Alina Loibnegger is stepping up to EuroNASCAR PRO in 2023 as she will be contesting her debut season in EuroNASCAR’s top class with Racingfuel Motorsport.
A returning face of the sport is going to make their first appearance in NASCAR Whelen Euro Series’ top division this year. On 29 March 2023, Alina Loibnegger announced that she will be stepping up to EuroNASCAR PRO after signing a contract extension with Racingfuel Motorsport.
Long-time supporters Blumen B&B will continue to support Loibnegger alongside new partners BEKAM Anlagenbau, RCP Rental, and FIAN.
The decision to step up to EuroNASCAR’s top class was made after she completed a successful sophomore season in EuroNASCAR 2 last year. Through Loibnegger’s own words in our interview with the Austrian on January, she improved her performance both on and off the track in 2022 and will be aiming to continue said improvements this year.
“I want to improve personally and also perform better on the track,” said Loibnegger to euronascar.com. “It’s important to keep learning and I’m looking forward to a season with a lot of great people around me. I’m fully motivated to start the season with this new challenge and I know that the team will support me in my development.”
“We want to pick up where we left off last year and I’m ready to give it my all. I love the EuroNASCAR atmosphere! It’s the fans and the people that make the series so special. And the cars are awesome and provide pure racing.”
Loibnegger gained her first experience with EuroNASCAR in 2018, when she competed in the series’ regularity-based division Club Challenge – then known as Elite Club – with DF1 Racing. She continued to compete in Club Challenge in 2019, finishing sixth in the standings in a season that saw her score a second-place finish in the third round at Hockenheim.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced Loibnegger to take a hiatus in 2020, but she returned in 2021 with renewed ambitions after she signed a contract with Solaris Motorsport to contest the EuroNASCAR 2 championship for the full season.
Loibnegger’s first season in EuroNASCAR 2 was a season to get used to the fast paced and unpredictable action in EuroNASCAR’s junior division. She did not finish in the top-10 once, although she proved herself to be a reliable driver as showcased by her 100% finishing record.
In search of a new challenge, Loibnegger moved to Not Only Motorsport in the off-season to contest the full 2022 season with the No. 25 team. However, said plans had to change due to a tumultuous opening round at Valencia.
When she arrived at the paddock in Valencia, she found out that her car wasn’t even ready for action. Seeing the state of disarray that she had to experience, Loibnegger resigned from Not Only and as revealed in our interview, she was forced to look for a new team to sign her with just one hour before Saturday’s Qualifying session.
Thankfully, Racingfuel Motorsport happens to have an opening in their No. 94 team at Valencia. Loibnegger and Racingfuel signed an agreement to have her contest the Valencia round and as the season went on, she was able to secure a full-season deal with the Swiss team.
Loibnegger and Racingfuel’s partnership in 2022 was a highly successful one, with her scoring three top-10 finishes – the most for any female driver in 2022 – on her way to finish 17th in the driver’s standings.
Loibnegger stated that she “was able to learn a lot” from the team and praised Racingfuel for being a great team that brought in “a lot of experience from other series” to the sport.
The feelings of mutual respect between Loibnegger and Racingfuel was shared by Racingfuel’s team principal Ferrucio Finkbohner, who is delighted to be given the opportunity to work with Loibnegger again in 2023.
“We are all happy to have Alina back in our ranks this year,” said Finkbohner to euronascar.com. “She has the talent and is very ambitious. We are sure that she will prove her pace and speed. EuroNASCAR PRO has a high level, but the whole team believes in Alina and everyone is confident that we will continue to build on the success we had last year.”
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