Thomas Dombrowski was the driver to beat in Rookie Trophy during the NASCAR GP Italy at Autodromo di Vallelunga. The Frenchman took the top step in the special classification for debuting drivers in both races, which increased his trophy win count to five in the 2023 NWES season. It was the Team Bleekemolen driver’s second sweep in the trophy after he swept the season opening round at Valencia. With a 38-point advantage from his closest contender Nick Schneider, it would take a lot of effort and luck for his rivals to be able to catch up to Dombrowski in the standings.
Dombrowski didn’t start the weekend on the right foot as he only finished 13th in the combined Free Practice times and was beaten by Thomas Toffel for the best Rookie Trophy qualifier by just 0.027 seconds. The races, however, tell a different story. Dombrowski took the victory in Round 5 with a winning gap of 26 seconds from Toffel and he survived the ‘Big One’ in Round 6 to clinch the sweep. The win in Round 6 also marked the first occasion in which the 22-year old driver finished in the top-5. The strong finishes in Vallelunga allowed the Team Bleekemolen driver to move up to fifth overall in the standings with 179 points to his name.
Toffel, as it turns out, had a weekend to forget despite his strong Qualifying result. The Swiss driver finished second behind Dombrowski in the Rookie Trophy on Saturday, but lost a chance to finish in the top-10 after he got spun by Nick Schneider on lap 2 of the race. For Sunday, things went horribly wrong for the Race Art Technology driver. Starting from the fourth row of the grid, Toffel collided with teammate Claudio Cappelli on the opening lap and created a multi-car incident that took him and five other drivers out of the race. He was later disqualified from the final results after he was judged to be at fault for creating the ‘Big One’.
Nick Schneider bounced back to the forefront of the Rookie Trophy battle after a frustrating weekend at Brands Hatch. The Marko Stipp Motorsport driver completed the Rookie Trophy podium in Round 5 despite receiving a 10-second time penalty for the aforementioned collision with Toffel. He followed it up with his first career top-10 finish in Round 6, finishing eighth overall and second in the special classification. Schneider now sits tenth in the standings with 141 points, seven points ahead of teammate Jack Davidson.
Davidson once again had a tough weekend in Italy. The trophy winner in Brands Hatch had to park his car due to mechanical troubles after completing just two laps in Qualifying, forcing him to start Round 5 from last place. The problems continued in the race itself as he retired in the opening lap, once again forcing him to start from the back on Sunday. Thankfully, the Scotsman’s luck improved as he was able to avoid the ‘Big One’ and other incidents in Round 6 to take the final spot on the Rookie Trophy podium in twelfth place.
Two finishes from Sven van Laere allowed the Belgian to score important points in the special classification. He is now fourth in the Rookie Trophy standings ahead of Nicholas Strickler, who had a terrifying accident in Round 6. The American driver was clipped from the back by fellow Rookie Trophy contender and debuting driver Valerio Marzi in the second restart, causing him to crash at high speed. Strickler thankfully was uninjured, but Marzi was punished with a disqualification by race control.
Toffel’s disqualification relegated him to sixth in the standings of the special classification. Currently sitting behind the Swiss is Maximilian Mason, who had to make a trip to the hospital after he was involved in the ‘Big One’. The Australian driver has been discharged from the hospital and is beginning his recovery process before the next round at Most. Igor Sicuro, the debuting Olivier Bec and Victor Neumann complete the Rookie Trophy top-10 while the remaining positions are filled by Olivier Panagiotis, Gordon Barnes, Cesare Balistreri and Marzi.
The NASCAR Whelen Euro Series will be back from the summer break with the NASCAR GP Czech Republic. Scheduled to be held on 26-27 August, it will mark the series’ fourth visit to the picturesque 4.212 km Autodrom Most. All qualifying and races will be streamed live on EuroNASCAR’s YouTube channel, Motorsport.tv and various television services around the world.
Featured image by NASCAR Whelen Euro Series / Bart Dehaese
