On 16 September, NASCAR Whelen Euro Series announced on Twitter that Slovakian female racing driver is going to make her NASCAR Whelen Euro Series debut for this weekend’s American Fan Fest Semi Finals. Dorcikova is scheduled to be racing with Alex Caffi Motorsport in the No. 1 Ford Mustang for Hockenheim.
Dorcikova will be the third female driver to race in the Elite 1 class this year alongside Ellen Lohr, who competed for the full season for Dexwet-DF1, and Jennifer Jo Cobb, who raced in the same team that Dorcikova will drive at Brands Hatch. She is also going to be the second Slovakian driver to compete in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series, after Christian Malcharek who raced from 2015 to 2016.
Dorcikova had previously taken part in the 2019 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series Recruitment Days testing in Franciacorta during the off-season. The 2019 Recruitment Days event at Franciacorta was notable as several drivers that competed full-time this season took part in this Recruitment Days session: Jacques Villeneuve, Sebastiaan Bleekemolen, Michael Bleekemolen, Giorgio Maggi, Naveh Talor, Thomas Krasonis, Andre Castro, and Alessandro Brigatti all had their first NASCAR Whelen Euro Series tests in this Recruitment Days session.
“This weekend will be something incredible!” said Dorcikova in a post on her official Facebook page. “I couldn’t believe it until it was really confirmed! NASCAR Whelen Euro Series at Hockenheimring in Alex Caffi’s team… Come and support me racing in the top division of Elite 1 against world champions and many experienced drivers, it still feels like dreaming.” further said Dorcikova in the post.
Dorcikova’s debut was made possible with the help of Hubertus Heyman of Racing-Total. While Heyman did sold his NASCAR Euro team to Marko Stipp earlier in the year, he remained to be a strong figure in the Euro Series paddock and had previously given an opportunity for Jennifer Jo Cobb to race in Elite 1 with Alex Caffi Motorsport at Brands Hatch.
“Together with their (Dorcikova’s) management team, including Robert Wagner of motorSPORTaktiv.at, we were able to put together a package from Racing-Total in cooperation with Jerome Galpin (NWES CEO and President), which made her debut possible in the first place.” said Heyman in a post made by racing-total.de on Facebook.
“Michaela had already successfully participated in the winter recruiting in Franciacorta, where she got on well with the car. Michaela will be sharing the #1 car with her Greek teammate Thomas Krasonis and entering the fiercely competitive Elite 1. She is well aware that things are not going to be easy in Elite 1, but the determined Slovak will try to complete as many laps as possible without damaging the car. A top 20 finish would be her declared goal.”
Dorcikova, Ioannis Smyrlis, Marco Santamaria, and Daniel Keilwitz will be the four drivers that are scheduled to be making their overall NASCAR Whelen Euro Series debuts in the Elite 1 class at Hockenheim.
Two other drivers, Scott Jeffs and Guillaume Deflandre, are also scheduled to be making their Elite 1 debuts this week, although they had previously raced in the Elite 2 class before.
Disclaimer: Unless noted, all photos used in this article are courtesy of Michaela Dorcikova.