KENNOL REVIVES THE LEGEND IN 2016 EURO NASCAR
In the History of Motorsports, the 1976 F1 Championship remains the most mythical. Niki LAUDA and James HUNT rivalry and talents come to a climax, and the fans will forever remember LAUDA’s tragic accident and fire, on the Nurburgring Grand Prix, and HUNT’s World Champion title a few months after, 1 point ahead of his respected rival. 40 years later, their sons, both elite car drivers, team up in the same crew, sharing the same car…
It is great to share the car with Mathias. He has lot of experience in NASCAR. I can learn from him we can benefit from each other.
Freddie HUNT, Elite 2 driver
▌ SONS OF SPEED
Forty years after their fathers’ legendary duel for the 1976 Formula One World Champion crown, Mathias LAUDA and Freddie HUNT will rewrite motorsports history books by not only being teammates, but by sharing the same car in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series. DF1 NASCAR Racing and KENNOL put 2 Chevrolet SS V8-powered on the track for the whole season, and the #66 wheel will be shared by the 2 drivers, in both Elite 1 and 2 categories.
LAUDA, the son of Niki, won the first NASCAR Whelen Euro Series oval race held in wet conditions at Tours Speedway (France) in 2014 and notched a four top fives and nine top 10s in 15 races in his first two NWES season. The Austrian, who is also an Aston Martin factory driver in the World Endurance Championship, will take part in his third Valencia NASCAR Fest (Spain), for the kick-off of 2016 season.
Four decades after his father James won the F-1 world championship, HUNT is entering his first NASCAR season with the goal to climb the learning curve as quickly as possible after a very positive first test, and is sure that sharing the car with Mathias LAUDA will benefit both in the hunt for glory in Euro NASCAR.
▌ GREAT FIRST RACE FOR HUNT!
Mathias LAUDA finished the first race of the season in 10th place. Right from the start of the 16-lap race, Mathias had to fight with a lot of understeer in the #66 DF1 Racing Chevrolet SS. After a few laps he had to turn his focus on American Brandon GDOVIC, who was putting up a lot of pressure from behind. The pair battled throughout the race with Mathias LAUDA bringing home his car in 10th position to score some valuable championship points.
Freddie HUNT made up for the slight frustration of his teammate with a great performance sunday morning at Valencia. Starting from the back of the pack in 21st place on the grid HUNT stayed out of the early troubles in the field, when the safety car had to be deployed two times. With the green flag dropping again, Freddie battled his way to the front, overtaking lots of cars and finishing the race in 8th place overall. Freddie HUNT was also the 2nd best rookie of all ELITE2 drivers, which meant he got his first podium finish in his first ever weekend in Euro Nascar! Outstanding job, the KENNOL-sponsored team could not have asked for more.
DF1 Racing Team also brought back to the grid the hugely popular #88 Chevrolet SS with Simone MONFORTE and French rookie Alexandre GUIOD at the wheel. The Austrian team is working on fielding a third car, the #77 Chevrolet SS, later in the season. The NASCAR Whelen Euro Series heads now to the Netherlands, where Raceway Venray will host the second event of the season – the first on an oval – on May 15-16.
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