A total of 25 cars and 45 drivers across both EuroNASCAR PRO and EuroNASCAR 2 classes will be ready to compete for NASCAR Whelen Euro Series’ season opening race at Vallelunga next week.
After almost a full year of waiting, NASCAR Whelen Euro Series will be finally ready to start off their 2020 season after the series revealed the preliminary Entry List for next week’s season opening race, the Delphix / NSR American Festival of Rome at Vallelunga.
A total of 25 cars from 11 teams and 45 drivers from 16 countries will be ready to make history next week. Star names such as Loris Hezemans, Lasse Sørensen, Alon Day, Stienes Longin, and Jacques Villeneuve will headline the 21 drivers that are scheduled to be competing in the EuroNASCAR PRO class next week, while names such as Julia Landauer, Nicholas Risitano, Vittorio Ghirelli, and Andre Castro headlines the 24 drivers listed to race in the EuroNASCAR 2 class.
The effects of COVID-19 have affected the field in many racing series’ around the world, and it sadly is no exception in NASCAR Whelen Euro Series. A total of 9 cars – Alex Caffi’s No. 2, FEED Vict’s No. 4, DF1’s No. 23, both RDV and Braxx cars, and the sole entries of Bleekemolen and Memphis – will not make it to Vallelunga, but The Club Motorsports will be returning as they opted to return for the team’s home race next week.
PRO class will sadly not see the likes of Ander Vilariño, Gianni Morbidelli, Frédéric Gabillon, and Ulysse Delsaux competing after it is confirmed that they will not race this year, but the Entry List will confirm the return of Lucas Lasserre to the No. 33 Mishumotors Camaro as well as the surprise entry of Daniel Rowbottom in the No. 7 Hendriks Ford Mustang.
Rowbottom, who competed in BTCC for Ciceley Motorsport, will be making his series debut next week as he will be replacing Martin Doubek – initially scheduled to do double duty in the No. 7 Ford – for Vallelunga. Rowbottom, who will be bringing his Cataclean sponsorship to the No. 7 team, had previously tested the Euro Series cars during the Summer Camp in June.
The Entry List also revealed that Fabio Spatafora will be competing with a Maltese license, instead of the Italian one that he used during his series debut in 2013.
EuroNASCAR 2 class’ of 24 drivers will also see several new and/or returning names making their Euro Series debut next week. Alex Ciompi, last competing in the series in 2018, will be making his EN2 class debut as the EN2 driver of 42 Racing’s No. 17 Ford Mustang, while Gašper Dernovšek will be making the step from the virtual cars to the real cars with his participation as the EN2 driver in the No. 46 Marko Stipp Motorsport.
Joining Dernovsek in MSM’s sister team No. 48 DF1-MSM Camaro would be TCR driver Kris Richard, who is making his series debut as the replacement driver of Kenko Miura. Miura, initially scheduled for the full season in the No. 48 car, has been confirmed by his agency Gold Wolf Racing to not be able to compete until the season-ending doubleheader at Valencia.
Eric Quintal will be making his first appearance since last year’s season opening race at Valencia with his participation in the No. 33 Mishumotors Camaro, while Roberto Benedetti is scheduled to make his first appearance in the series since 2017 as the sole driver for The Club’s No. 41 Camaro.
The Entry List announcement also confirms that both Julia Landauer and Andre Castro will made it to the start of the 2020 season after they were doubted to compete this year due to the decision made by European Union to ban US citizens from visiting Europe thanks to the high COVID rate US have.
Disclaimer: Unless noted, all photos used in this article are courtesy of NASCAR Whelen Euro Series / Stephane Azemard.