2024 NLS Season Comes to a Close

The NLS season finale sees Josh, Dany and Mertens Motorsport win the Production Car Trophy Championship.

Following on from their VT2-FWD Class Championship success at the previous round, Josh and the team came to the season finale with a clear target to secure the Production Car Trophy title. The weekend got off to a positive start with a productive day of testing on Friday, ahead of qualifying on Saturday morning, where Dany qualified 2nd in class, only narrowly missing out on pole position.

Josh took the start and made an instant impression, moving into the lead of the class, and gaining five places overall in the opening two sectors. For the remainder of the first stint, he battled it out with the FS Motorsport Volkswagen Golf for the class lead, eventually bringing the car to the pits in 2nd place to hand over to Dany.

Approaching the closing stages, Dany had put the car in a strong position to win the race, as the FS Motorsport Volkswagen would have to serve a longer mandatory pitstop time to compensate for its higher power-to-weight ratio. Sadly, much of Dany’s good work was undone by an unexpected radio failure that resulted in a missed pitstop and subsequent fuel cuts. Dany had no choice but to abandon his lap at the end of the grand prix loop and get back to the pits.  

As ever the team produced a quick pitstop to minimise the time lost and Josh quickly started closing the gap to the leader, but he ultimately had to settle for 2nd place behind the sister Mertens Motorsport #492 car. Frustration soon turned to jubilation though, as 2nd place was enough to secure Josh and Dany the Production Car Trophy, as well as 3rd in the overall championship standings. Meanwhile, the win for #492 enabled them to become Vice Champions of the VT2-FWD class.

Reflecting on the race, Josh said "We were so fast this weekend that it's disappointing we didn't get the win, but the Production Car Trophy more than makes up for it. At the track where so many manufacturers test and develop their road cars, it really means a lot to be Production Car champions, and adding that to the VT2-FWD class championship is a great way to round off an amazing season."

Stay tuned for the latest updates and news ahead of what's sure to be another exciting year for Josh in 2025.

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