World of EuroNASCAR’s updated first Race Preview for NASCAR GP Italy at Vallelunga looks at the Entry List changes that will happen as 35 teams and 60 drivers are scheduled to take part in the third round of the 2022 EuroNASCAR season.
The NASCAR Whelen Euro Series returns this week for the last round before the summer break as the series returns to Rome’s Autodromo Vallelunga for the third round of NASCAR GP Italy – American Festival of Rome.
Held at Vallelunga’s 4.085 km-long International Circuit, NASCAR GP Italy was initially scheduled to host an All-Star Event on the short Club Circuit this year. However, a schedule shake-up following the cancellation of the round at Hockenheim meant that Vallelunga’s status as a championship round was reinstated and with it, the International Circuit was called upon once more to host the roaring thunder of EuroNASCAR stock cars.
The Provisional Entry List as of today, 8 July 2022, will see 35 teams and 60 drivers enter the gladiatorial battle at Vallelunga and we have received news that there are more changes that will be unveiled at a later date.
Much like our past Race Previews for this year, the Preview will be divided into three parts as we will focus on the changes in the Entry List on the first part while EuroNASCAR PRO and EuroNASCAR 2 will receive their dedicated Race Previews in Parts 2 and 3.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
The return of former EN2 champions Double T Racing, which we have covered in this article, was the main talking point on the Entry List changes for Vallelunga. The absence of MK1 Racing Italia’s No. 17 Shadow, along with Francesco Garisto’s announcement that he won’t compete in EuroNASCAR for the rest of the year on his Instagram Story yesterday, was in line with the rumor that we have covered in the Double T article where MK1’s No. 17 team was merged with the No. 47 team to form the Double T by MK1 Racing alliance.
The No. 47 team may have split from Racers Motorsport to become part of Double T, but the Provisional Entry List have since revealed that Racers will continue to take part as a two-car team following the reveal that they will revive the No. 9 team for Vallelunga.
Dario Caso, who normally drove Racers’ No. 8 car in EuroNASCAR PRO, is listed as the driver of the No. 9 Chevy in EuroNASCAR 2 as he is set to make his first scheduled start in EuroNASCAR’s junior division since 2017.
Another team that are set to have changes for Vallelunga is Not Only Motorsport, who will not enter the No. 36 team in favor of entering the No. 25 team. Not Only’s No. 25 team was present at Valencia along with the team’s three other entries, but ultimately didn’t take part in the races after Alina Loibnegger’s last-minute switch to Racingfuel Motorsport’s No. 94 team.
Four driver changes are set to occur in the EuroNASCAR PRO, which has a total of 32 drivers listed on the current Entry List. The initial 30 drivers listed on the Entry List preview that we recapped yesterday, with the exception of Buggyra’s Yasmeen Koloc, were present during the previous round at Brands Hatch while two new changes were announced yesterday after this article was initially released.
Italian drivers Nicolò Gabossi and Vittorio Ghirelli will be doing a team swap in the build up to their home race this week. Ghirelli, who has struggled with three DNFs out of four races on the No. 36 team this year, will be swapped to Not Only’s No. 90 Chevrolet entry while Gabossi is transferred to the team’s No. 25 entry, which is listed to run a Ford Mustang chassis this week.
In addition, Liam Hezemans will continue to compete in Hendriks Motorsport’s No. 50 Ford Mustang in place of Tobias Dauenhauer. Liam had been deputizing for Dauenhauer at Brands Hatch after Dauenhauer was taken out of the weekend due to a positive COVID-19 test, but the German was sadly absent due to sponsorship-related reasons this week.
The new changes for the EuroNASCAR PRO grid was announced yesterday as two veteran EuroNASCAR drivers Alex Sedgwick and Thomas Ferrando are set to make their return to the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series this weekend.
Sedgwick, who was last present at the American SpeedFest last year, has been signed by SpeedHouse to race the team’s No. 40 Ford Mustang. As for Ferrando, who was last present at Valencia last year, he was called up by Double T to race their No. 47 Chevrolet Camaro in place of Leonardo Colavita.
For EuroNASCAR 2, there are a total of 32 drivers that are listed in the current Entry List. Paolo Maria Silvestrini and Valencia Club Challenge winner Neo Lambert are set to make their EuroNASCAR debut on the main two classes this weekend, with Silvestrini being listed as the driver of Not Only’s No. 25 entry while Lambert is listed to make his first start on SpeedHouse’s No. 40 Ford Mustang.
British driver Matthew Ellis, who made his Euro Series debut at Brands Hatch, will retain his seat at Racingfuel Motorsport as does Finnish driver Tuomas Pöntinen, whom we have reported to be staying in Team Bleekemolen’s No. 23 Ford Mustang.
Yasmeen Koloc is listed to make her EuroNASCAR 2 debut this week following her withdrawal from Valencia while Claudio Remigio Cappelli will continue his participation as a double duty driver, albeit now driving in MK1 Racing Italia’s No. 16 Ford Mustang instead of Race Art Technology’s No. 18 Toyota Camry.
In EuroNASCAR’s regularity-based Club Challenge division, a total of 9 drivers are listed to take part. Club Challenge regulars such as Lambert, Andreas Kuchelbacher, Gordon Barnes and Federico Monti are expected to battle it out for the top honors once again in the regularity-based division.
One driver, Swiss driver and journalist Mato Matosevic, will make his Euro Series debut in this division as announced by Racingfuel Motorsport on their social media accounts. The Entry List suggests that Matosevic will drive the No. 94 Chevrolet Camaro for his first appearance in the Club Challenge division.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
Disclaimer: Unless noted on the photo, all photos used in this article are courtesy of NASCAR Whelen Euro Series / Stephane Azemard / Bart Dehaese / Klemen Sofric.
Last Updated: 8 July 2022