One of the latest additions to the field of the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series is the british driver Daniel Rowbottom. In 2020 he will drive the #7 of Hendriks Motorsport in the EuroNASCAR Pro division.
The weekend at Vallelunga started off quite well for the likeable Brit. He was able to run the lap times of the established drivers of the EN Pro. “It was a good weekend, it started off testing on Friday very well. At one point we’ve been P1 and ended up on P5”, Rowbottom said in an interview with Threewide.
The team of the #7 had problems with the brakes in the free practice on Sunday and Rowbottom wasn’t able to test the car before the qualifying. Despite the problems and the lack of experience he finished the qualifying on P4. “We’ve qualified 4th, which was ok. We couldn’t do any testing this morning as we had a break issue. So P4 was very good”, Rowbottom said. After that satisfying qualifying he was facing problems again and was counted on P17 and P19. “In the first race we had a gearbox problems. In the second race they told me we jumped the start, but I really don’t understand how I did. These are rules I have to learn.” The jump start meant a drive through penalty, during which he didn’t meet the pit lane speed. “The car felt really good and was quick, but unfortunately I had a problem with another driver. He decided to not let me overtake him and instead to take me out at the fastest part of the circuit.” After that contact, the second race was over for him. “It’s a shame we hardly took points around at the first round, but we got a bit work to do.”
In 2019 Daniel Rowbottom was participating in the BTCC. His plan was to continue in the BTCC in 2020, but due to the pandemic, he had to postpone his plans. Because of his sponsor Cataclean, he is now driving in the EuroNASCAR. “My partner is Cataclean, their importer into the US is Holley Performance. Holley has a long history with NASCAR, so we’ve been talking and they suggested the EuroNASCAR. So we are here for the rest of the season.”
Despite the problems he was facing in the first two races of the season, Daniel Rowbottom showed his potential and that he wants to be up front.
