EuroNASCAR: Robin Bleekemolen and Beitske Visser take Lady Trophy wins at Most, Happinessa just misses out on class win after penalty
- RACERS
- 24 hours ago
- 7 min read
The female competitors in the NASCAR Euro Series OPEN division produced another highly competitive weekend at Most, with Beitske Visser and Robin Bleekemolen both taking Lady Trophy victories across the two races, with 17-year-old Bleekemolen also scoring an overall top ten finish. Happinessa had a particularly competitive first race, just missing out on a class win.
The female competitors in the NASCAR Euro Series OPEN division produced another highly competitive weekend at Most, with Beitske Visser and Robin Bleekemolen both taking Lady Trophy victories across the two races, with 17-year-old Bleekemolen also scoring an overall top ten finish.
Happinessa had a particularly competitive first race, finishing just outside the top ten and just missing out on a class win due to a penalty, while it was a particularly unfortunate round for Mariam Davitidze, who showecased great speed early in the weekend, when an accident in race 1 resulted in an injury.
With four women competing in the Czech Republic, the Lady Trophy continued to provide close racing within the OPEN field, with all four drivers showing strong pace at different stages of the weekend.
Visser arrived at Most as the class championship leader after emerging as the early benchmark among the female drivers through the opening rounds, despite technical setbacks that had compromised most of her previous weekends. Happinessa, the reigning Lady Trophy champion, was also looking to build on a strong second season, her first with Hendriks Motorsport in partnership with Rette Jones Racing, having already taken her first class victory of the year at Valencia and followed it with a top-15 overall finish at Paul Ricard.
Davitidze meanwhile continued her rookie campaign with growing confidence and had regularly been fighting around the class podium, while 16-year-old Bleekemolen entered her second weekend in the series following an outstanding EuroNASCAR debut at Brands Hatch, where she finished inside the overall top ten.
The four drivers immediately demonstrated their pace during Friday's practice sessions. Davitidze made the strongest start, finishing as the leading female driver in FP1 with a 1:43.676, good enough for 13th overall and putting her close to the top ten. Bleekemolen followed in 15th, ahead of Visser in 18th and Happinessa in 19th.
The order changed slightly in second practice, as Bleekemolen became the fastest female competitor with a 1:42.741, placing her 12th overall and just ahead of Davitidze. The performance was another encouraging indication of the teenager's rapid adaptation to EuroNASCAR's V8 machinery, while Davitidze remained particularly impressive and stayed within striking distance of the overall top ten. Visser and Happinessa also made progress, moving to 16th and 18th respectively and continuing to close the gap to the front of the field.
Davitidze returned to the top of the female order in qualifying and produced one of her strongest performances to date. She initially improved into the 1:41s before setting a 1:41.806 to secure 13th overall and pole position among the Lady Trophy competitors. Bleekemolen also delivered a very competitive lap, recording a 1:42.199 to qualify 15th overall, while Happinessa improved to a 1:43.692 and took 18th overall and third among the Lady Trophy runners.
Visser, meanwhile, was unable to set a representative qualifying time after returning to the pits with an issue, leaving her 22nd on the grid. It was another setback for the experienced Dutch racer, who would have to fight back from the rear of the field.
Saturday afternoon's opening race began with the usual uncertainty of the first corners, but the four female drivers experienced very different fortunes almost immediately. Bleekemolen made a solid start and ran 14th, while Happinessa was up to 17th. Davitidze, however, was unable to make use of her Lady Trophy pole position after slowing at the start with a stuck throttle, dropping back to 22nd. Visser also struggled with continuing car problems and circulated slowly during the opening lap.
Davitidze quickly set about recovering positions and managed to pass Visser to move into 20th, while Happinessa produced one of the smartest starts of the field. Avoiding the incidents that often occur through Most's tricky opening corners, the German gained another position and moved into second place in the Lady Trophy.
Bleekemolen was meanwhile making rapid progress. A 1:42.4 lap demonstrated the pace she had shown throughout practice and qualifying, and she gained two further positions to move into 12th. Happinessa continued her advance as well, climbing to 14th overall, while Visser gradually began to find her rhythm and moved into 18th with a 1:45.5 before improving further towards the 1:45.0 range.
The first interruption came on lap three when De Groot hit trouble and the field was placed under a Full Course Yellow. Bleekemolen had already moved to 11th before the caution, continuing her remarkable progress, while Visser was beginning to close in on Davitidze.
The restart with eight laps remaining dramatically the race once again: the double-file restart saw more chaos, with Davitidze again enduring throttle issues before being forced to slow again and losing momentum. The Georgian was subsequently caught in the turmoil at Turn 1, where several cars ran into the gravel, and Bleekemolen was unfortunately caught up in the incident and forced out of the race.
Happinessa once again demonstrated her ability to negotiate difficult restarts, keeping her car clean and moving all the way up to 10th overall while taking the Lady Trophy lead. Davitidze also suffered damage in the chaos and was forced into the pits, where she eventually retired.
Visser, meanwhile, survived the incident and emerged in 15th, leaving her as the second female driver on track behind Happinessa. The reigning Lady Trophy champion then had to defend against several fast cars recovering through the field, eventually dropping to 12th before settling into a battle for 11th with Faraonio.
Happinessa's pace however remained particularly solid, with the German consistently lapping below 1:45 and matching the times of the cars fighting around the overall top ten. She was caught in another close fight with Pohjanharju, but her position became increasingly precarious as the race entered its final stages.
On lap ten, Happinessa was caught out by debris left by another car, dropped several positions and temporarily lost the Lady Trophy lead to Visser, with the two women now running 13th and 14th respectively. Another Full Course Yellow followed when Pohjanharju went off at the final corner and made contact with the barriers, setting up a final single-file restart with only one lap remaining.
The Lady Trophy battle therefore went down to the final lap. Happinessa fought her way back through the field, completing a crucial pass to regain the class lead while also overtaking further competitors to cross the finish line in an excellent 11th overall. The result represented a seven-position gain from her starting position and appeared to give the reigning champion another Lady Trophy victory.
However, the result was subsequently altered by a five-second penalty for jumping the final restart, due to a slower car not accelerating away at the green flag. The penalty dropped Happinessa to 15th overall, promoting Visser to 14th and handing the Lady Trophy victory to the Dutchwoman. Despite the post-race disappointment, Happinessa's recovery drive remained one of the highlights of the opening race.
Mariam Davitidze was forced to withdraw completely from Race 2, as the Georgian had suffered a broken finger as a result of her Race 1 accident, meaning she could not take her place on the grid for the second contest.
Robin Bleekemolen lined up 11th, Beitske Visser 16th and Happinessa 20th for the second race, which began in much cleaner fashion under sunny conditions. Bleekemolen made an exceptional getaway, gaining two positions to move into ninth; she recorded a 1:41.827, one of the fastest laps on track, and initially matched the leading cars despite being in only her second EuroNASCAR race weekend.
Happinessa also made progress, passing Faraonio and Timonen to move into 18th before continuing to improve her lap times. She reached the 1:46.6 range and then passed Federico Monti for 17th, immediately dropping into the 1:45s once clear and maintaining a consistently strong rhythm.
Visser, meanwhile, gained one position from Van Laere to move into 15th and was beginning to find the pace despite continued mechanical problems, eventually recording a 1:42.2 and closing in on Richard ahead.
Bleekemolen continued to impress and moved into eighth on lap three with a pass on Beeusaert, although she was subsequently passed again and settled into ninth. She remained within a small gap of the cars around her, demonstrating that her Brands Hatch breakthrough had not been a one-off result.
Visser was similarly secure in 15th, with a two-second margin to the car ahead, while Happinessa built a six-second advantage over Monti. The German nevertheless remained under pressure from Timonen, who stayed within half a second and continued to match her pace.
Timonen eventually found a way past Happinessa on lap ten, but by then she had created enough of a gap to Monti to remain in control of her immediate group. She continued to run consistently and avoided further trouble, despite carrying a five-second penalty from an earlier contact with Faraonio.
At the front of the female order, Bleekemolen moved back into eighth on the final lap when Cappelli encountered an issue, allowing the teenager to complete another superb top-ten finish. She also secured the Lady Trophy victory in Race 2, adding another class win to her already remarkable EuroNASCAR introduction.
Visser completed a clean run in 15th overall and took second in the Lady Trophy, a solid recovery considering the technical difficulties that had affected her throughout the weekend. Happinessa brought the car home in 18th, still gaining two positions from her starting place and completing a competitive race despite the earlier penalty.
Visser leaves the Czech Republic still leading the standings after the conclusion of the Regular Season, holding 173 points and sitting 12th overall in the OPEN championship. Happinessa follows in 15th overall with 152 points, while Davitidze has accumulated 120 points and Bleekemolen, despite joining the championship only recently, has already scored 100 points.
Davitidze, meanwhile, will be hoping to return behind the wheel soon after an unfortunate injury brought her Most weekend to an early conclusion.
The NASCAR Euro Series will now head to Italy for the next round at Vallelunga, just outside Rome, on September 19-20.
