NASCAR Euro Series – What a start: Jose Penalta wins Rookie Challenge debut on home soil
Jose Antonio Penalta couldn’t have dreamed of a better start to his NASCAR Euro Series career. He proved himself as the most consistent driver in Rookie Challenge after he scored the victory at his home round, the NASCAR GP Spain. The Spaniard topped the first session and secured enough points in the second session to make himself as the leader of Rookie Challenge after the first round of the 2025 EuroNASCAR season at the 4.005 kilometer long Circuit Ricardo Tormo.
Penalta’s win is a narrow one: Only one point separated him from the drivers that completed the podium. Fellow rookie Maxim van Laere – son of Sven van Laere – claimed the top spot in the second session, but fifth in the first session resulted in the Belgian missing out on the victory. Another rookie in Team Bleekemolen’s Bruno Mulders also scored the same amount of points as van Laere. Mulders finished second in both sessions and earned two bonus points by choosing the second fastest reference time of the round.
“It was nice!” said Penalta after his victory. “Yesterday I couldn’t train too much because of the red flags. It was difficult, but we have a good consistency and I think we can fight well for the season!”
Nuno Caetano continues the streak of top finishing rookies by ending up fourth overall. That streak was stopped by the reigning Rookie Challenge overall winner Federico Monti, who was fifth onboard his trusty Academy / Alex Caffi Motorsport machine. Another former winner in Andreas Kuchelbacher was sixth ahead of top-10 finishers Daniil Shapka, Yann Cristovao, Yann Schar and Mike Wise. Happinessa, Nicole Davidson, Davide Frulio and Daniel Boys completed the final results, with Frulio securing the maximum bonus points for having the fastest reference time out of anyone in the field.
NASCAR GP Spain resumes its action with the first Free Practice sessions for all PRO and OPEN competitors. With data acquired from Thursday’s Prologue, everyone is eager to tune their car to the max and see how far they can push their machines before the first Qualifying and races of the year. Make sure you tune in on Saturday and Sunday as all qualifying sessions and races from the event will be broadcast live on EuroNASCAR’s YouTube channel and numerous TV channels around the world.
