2021 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series

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Locations of the circuits scheduled to host a NASCAR Whelen Euro Series race in 2021
Loris Hezemans won his second Euro Series championship title in 2021.

The 2021 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series is the thirteenth Racecar Euro Series season, and the ninth under the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series branding. The season began at Circuit Ricardo Tormo with the NASCAR GP Spain on 15 May and ended on 31 October with the NASCAR GP Italy at Autodromo Vallelunga.

Despite not taking part in the fifth round at Zolder to compete in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the Charlotte Roval, Loris Hezemans was crowned as champion at Vallelunga after winning four races and finishing 7 races inside the podium, his second title in the series. He finished the season 3 points ahead of Gianmarco Ercoli, who scored a race win at Rijeka and 7 podium finishes. Lucas Lasserre finished third despite being winless, tying his best championship finish in the series under NASCAR's official sanctioning. Defending series champion Alon Day won three races but was unable to defend his title after retiring four times while defending EuroNASCAR 2 champion Vittorio Ghirelli, who scored his maiden top class victory at Most, had his championship hopes dashed after a crash in the final race of the season. Stienes Longin and Jacques Villeneuve were the other race winners, Longin winning his home race at Zolder while Villeneuve swept the weekend at Vallelunga.

In the EuroNASCAR 2 class, Martin Doubek won the title after teammate Tobias Dauenhauer crashed late in the final round of the season. Both drivers scored a total of five race wins and nine podiums each, but Dauenhauer's incident on the final race handed the championship to Doubek who won the title by 17 points. Not Only Motorsport driver Naveh Talor finished third after scoring his maiden win at Zolder. Indian driver Advait Deodhar was the only other race winner of the season, scoring a victory in the first race at Brands Hatch.

Hendriks Motorsport won the Teams Championship for a record third time as the team's No. 7 car, driven by series champions Hezemans and Doubek, would finish the season on top of the Teams standings with 969 points. DF1 Racing's No. 22 team finished second with 875 points, 94 points adrift from Hendriks' No. 7 team, while the No. 50 Hendriks team would finish third with 867 points.

EuroNASCAR PRO

Schedule

The provisional calendar for the 2021 season was announced on 20 November 2020.[68] All races of the 2021 season will be held on road courses.

EuroNASCAR PRO

Round Race title Track Date
1 R1 NASCAR GP Spain – Valencia NASCAR Fest Spain Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Valencia 15 May
R2 16 May
2 R3 NASCAR GP UK – American SpeedFest VIII United Kingdom Brands Hatch, West Kingsdown 3 July
R4 4 July
3 R5 NASCAR GP Czech Republic – OMV MaxxMotion NASCAR Show Czech Republic Autodrom Most, Most 28 August
R6 29 August
4 R7 Fracasso NASCAR GP Croatia Croatia Automotodrom Grobnik, Čavle 18 September
R8 19 September
5 R9 NASCAR GP Belgium Belgium Circuit Zolder, Heusden-Zolder 9 October
R10 10 October
6 R11 NASCAR GP Italy - American Festival of Rome Italy Autodromo di Vallelunga, Campagnano di Roma 30 October
R12 31 October

EuroNASCAR 2

Round Race title Track Date
1 R1 NASCAR GP Spain – Valencia NASCAR Fest Spain Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Valencia 15 May
R2 16 May
2 R3 NASCAR GP UK – American SpeedFest VIII United Kingdom Brands Hatch, West Kingsdown 3 July
R4 4 July
3 R5 NASCAR GP Czech Republic – OMV MaxxMotion NASCAR Show Czech Republic Autodrom Most, Most 28 August
R6 29 August
4 R7 Fracasso NASCAR GP Croatia Croatia Automotodrom Grobnik, Čavle 18 September
R8 19 September
5 R9 NASCAR GP Belgium Belgium Circuit Zolder, Heusden-Zolder 9 October
R10 10 October
6 R11 NASCAR GP Italy - American Festival of Rome Italy Autodromo di Vallelunga, Campagnano di Roma 30 October
R12 31 October

EuroNASCAR Club Challenge

Round Race title Track Date
R1 NASCAR GP Spain – Valencia NASCAR Fest Spain Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Valencia 14 May
R2 NASCAR GP Czech Republic – OMV MaxxMotion NASCAR Show Czech Republic Autodrom Most, Most 27 August
R3 Fracasso NASCAR GP Croatia Croatia Automotodrom Grobnik, Čavle 17 September
R4 NASCAR GP Belgium Belgium Circuit Zolder, Heusden-Zolder 8 October
R5 NASCAR GP Italy - American Festival of Rome Italy Autodromo di Vallelunga, Campagnano di Roma 30 October

Calendar changes

  • On 3 November 2020, it was announced that American SpeedFest, NASCAR Whelen Euro Series' round at Brands Hatch, will return to the calendar this year after the round was cancelled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The SpeedFest is scheduled to be held on 3–4 July, coinciding with the Independence Day weekend.[69]
  • NASCAR GP Spain at Circuit Ricardo Tormo will return to its original spot as the first round of the season. Last year, the round hosted the fourth and fifth rounds of the season as part of the one-off Valencia Super Speedweek event due to the schedule changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • NASCAR GP Italy at Autodromo di Vallelunga returned to its previous spot in the calendar as the second round of the season. It was initially scheduled to become the fifth round of the 2020 season, but the pandemic schedule changes meant that it hosted the season opening round instead.
  • NASCAR GP Croatia at Automotodrom Grobnik, which was added into the calendar as a last-minute replacement for NASCAR GP Czech Republic last year, becomes a permanent addition to the calendar for 2021. It is scheduled to host the sixth round of the season.
  • The NASCAR GP Czech Republic at Automotodrom Most and NASCAR GP Germany at Hockenheimring all returned to the schedule after their rounds were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is scheduled to host the third and fifth round of the season respectively.
  • NASCAR GP Netherlands at Raceway Venray, whose round last year was cancelled due to the pandemic, will not return despite the track having a contract to host a NASCAR Whelen Euro Series round until 2022.[70]
  • NASCAR GP Belgium at Zolder will host the season ending round once again, with the round as Zolder acting as the sole double-points Playoff round of the season.

Schedule changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic

  • On 22 February 2021, it was announced that NASCAR GP Spain at Circuit Ricardo Tormo will be postponed to the date initially given to NASCAR GP Italy due to the ongoing COVID restrictions in Europe while NASCAR GP Italy will be postponed to fall as the new final round of the season on a currently unannounced date. The remaining five rounds of the season will move one spot ahead as a result.[71]
  • On 21 May 2021, NASCAR Whelen Euro Series announced the following revisions to the 2021 season calendar.[72]
    • NASCAR GP Czech Republic at Autodrom Most will be postponed to 28–29 August due to the restrictions that were in place. American Speedfest will become the second round of the season as a result,
    • NASCAR GP Germany at Hockenheim will be cancelled due to the restrictions in place in Germany. The round will be scheduled to return in 2022.
    • After it was previously announced that NASCAR GP Italy at Vallelunga will be held as the new final round on an unannounced date, it was revealed that NASCAR GP Italy is now scheduled to be held on 30–31 October. With the cancellation of the round at Hockenheim, Vallelunga is also going to be scheduled to host the final round of the Club Challenge division.

Rule changes

  • On 22 January 2021, it was announced that Hoosier Racing Tire will become the exclusive tyre supplier of the series on a seven-year contract, replacing General Tire as the tyre supplier after Hoosier and General Tire's parent company Continental AG extended their tyre supply contract with the series until 2027.[73]
  • On 25 March 2021, it was announced that teams will have an option to use sequential gearboxes starting from this year, making Euro Series the first NASCAR series to introduce sequential gearboxes.[74]
  • On 12 May 2021, NASCAR Whelen Euro Series announced the following sporting regulation changes that will be introduced in the 2021 season.[75]
    • Only the best ten results from the first twelve races and all results from the final round of the season were counted towards a driver's total in the drivers' championship.
    • A success handicap will be implemented in Race 2. Drivers who scored a podium finish in Race 1 will receive a grid penalty for Race 2 after the grid was initially set through the ordering of fastest lap in Race 1. The Race 1 winner would receive a three-place grid penalty, while second and third-place finishers would receive a two and one place grid penalty respectively.
    • The three fastest drivers in Qualifying would receive championship points. The pole sitter would receive three championship points, while second and third would award two points and one point respectively.
    • The allocation of slick tires for each driver would be increased from 20 to 22. A driver would receive 4 new tires at Valencia, Most, Hockenheim, and Zolder, while 2 new tires would be given at Vallelunga, Brands Hatch, and Rijeka.
  • Following an open meeting between the series and team owners before the season opening round at Valencia, it was announced on 13 May 2021 that NASCAR Whelen Euro Series will reverse its decision on the planned introduction of success handicap and championship points being awarded during Qualifying, with Qualifying and Race 2's grid ordering rules being reverted to the system that has been used previously.[76]

Results

Standings

See also

References

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