Participants of the 2025 Recruitment Tests in Italy are left impressed with how the EuroNASCAR stock cars perform at Cremona Circuit.
NASCAR Euro Series has completed another successful Drivers Recruitment Test on 4-5 February 2025. A total of 13 drivers took part in the tests at Cremona Circuit, EuroNASCAR’s first Recruitment Test held outside of France since 2019.
As previously reported, the test at Cremona is supported by long-time series partner Sharks Team Italia. Several Sharks Team Italia affiliated drivers took part in the test, including EuroNASCAR veteran Claudio Remigio Cappelli.
Cappelli, who recently signed a contract extension with Academy Motorsport, took part in the test for a number of reasons. The 50-year old acted as both a coach to the DRT participants and as a test driver for EuroNASCAR’s new sequential gearboxes.
“It was the first time for me with the new upgraded gearboxes and I find it very cool!” said Cappell on the sequential gearbox. “It’s nice to use and nice to drive. I think we will improve our lap times by a lot!”
Fellow Sharks Team Italia affiliate Michele Locatelli also joined the test. Having recently won INEX’s Road Course World Finals in Virginia, Locatelli used the DRT to get his first taste at driving an EuroNASCAR stock car.
“It was the first time I drove the car,” said Locatelli to euronascar.com. “It was an incredible experience! I’ve never driven a car like this before.”
“It’s very interesting because it has a lot of power. You really have to tame the car and practice to get the most out of it. It’s very different from what I’ve driven in the past. The feeling was very good and I enjoyed it a lot.”
Another Sharks affiliated driver to join the test is the 2024 Italian Legends Car champion Alessandro Bollini. Bollini had previously taken part in the 2024 DRT test, so this is not the Italian’s first rodeo with EuroNASCAR.
After his recent successes, Bollini hopes to be able to make the jump to EuroNASCAR Rookie Challenge in 2025.
“I love this car,” said Bollini to euronascar.com. “This car really transmits the feeling of the back end and the front end of the car crystal clear.”
“For me, the transition from a Legends car to a EuroNASCAR car was pretty easy. They are similar, but the main difference for me was the tires. It’s harder for me to handle a slick tire. My goal is to compete in the 2025 Rookie Challenge and gain more experience with this car.”
Michele Baronio also had another shot at testing the EuroNASCAR cars with the DRT. Baronio had a private test in 2024, allowing him to directly compare the manual and sequential gearboxes.
“Unfortunately the weather conditions were not as good as yesterday, but we managed to drive the car,” said Baronio to euronascar.com after the 5th February runs. “I drove it last year with the H-pattern and with the new gearbox, it is definitely much easier and faster.”
Several non-Italians also joined the DRT test at Cremona. One of them is 47-year old Portuguese racer Nuno Caetano.
Caetano is a talented competitor and have competed in famous events such as the Isle of Man TT and the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. In his quest to add more to his racing pedigree, the Portuguese decided to enter the DRT to see how the EuroNASCAR cars would perform.
“I was here to try out EuroNASCAR and I have to say I’m very impressed,” said Caetano to euronascar.com.
“I thought I was going to drive a boat, but actually this car is really powerful and fun to drive! This experience has really made me want to come back.”
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