Euro Nascar: A tough start to the season 🎥
SOMETHING IS STILL MISSING At the Euro Nascar Series opener in Italy, Giorgio Maggi had to settle for midfield finishes on his debut in the top category. Rookie Kris Richards finished a good sixth. This is not how Giorgio Maggi had imagined his debut in the Pro category of the European Nascar Series. In the first race at the Autodromo di Vallelunga near [...]
This is not how Giorgio Maggi had imagined his debut in the Pro category of the European Nascar series. In the first race at the Autodromo di Vallelunga near Rome, last year's Elite 2 runner-up did not finish higher than 15th in the Ford Mustang entered by Hendriks Motorsport.
Bad luck for Villeneuve, difficulties at Maggi
His Dutch team-mate Loris Hezemans emerged victorious after former F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve retired with a technical defect two laps from the end. In the second race, the Canadian was only beaten by Italian Gianmarco Ercoli.
In twelfth place, Maggi came at least a little closer to the top ten. In addition, he was able to place himself on the podium twice as third in the junior classification.
Giorgio Maggi: "It was difficult. After the fourth time in free practice I actually had hopes, but from qualifying on things didn't go well. I was struggling with the car, but we still have to find out what the problem was. In addition, I received a pit stop penalty in the first run, and I also have to get used to the wider tires from General Tire."
Optimism before the home race
The next two races will take place at the beginning of October at the Nascar GP Belgium in Zolder. There, the 22-year-old from Nidwalden, who spends a lot of time as an ambassador for the Foundation for Children in Switzerland (childfoundation.info), a kind of home field advantage.
His team is based nearby, so they all know the circuit inside out. What's more, the Hendriks drivers can test assiduously before the next race. Maggi celebrated a race win at the 2019 finale in Zolder.
The teaser draws attention to the next event in Belgium. However, there are unlikely to be as many spectators as in the scenes from 2019, and masks are strictly compulsory.
Kris Richard taster weekend
Kris Richard made a relatively good debut in this racing series with the archaic V8 touring cars (with unit chassis and engines). More than a year after his last car race in the Blancpain GT Series, the man from Bern took part in the season opener out of interest.
Neither his German team Marko Stipp Motorsport, nor the track or the opponents in the second class (previously Elite 2, new EN2 for beginners, Gentleman Driver and others) were known to him.
With a sixth-place finish, the 2016 FIA Touring Car European Cup winner acquitted himself respectably in the first race after starting 14th in the midfield with the Chevrolet Camaro.
Richard got to feel the rough manners during his ride to the front. The second sprint ended prematurely for him after a competitor slammed on her brakes and knocked him off his bike.
Future open
Nevertheless, the Swiss rookie does not draw a negative conclusion.
Kris Richard: "The level is good, I quickly got to grips with everything. Driving was extremely fun. But it's difficult to drive these cars at the limit, and we just couldn't work on the setup in practice because of engine damage. That's probably another reason why we were a bit short of the top."
The man from Thun is not sure whether Euro Nascar will be the next chapter in his career after TCR and GT3.
Kris Richard: "Thanks to the support of friends and loyal partners who stood by me after last year's bad luck, I was able to afford this trip. But I'll only go again if something meaningful comes up. Otherwise, I'll concentrate on 2021."
