Luciane Klai made history as the first female driver to be signed for a full-time drive in NASCAR Brasil Series.
After 13 seasons, NASCAR Brasil Series will have their first full-time female contender in the upcoming 2025 season. The major breakthrough arrived after R.Mattheis Motorsport announced the signing of Luciane Klai, in time for the 2025 International Women’s Day.
Luciane Klai will follow the footsteps of EuroNASCAR star Arianna Casoli, who became the first female driver to ever race in NASCAR Brasil. Klai, nicknamed “Lu” in the Brazilian motorsport scene, is set to race the No. 45 Chevrolet for R.Mattheis.
The 45-year old will join proven race winner Cayan Chianca and Gabryel Romano as part of R.Mattheis’ inaugural NASCAR Brasil squad.
“Competing in NASCAR Brasil is the fulfillment of a great goal,” said Klai in the official announcement. “I know that each race will be an opportunity to evolve, compete and seek for great results. I’m focused, motivated and ready to push hard with the R.Mattheis team!”
Compared to anyone else in the grid, Klai did not follow an ordinary career path. While Klai has been involved in motorsport in some way since 1991, she only started her active career as a driver in 2017.
Despite her late start, Klai showed plenty of talent as results started to roll in. This culminated in her class runner-up finish during the 2021 1000 Milhas Chevrolet.
She also showed plenty of passion about racing, something that was noticed by the top dogs of Brazilian motorsport. One of them was NASCAR Brasil’s founder Thiago Marques, who invited Klai to become the official driver of their safety car and driving experience.
Her performance impressed the NASCAR Brasil paddock enough that R.Mattheis decides to take a gamble and sign her as one of their full-time drivers in 2025.
“It is a great pleasure to have Lu joining our team,” said Rodolpho Mattheis, the team principal of R.Mattheis.
“From the first moment I met her, I felt how passionate she is about motorsports and how willing she is to learn and evolve. I think it is really cool that we are able to encourage and motivate women to find their place in motorsports.”
Outside of Klai’s announcement, all four teams have also announced additional drivers to their rosters. Just two days prior, the aforementioned Gabryel Romano was added to the R.Mattheir squad for 2025.
Full Time Sports will add rookie Tito Giaffone to their team, where he’s set to race the No. 15 Ford Mustang. Tito is the prodigy kid of the Giaffone family, the Brazilian racing dynasty that have scored successes from all around the world.
Team RC and MX Vogel both announced double duty contenders for 2025. Caca Bueno and Julio Campos will race for the respective teams in NASCAR Brasil while also maintaining their commitments in the Stock Car Pro Series.
MX Vogel also announced Antonio Junqueira as the driver of the No. 16 Ford Mustang. Junqueira’s signing meant that MX Vogel becomes the first team to reveal their six contenders for the upcoming season.
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