Jose Penalta is still unstoppable after the Spaniard continued his winning streak in NASCAR GP Germany – Debutants Thomas Pourrain and Ofek Eliyahu completed the podium in Oschersleben
- Jose Penalta won the Rookie Challenge for the fourth time in 2025
- Thomas Pourrain and Ofek Eliyahu grabbed top-3 finishes in their maiden appearance
- 24 points separate Penalta and Maxim van Laere heading to the Finals
The breakout star of the 2025 NASCAR Euro Series Rookie Challenge season has delivered another remarkable performance. Jose Penalta of Spain maintained his flawless rookie season by being the most consistent driver at the NASCAR GP Germany, finishing ahead of newcomers Thomas Pourrain and Ofek Eliyahu. With four wins in as many rounds, the young Speedhouse talent in the #14 Ford Mustang has established himself as the driver to beat at the NASCAR Euro Series Finals, held at Circuit Zolder in Belgium.
Penalta led the first of two timed sessions at the 3.667-kilometer Motorsport Arena Oschersleben circuit, with Maxim van Laere and Davide Frulio in close pursuit. In their home round, rookie Pourrain of Marko Stipp Motorsport secured first place in the second session. After securing a fourth-place finish, Penalta was crowned the overall winner in Germany, as his main competitors failed to gain ground.
“I felt very confident about this competition,” Penalta stated in Victory Lane. “I had a good connection with the track, which will be beneficial for my OPEN debut later. With only one round remaining in the Rookie Challenge, I sense the title is within reach. I haven’t secured it yet, but I’m just a step away from victory. We’ll see how the next round unfolds.”
Pourrain’s strong second session led him to finish runner-up overall in his maiden Rookie Challenge appearance. The podium was completed by another debutant: Ofek Eliyahu, driving for Academy / Alex Caffi Motorsport. Eliyahu’s fourth and second place results were enough to beat van Laere, who only ended up fifth in the second timed session. Nuno Caetano rounded out the top-5 results after another solid performance from the Portuguese.
Frulio was sixth ahead of veteran Andreas Kuchelbacher and the returning Daniil Shapka. Bruno Mulders in ninth grabbed the maximum bonus points for choosing the fastest target times. Yann Cristovao completed the top-10 while Robin Bleekemolen, Jonathan Meyer and Nicole Davidson closed out the points-paying positions.
Penalta’s fourth consecutive victory brings his points tally up to 301. The Spaniard extended his advantage to van Laere in the overall standings to 24 points. Caetano is third with a deficit of 37.5 points while Kuchelbacher and Frulio complete the top-5 positions, 44 and 54.5 points behind Penalta respectively. With double points on the line in Belgium, all of them will still have a shot at becoming the overall winner in NASCAR Euro Series’ regularity division for newcomers.
Featured image by NASCAR Euro Series / Bart Dehaese
