong pace at Most, narrowly missing another Lady Trophy victory in Race 1 at the previous round.
Davitidze, meanwhile, continued her rookie campaign after regularly fighting around the Lady Trophy podium positions during the regular season. The Georgian had demonstrated encouraging speed at Most before an accident in Race 1 resulted in a hand injury, making Vallelunga an important return to competition as she looked to continue the progress of her debut season. Robin Bleekemolen, who had impressed with a Lady Trophy victory and an overall top-ten finish at Most following her strong EuroNASCAR debut at Brands Hatch, was not entered for the Vallelunga round.
Visser immediately showed that the move to Team Bleekemolen could deliver a step forward in performance, finishing 10th overall in the opening practice session with a 1:44.239. Happinessa was also competitive, ending FP1 18th with a 1:45.8, just ahead of Davitidze. The three drivers then all made significant progress in second practice, with Visser again 10th overall but improving dramatically to a 1:42.334. Davitidze also made a substantial step forward with a 1:43.784, while Happinessa closed the gap further with a 1:44.722.
The improvements continued into qualifying. Visser posted a 1:41.466 to qualify ninth and advance into the next session, while Davitidze continued to improve despite still recovering from her hand injury, setting a 1:43.049 to qualify 20th. Happinessa qualified 21st with a 1:43.920 after another solid effort.
Visser then went one step further in Superpole, setting a 1:41.765 to secure eighth on the starting grid. It represented a clear step forward for the Dutch driver and her new team, giving her the opportunity to fight at the sharp end of the OPEN field.
Visser was supposed to start Race 1 from eighth overall, with Davitidze lining up 20th and Happinessa 21st, but the opening moments immediately turned the race on its head for the Dutchwoman: an issue before the start forced Visser to begin the race from the back of the pitlane, meaning she had to charge back and after a lap, she emerged already in 20th place.
Davitidze, meanwhile, made an excellent start to move into 16th, while Happinessa also launched strongly and climbed to 17th. Visser began her recovery immediately, passing several cars to move into 18th, bringing all three female drivers together in a close train.
The opening lap ended under caution after Kenko Miura and Andre Lortie went off at Turn 6, bringing out the Safety Car. The field circulated behind the safety car until the end of lap three, when racing resumed.
Visser immediately came under pressure from Davide Frulio, with the two drivers trading positions over 18th place, while Davitidze and Happinessa remained ahead in 16th and 17th respectively. The fight for the Lady Trophy was therefore developing into a three-way battle, with the three female drivers running close together.
Visser eventually cleared Frulio and then passed Happinessa on lap five, moving into 17th and immediately setting her sights on Davitidze. The Georgian driver, however, was putting together an impressive recovery of her own. Running in the low 1:43s, Davitidze responded to Visser's pressure by overtaking Giovanni Faraonio to move into 14th overall, in a remarkable progression.
Happinessa was also producing increasingly competitive lap times, circulating around the 1:44.0 mark while maintaining her position and keeping the cars behind her under control. Frulio remained within a second, but the German driver continued to hold her ground.
Another caution period followed on lap 10 when Lortie spun on the main straight and hit the inside wall, bringing out the Full Course Yellow with four laps remaining. The race resumed at the end of lap 12 and was extended by two additional laps.
Visser made a strong restart and immediately moved alongside Davitidze, taking the position, but contact occurred; the incident had consequences for Visser, who suffered damage dropping down the order.
Davitidze also fell back to 16th while Happinessa capitalized on the incident to move into 15th, but the race was neutralized again when Visser's damaged car became stranded. The remaining laps were completed behind the Safety Car, handing Happinessa 14th overall and the Lady Trophy victory.
It was an extremely solid result for the reigning class champion, while Davitidze completed the race in 16th after gaining four positions from her starting position but was later penalized to finish 19th.
For Visser, however, the promising first race ended in disappointment despite the pace she had shown throughout the weekend.
The second race took place on a sunny Sunday morning just outside Rome, with the grid determined by each driver's fastest lap from Race 1. Visser therefore started 14th, while Davitidze lined up 16th and Happinessa 18th.
Visser made another strong start, with the field negotiating the fast Curvone cleanly. She initially passed Shaak for 13th before the positions were exchanged again, leaving her back in 14th. Davitidze was also involved in early battles with Pohjanharju, while Happinessa remained close behind and prepared to capitalize on any opportunity.
Visser eventually made the move for 13th stick and began focusing on Florian Richard ahead. The Dutch driver appeared to have the stronger momentum and remained close to the car in front, while also gradually extending the gap to the cars behind.
Happinessa, meanwhile, was running around a second behind Davitidze but had to defend from Faraonio. The battle soon turned into a major setback for Happinessa when Faraonio made contact with her twice through the fast section of the circuit, sending the German into a spin and causing damage to her car.
Happinessa was forced into the pits and dropped to the back of the field, effectively compromising her race. Faraonio was subsequently handed a 10-second penalty for the incident, but by that point Happinessa's chances of another strong result had already been severely affected.
Further up the road, Visser remained attached to Richard's gearbox. She briefly had to slot back into line but continued to maintain the pressure while extending her advantage over the cars behind. De Groot then joined the fight, with Richard eventually making a pass before Visser attacked her compatriot and moved into 12th place.
Davitidze, meanwhile, was enjoying a much quieter but consistent race. She had established a comfortable gap both ahead and behind and was consistently lapping in the low 1:44s. After serving his penalty, Faraonio dropped back, allowing Happinessa to recover one position and move into 20th. She continued to push despite being now a lap down, setting competitive times and gaining three seconds on Monti alone on lap 10.
Visser remained within striking distance of Richard throughout the middle phase of the race, repeatedly looking for an opportunity to make a move. Davitidze also continued to make progress as Van Laere dropped down the order with damage, promoting the Georgian into 16th on lap 12. She was still circulating consistently in the 1:44s and had reduced the gap to Pohjanharju to less than four seconds.
Happinessa moved into 19th and continued hunting Monti despite the substantial gap, using the remainder of the race to gain further experience and track time after her earlier incident.
Visser eventually took the chequered flag in 12th overall after spending the entire race within the slipstream of Richard. She secured the Lady Trophy victory, recovering strongly from her Race 1 retirement to finish the second Semifinal as the leading female driver.
Davitidze completed the race in 16th and second in the Lady Trophy, concluding a solid return behind the wheel. Happinessa finished 19th.
Following the opening playoff round in Italy, Visser remains 12th in the overall OPEN standings with 257 points and continues to lead the Lady Trophy. Happinessa sits 17th overall with 234 points and is second in the Lady Trophy classification, while Davitidze has accumulated 200 points during her rookie campaign.
The 2026 NASCAR Euro Series season will now conclude at the EuroNASCAR Finals at Zolder in Belgium on October 17–18.
