The first Saloon Stockcar Worldcup goes to Great Britain
Raceway Venray hosted the Saloon Stockcar Worldcup for the first time at the end of June 2022 – The winner is from Great Britain
The first Saloon Stockcar Worldcup at Raceway Venray took place on Sunday, June 26, 2022. The historic race was won by Bradley Compton-Sage from Great Britain, who beat Patrick Rutters in an exciting race. The two were separated by just 1.424 seconds when they crossed the finish line.
A total of 27 cars lined up at the start of the first Worldcup of the full-contact class at Raceway Venray. Rutters took the lead early, but was immediately chased by his competitors. In a typical Saloon Stockcar race with numerous spins and crashes, a hot battle ignited at the front between Rutters from the Netherlands and Compton-Sage from Great Britain.
Towards the halfway point of the race, the driver of the #902 car managed the decisive maneuver: he pushed Rutters out of the way and moved into first place. After that, there was no catching Compton-Sage: although Rutters kept getting close to the Briton’s car, the driver of the #424 car was unable to mount a counterattack. At the end of 25 exciting laps, Compton-Sage crossed the finish line in first place.
Speaking to ‘Leadlap.net’, the Worldcup winner shows his joy. He speaks of a “great race”, which he decided with a “strong maneuver” against his competitor. He is also pleased to have clinched such an important title on an “unique track” like Raceway Venray. Compton-Sage is considering making further starts in the Netherlands and is firmly planning a title defense in 2023.
Rutters ultimately ended up in second place, while Bart Wouters finished in third. The third-place finisher’s celebration didn’t last long, however, as he was disqualified after the race. This meant that Nick Antwerpen, who played a leading role in bringing the Worldcup to Venray, inherited third place. The German had started from the back third of the large grid. Keegan Sampson and Deane Mayes completed the top-5.
A total of nine heats were held over two days of racing in the Saloon Stockcar class. The final race on Sunday was the Dash4Cash, with 1,000 euros in prize money at stake. Rutters and Compton-Sage clashed several times, which Jeremy van de Kraats took advantage of to win the race. The day’s winner on Saturday was Compton-Sage, while on Sunday van de Kraats drove to the top of the standings.
