Kumpen new leader, Longin hindered by bad luck

The Nascar Whelen Euro Series races at the Nürburgring saw Anthony Kumpen arising as the new leader in Elite 1. Yet the German weekend did not entirely go as planned for the drivers of PK Carsport. Mainly Bert Longin got to deal with a fair share of bad luck.
Anthony Kumpen and Bert Longin left with high expectations for the Nürburgring, the fourth episode of the 2014 season of the Nascar Whelen Euro Series. For the first time ever, the German Grand Prix-circuit appeared on the championship’s calendar, thus reducing the advantage of the more experienced Nascar-drivers. This meant the ‘rookies’ of PK Carsport could start the weekend on equal terms.
Problems during the free practices as well as during qualifying though brought a difficult start of the weekend. ‘I just realized the fastest time in free practice when my engine blew up’, says Longin. ‘Since the schedule was tight this weekend, it also meant I could not participate in the qualifying session. This put me back to the back of the starting grid. Such a shame since the team showed great performance during the preliminary tests and I was all ready to put down a great achievement.’
Anthony Kumpen, quickest in the free practice sessions, experienced bad luck. ‘During qualifying, my clutch was playing tricks on me’, indicates Kumpen. ‘I didn’t manage to do better than the fifth position, at which point you know it will be a very tough race. Despite that set back, I saw myself involved in the battle for the first place in the first race, until all of a sudden my gas pedal got stuck. I only just managed to keep the Chevrolet on the track, was able to solve the problem and continue. Eventually I crossed the finishing line in fifth position.’
The race on Sunday saw a quite similar story. Kumpen was one of the four cars heading the race and was getting ready to put pressure on the leaders, when championship leader Ander Vilarino made a mistake, seeing him end in the tire wall. ‘From then on, I focused on defending my third place’, explains Kumpen. ‘I was quicker than the guys in front of me, but I chose to play it safe and secure important points.’
Because of this podium finish, Kumpen is now leading the championship in Elite 1, with a seven point lead on Ander Vilarino and eight on Borja Garcia. ‘Of course that’s very satisfying’, states Kumpen. ‘But I would have liked to score a victory. Anyway, we’ve demonstrated we have the speed, a very comforting feeling.’
Longin tried to make the most of it and finished in twelfth and eight position, which puts him on the seventh place in the championship. ‘Nothing is lost, especially keeping in mind that drivers can earn double points as from the next race’, indicates Longin. ‘But it remains a real shame that we were unable to fully go for it.’
In Elite 2, Maxime Dumarey drops to the second place in the ranking, despite ending on the podium in both races. Dumarey is now two points behind Thomas Ferrando, who won both races in Germany. Stienes Longin, in what was only his second Nascar-race, crossed the finishing line in ninth and fifth position, thus helping to secure the lead in the team championship for both cars of PK Carsport.