After controversial finish: Frank Wouters wins the Eurocup of the V8 Oval Series
Frank Wouters has won the prestigious Eurocup of the V8 Oval Series at Raceway Venray – The Dutchman benefited from the disqualification of Barry Maessen
The 2022 Eurocup marked the season highlight of the V8 Oval Series (V8OS) at Raceway Venray this season. The prestigious race, which does not count towards the championship, went over 40 laps and had a few surprises in store. In the end, top driver Frank Wouters prevailed over the competition, although he did not cross the finish line in first place.
Earlier, Barry Maessen got past the driver of car number 6 and pushed him against the wall at the exit of turn 4. Race control reacted and decided to penalize the number 14 driver and regulate him down to second place. This allowed Wouters, who showed a strong race and dominated the action for a long time, to be crowned the 2022 Eurocup winner.
Wouters was always strong as a bear at the start of the races throughout the entire race day and plowed through the field. In the Eurocup run he pulled away at the front, however there was still an adversary who mostly gained pace as the races progressed. Maessen had a typical long run car, which is why he usually caught up with Wouters towards the end of a race. This was also the case in the Eurocup, which was decided by disqualification.
Jeroen van Eerd finished third ahead of Jeroen Hermans and Jeffrey Hagemans. The latter topped the scoring among the symmetrical ASCAR cars in the field. Best German was Hans-Jürgen Hummen in the number 99 car in seventh place, who drove a strong Eurocup race. Marcus Bicknell prevailed among the British guest starters. Philipp Bachor was only ranked 13th in the end.
The day’s classification was ultimately won by Maessen, who decided the second heat and the final in his favor in the points races. The Dutchman thus collected 125 points, five more than Wouters, who in addition to the Eurocup also won the first heat. Bachor showed good development over the course of the race day, finishing seventh, sixth and fifth.
EuroNASCAR driver Gil Linster returned to Raceway Venray for race day. The Luxembourg native dropped out of the Eurocup heat and first heat, but fought his way back towards the top with eighth in the second heat and sixth in the final. Van Eerd finished third in the day’s standings ahead of Ralph Verberkt and Bachor. The latter finally made it back into the top 5 after much bad luck in the 2022 V8OS season.
The championship finale will take place on October 23, 2022 on the oval right on the German-Dutch border near Venlo. A hot battle for the title is then expected between Wouters and Maessen, who both still have a chance of winning the overall title. In addition, the Autospeedway classes will also be on the grid, in which the track championships will be decided.
