As the SemiFinals of the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series in Hockenheim didn’t go as planned for the swedish team MEMPHIS Racing, they wanted to go into the off-season with a rather good result at the Circuit of Zolder.
“I was really looking forward to this raceweekend, but we didn’t end up anywhere where I wanted to be. Last year here was one of my best qualifications and I was really forward to the rain. I’ve been looking forward for two years now to a rainy race, but it didn’t go as planned”, Alexander Graff said in an interview with Threewide.de.
None of the four drivers of MEMPHIS Racing managed to qualify for the Super Pole. In the Elite 1 Division, Graff qualified his Chevrolet Camaro with the #77 on P15, two positions ahead of his teammate Henri Tuomaala in the #23. In the Elite 2 Division, Freddie Hemborg, who returned to the #77 after he didn’t race in Hockenheim, qualified on P14, also two positions ahead of his teammate Ian Eric Wadén.
The first race of the Elite 1 began rather turbulent. A crash in the very first corner brought out the Safety Car. Some cars had been hugely damaged, some had to retire completely. Alexander Graff was one of the lucky ones, he got away without any damage and moved up to P4. Unfortunately there was a re-ordering of the field before the restart and he found himself again in the middle of the field. Due to problems with the engine he had to retire a couple of laps later and was classified on P19. For his finnish teammate with the #23, the race didn’t go much better. Henri Tuomaala had no chance to avoid the crash in the first corner and the Chevrolet Camaro was pretty much damaged. Nevertheless he managed to finish the race on P15.
The Elite 2 race went much better for Freddie Hemborg. Starting from P14 he gained some spots and was able to finish the race once again in the Top10 with P8. Although the team managed to repair the #23, Ian Eric Wadén wasn’t able to go the pace the car had most of the season. With 3 laps to go, he had to retire. He was classified on P18, which meant the loss of important points in the Legends Trophy.
The quickest lap time in the first race was good for P11 in the final race for Alexander Graff. Due to the weather conditions, the race was started behind the Safety Car. When the green flag came out, it was not in side-by-side formation but single-file. In the beginning, Graff was able to go the pace, but as the track got dry, he lost a couple of spots. “The car was good in the first two laps, then it was too dry. I think I overheated my tires. When the real rain came, the car felt so good, but it was too less laps left and the car was damaged in the back”, said Graff, who finished the final race on P14 and became 11th overall in the championship. Henri Tuomaala was able to improve during the race. Starting from P20, he finished on P16. Despite the problems during the weekend, he was able to win the championship in the Challenger-Trophy.
After the good result in the first race of the Elite 2 Division, Freddie Hemborg started from P11 on sunday. As the track was still wet, the race was started behind the Safety Car. In order to prevent the chaos from the first race of the Elite 1, the restarts took place in single-file formation instead of side-by-side formation. Hemborg was able to gain various spots in the beginning of the race, but with the tires loosing grip, he couldn’t keep the position and finished on P13. Ian Eric Wadén finished the race on P15, with equal points in the Legends-Trophy with Michael Bleekemolen. In the end, Wadén had more wins in the Trophy than the Dutch and therefore won the title.
Despite the problems the team had throughout the weekend, the two titles of the #23 brought a good ending to the season of the swedish team. “The weekend overall could have been much better. We didn’t find the right setup, unfortunately, so we need to go back home to Sweden and try to do some rain races”, Alex Graff said in the end. Right now, the team is working on the next season. “We are working at the budget right now. We will try to compete with at least two cars in the EuroNASCAR next season.”
