NASCAR Euro Series: Happinessa overcomes challenges on first visit to Oschersleben
- LIAM REDFORD
- Sep 24
- 4 min read
Facing again adversity during the course of the weekend at Oschersleben after car issues in qualifying and the first race limited her track time, Happinessa overcame the setbacks to finish in the top-20, extending her Lady Trophy streak and gaining valuable experience in her NASCAR Euro Series campaign.
Happinessa returned to action in the NASCAR Euro Series as she achieved a best finish of 20th at her home circuit of Oschersleben. The Bremotion driver faced adversity during the course of the event after a technical issue in qualifying limited her progress, before damage to the car by her teammate in an earlier NASCAR Euro Series Pro division race led to a truncated race one. Happinessa bounced back in race two to finish in 20th position and end the weekend with a clean race in which she made good progress from her starting spot.
Happinessa arrived at her home round looking for a change in fortune around after a challenging middle portion of the season. Despite showing good pace last time out at Autodrom Most, a series of technical issues limited her running and prevented her from finishing either race in Czechia. However, a lack of experience has not held Happinessa back during her rookie campaign and she was aiming to add to her two top-15 results at Oschersleben.
Racing in her home country of Germany was set to be another new experience for Happinessa and she began her weekend by competing in the NASCAR Euro Series Rookie Challenge event. The additional mileage was beneficial for the Bremotion driver as she completed 27 laps across the two sessions she participated in while setting a fastest time of a 1:37.063.
On Friday afternoon, both free practice session for the NASCAR Euro Series Open drivers took place with Happinessa enjoying a productive day. Completing two trouble-free sessions without incident, the German racer turned a further 32 laps of Oschersleben while setting a consistent pace. After ending free practice one in 20th position, Happinessa completed the day with the 22nd fastest time while showing particularly good speed through the final sector.
Qualifying took place on Saturday morning with Happinessa out on track with the first group of NASCAR Euro Series Open drivers. Misfortune struck as the Bremotion driver was forced to pit following her out lap due to a technical issue with the gearbox and with the session only ten-minutes in duration, she was unable to set a representative time. Therefore, Happinessa was looking to make progress from the rear of the field during the opening race.
Prior to the first NASCAR Euro Series Open, the opening NASCAR Euro Series Pro race took place at Oschersleben with Julian Rehberg behind the wheel of Happinessa’s #77 Bremotion machine. Following a sizeable incident at turn one of the first lap which caught up the majority of the field, Rehberg suffered significant damage to the car. Although he was able to complete the race, further damage meant that the team faced a challenge to repair the car in time for Happinessa to line up on the grid.
The damage to the front of the car required significant attention as a result, Happinessa was unable to take the start. However, the German racer did leave the pits six laps in arrears and although the car lacked maximum performance, Happinessa was able to bank valuable experience. Completing nine laps of the Oschersleben circuit, Happinessa was classified in 23rd position and claimed the Lady Trophy award.
Following excellent work from the Bremotion team, Happinessa lined up on the grid for race two of the weekend on Sunday morning. It was a clean start to the race for the entire field and Happinessa remained in her starting position of 22nd at the conclusion of the first lap. After holding off Mike Wise, Happinessa began to close in on Belgian racer Sven Van Laere. On lap two, Happinessa made the move to claim 21st position and she immediately built a comfortable gap behind.
As she slowly edged away from Van Laere, Happinessa’s next target was British driver Gordon Barnes. Her speed through the final two sectors ensured she remained in contention with Barnes, while Happinessa found good improvements through the middle portion of the lap especially. On lap seven, a personal best middle sector ensured her margin to Van Laere continued to grow and Happinessa’s advantage stood at four seconds.
On lap 10, Happinessa moved inside the top-20 following an incident for Jordan O’Brien, however Van Laere now began to start closing in. Two laps later, Happinessa was up to 19th after Valerio Marzi pitted with a technical issue in his Club Competition machine. By lap 13, Van Laere had cut the deficit to less than one second as he began to pull back significant time through the first sector.
However, Happinessa responded and immediately set a personal best time of her own as she looked to protect her position in the closing stages. A good defence from the German racer saw her retain 19th position to the chequered flag to end a challenging weekend on a high note. Although a post-race penalty for track limit infringements later dropped her to 20th, Happinessa showed good determination throughout the event.
Despite not securing the results she was looking for at Oschersleben, Happinessa banked further experience in her rookie season. She drove a composed second race and extended her run of Lady Trophy awards through the second half of the season.
The 2025 NASCAR Euro Series season comes to a close at Zolder in Belgium on the weekend of 11th/12th October.
