VALLELUNGA, Italy – Hendriks Motorsport rookie Tobias Dauenhauer grabbed the first EuroNASCAR 2 pole position on Saturday at Autodromo Vallelunga Piero Taruffi.

The German put together a strong lap of 1:40.574 around circuit at the wheel of the No. 50 Mustang at the end of the 30-minute session to claim the top position.

“I’m very happy to perform well as a rookie in my first EuroNACAR race weekend,” said the Hendriks Motorsport driver. “The car was just perfect, Hendriks Motorsport did an incredible job. I’m so excited to be part of the series with my partner RZ Oil Germany this year. I’m really looking forward to the first race and I hope we can keep up the good pace we had in Qualifying. Everything is possible today, so we just have to keep on working.”

Dauenhauer, who already impressed earlier this year by finishing second in the EuroNASCAR Esports Series on iRacing, had a .328-second gap to fellow rookie Andreas Jochimsen. The DF1 Racing driver of the No. 66 Chevrolet was followed by another newcomer, Feed Vict Racing’s Simon Pilate, making it an all rookie top-three.

Two series veterans, Hendriks Motorsport’s Vittorio Ghirelli and Feed Vict Racing’s Alessandro Brigatti, rounded out the top-five.