PRESS RELEASE
Yevgen Sokolovskiy and Gordon Barnes continue to collect podium finishes for the team
From 1st to 4th October, the Marko Stipp Motorsport Gasoline Gladiators were attending the second round of the 2020 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series (NWES) at Circuit Zolder. A hand injury sustained during the heavy crash in Italy kept Gasper Dernovsek from taking his EuroNASCAR 2 seat, while Kris Richard was unable to attend the EuroNASCAR Pro races due to quarantine restrictions.
With two drivers missing from action, the team decided to enter only the #48 into the weekend in Belgium. Yevgen Sokolovskiy grasped the opportunity to gain further experience by competing in both EuroNASCAR Pro and 2 championships. Also, on 1st October, Gordon Barnes was due to make his NWES debut for the Gasoline Gladiators when the first round of the regularity based Club Challenge took place.
Barnes had a superb start by taking the provisional lead after the first of two sessions. However, radio issues caused the Briton to drop back to third place after the second session. Nonetheless it was a great debut for the 47-year-old, who was pleased with his first taste of EuroNASCAR competition.
“At first the track was very wet. Towards the last session the track had dried a lot and we needed to manage the pace, as the target lap time hadn’t been adapted to the drying conditions. I had radio issues during the last session, but it’s great to still get a podium finish on my first outing.”
Sokolovskiy came into the weekend with two podium finishes under his belt in the Challenger Trophy in EuroNASCAR Pro at the Italian NASCAR GP. In Zolder, the Ukrainian only just missed the Challenger podium by finishing fourth in both Pro races. His debut in EuroNASCAR 2 however resulted in a victory and a second place in the Legend Trophy.
“For me, it was another good weekend of learning more about the car and the racing in NWES. The team had again prepared a smooth running car which allowed me to finish all the races and take two trophies home with me. In the wet conditions I was feeling a bit more comfortable than in the dry. Now I’m keen to keep improving in the next races.”
Despite having to come to Zolder without Dernovsek and Richard, team owner Marko Stipp could see the silver lining by the end of the weekend: “Yevgen did a great job by bringing our car home in all four races in those tricky conditions. The same goes for Gordon, who adapted and worked with us very well on his debut. Overall, thanks to Yevgen and Gordon, we still were rewarded with three trophies this weekend. Going into the event with two of our drivers out of action, it’s really a big relief to take some results home with us.
The Marko Stipp Motorsport Gasoline Gladiators will be back in action for the third round of the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series at Autodrom Most (Czech Republic) on November 14-15.
