Claudio Remigio Cappelli headed to Virginia International Raceway last month to compete in the INEX Road Course World Finals.
Off-season is the period of time for racing drivers to have some downtime from the hustle and bustle of motorsport. For Claudio Remigio Cappelli, however, things have remained busy.
Cappelli is both a hard worker and a showman. He puts a lot of time to work on his roofing company Cremona Gronde, but he also enjoy a lot of fun doing the hobby that he likes the most: Racing.
It’s no secret that Cappelli loves racing and he’s a natural at it. Three wins in EuroNASCAR OPEN this year demonstrates just how fast he can be on the race track.
Perhaps this racing bug is why Cappelli decided to join Italy’s contingent of legends car drivers in last month’s INEX Road Course World Finals. Held on 17-18 November 2024, the event was the perfect opportunity for Cappelli to go racing in the United States.
“The weekend went very well,” said Cappelli to World of EuroNASCAR. “It was my first time in the US and I shared the experience with a great crew of friends.”
Cappelli, along with all other Team Italy drivers, was provided with cars prepared by Race Driven Performance. Based in Kannapolis, Race Driven Performance is the trusted choice for many legends car stars in the US.
With Italy boasting one of the most competitive legends car championships in Europe, it’s no surprise that its organizers wanted the best cars possible for their drivers and Race Driven Performance has done a fine job at it.
“The US team Race Driven Performance supports us as technical and logistic partners,” said Cappelli. “The Italian legends car dealer, Castelletto Circuit, made a great choice in trusting them.”
“Their cars were very fast and they adjusted their cars to suit our driving style. In fact, finding the right ‘European’ setup was the harder thing.”
For the first time in INEX history, the World Finals went to the Virginia International Raceway. The 1.77-kilometer Patriot Course was chosen as the layout of choice.
The venue itself was new for everyone participating, let alone its layout. Cappelli has to not only adapt to this, but also with the way the US does legends car racing.
“Matching the oval theory with European driving style in road courses is not easy,” recalls the Italian. “We found compromises, but not all the cars were the same.”
“I saw some onboard from my teammates and it was very different from one to the other. It’s also difficult to compare with what we were used to do in Italy.”
Cappelli competed in the Semi-Pro category, but he revealed that he was initially assigned to the Masters division. His competitive nature, however, led him to put a request to move up into the Semi-Pro division.
INEX approved his request and Cappelli answered their trust by finishing in the top-10 in the main race. He admits that he could be fighting alongside Michele Locatelli for the win in Masters, but he’s proud with what he achieved in a higher division.
“The start of the weekend was hard, but we grew up and got better,” said the Academy Motorsport driver. “Five Italians inside the top-15 in Semi-Pro and one world champion in the Masters category.”
“I was due to race in the Masters because I’m 49, but my nature asked me to race in the Semi-Pro category to have more competition. I could easily be first or second in Masters, which Locatelli won. It was a great race nonetheless.”
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