2019 Euro Nascar: Advait Deodhar Scores Two Top-Ten Finishes

Advait Deodhar made a switch from the Dexwet DF1 team to the Speedhouse Racing outfit for the second round of the 2019 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series, held last weekend at Autodromo Franciacorta.

Deodhar spent the Friday of the event getting used to the new car, and the setup, albeit with an old set of tyres. While FP1 went well, he had a slightly difficult session in FP2, ending the session four seconds off the front runners - understandable given that they were on new tyres and he was using worn out tyres.

Things looked up on Saturday, though, with Deodhar narrowly missing out on Superpole by an incredible 0.004 of a second, ultimately qualifying 13th of 29 cars.

Deodhar, who took part in four ELITE 2 races in 2018, started his first full-time season with a fifth place in the season opener in Spain on the #66 Dexwet-df1 Racing Chevrolet, bringing home his best career result. The Indian grabbed another fifth place on Saturday at Franciacorta, starting 13th and climbing up with a consistent pace. On Sunday, Deodhar offered another convincing performance and closed the race in ninth place, scoring important points in the ELITE 2 Division championship.

“It was a great race on Saturday and I think the spectators at the track and on TV really enjoyed it. There was action in the whole pack and some hard battles going on. I got a really good start I had a great battle with Freddie Hemborg and Justin Kunz,” said Deodhar. “The fifth place was great, but I think I could have done better because I was sick. I could have been stronger for sure, if I was healthy during the race.”

This weekend’s Brands Hatch American SpeedFest is a sort of home race for the Indian driver because he currently resides in London. This time Deodhar will be driving the #31 CAAL Racing Chevrolet SS. He said: “I’m really looking forward to Brands Hatch, there will be tons of fans coming to the track and we will bring a lot of people as well. Last year it was my first ever ELITE 2 Division there and I learnt a lot of things.”

The seventh edition of the hugely popular American Speedfest will takes place on June 1-2 at Brands Hatch, in Kent. One of the most popular weekends of the Euro NASCAR calendar, the NASCAR GP UK will be streamed live at Fanschoice.tv, the Euro NASCAR YouTube channel and Facebook page, on Motorsport.tv and a vast network of websites and social media pages from around the world.

Race 1 went well, though, with the Indian driver getting a great start, moving up the order quickly. He managed to finish fifth, having started 13th, which was a good result. A result that he believed was the best that he could have managed given the circumstances - being sick, on medication, and completely drained of energy by the end of the race.

The second race, on Sunday, wasn't as impressive. Deodhar started eleventh, and managed to move up to ninth, where he ended. Tyre management was a critical factor in the race.

Overall, two top-10 finishes mean that Deodhar is ranked fourth in the championship, tied with Justin Kunz.

The next round of the Euro NASCAR series takes place at Brands Hatch on the 1st of June.