Maessen takes V8OS win in Venray on first race day with spectators in the stands
Barry Maessen has won the first day of V8OS racing with spectators in the grandstand of Venray Raceway – The Dutchman won all three races.
The first V8 Oval Series (V8OS) race day with spectators in the stands at Raceway Venray is in the books. Last Sunday, Barry Maessen won all three races of the Late Model series, which gave him the day’s victory. The Dutchman held an unassailable lead in all races, finishing several seconds ahead of the competition in each heat.
In the first race, Maessen beat Ralph Verberkt, who was 2.162 seconds behind the race winner after 25 laps on the half-mile track near Venlo. The driver of the #14 car held off Luxembourg’s Gil Linster, who had only returned to Europe from the USA on Friday, in the second heat. In the final race, Maessen again prevailed by 3.186 seconds over Verberkt.
Verberkt, who finished second twice and third once, not only landed on the podium in all races but also secured second place in the day’s standings with a 25-point gap on Maessen. Van Eerd finished third overall with two third-place finishes and one fourth place. The Dutchman was 43 points behind Maessen, who also won the offset classification for asymmetric cars.
Current V8OS champion Jentsen Adriaenssens finished fourth after three solid races. The Belgian, who led the ASCAR standings for symmetrical cars, collected three top-5 results and important points in the battle for the track championship. Linster, back behind the wheel for the Bachor Racingteam as in 2020, completed the top-5 of the 16-car field.
Sixth place went to Philipp Bachor in the #21 car, with the Wattenscheider finishing one race in the top-5 and all heats within the top-10. Seventh place went to Yevgen Sokolovskiy, who will compete for Marko Stipp Motorsport in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series at Brands Hatch next weekend. Milou Mets was eleventh in her V8OS return, while Hans-Jürgen Hummen from Germany finished the race day in 14th.
