Euro Nascar: Giorgio Maggi among the best 🎥
FIRST PRO PODIUM At the third Euro Nascar weekend in Croatia, Giorgio Maggi achieved his first pole position in the top Pro category and then a second place. However, the championship is over for him. The highlights of Saturday's races in Euro Nascar 2, in which Vittorio Ghirelli won in the Ford Mustang #18, and Euro Nascar Pro, in [...]
The highlights of Saturday's races in Euro Nascar 2, in which Vittorio Ghirelli won in the Ford Mustang #18, and Euro Nascar Pro, in which Maggi was on pole with the same car and had to give up first place to Stienes Longin in the second corner.
After the planned race in Most, Czech Republic, had to be cancelled due to the Corona pandemic, the participants of the Nascar Whelen Euro Series stopped off for the first time at the Automotodrom in Grobnik, Croatia.
The 4.168 km race track was new territory for everyone. Due to a lack of experience, each team and each driver had to work out the setup for their car first.
Promising premiere
Giorgio Maggi and Hendriks Motorsport solved this task perfectly. After finishing 2nd and 3rd in the two free practice sessions, the driver from Nidwald managed to set the fastest lap time with the Ford Mustang in qualifying and thus the first pole position in the top class Pro of Euro Nascar.
Giorgio Maggi: "The track is very fluid because there are no chicanes or hairpins, just corner combinations and straights. It's similar to Most, where I was fast last year, so we adopted that basic setup. When the track offered more and more grip towards the end, I managed a clean lap that was just enough for the fastest time."
Decisive start
However, such a track characteristic, which is quite popular with drivers, means that there are hardly any overtaking opportunities due to the lack of hard braking zones. All the more important was the optimal starting position for the first race.
Unfortunately, last year's runner-up in Elite 2 did not get off to a good start. The 22-year-old from central Switzerland was a little too cautious in the first combination of corners, which allowed the Belgian Stienes Longin, who had started next to him, to get into a better position. From the second corner to the finish of the 25-minute race, he remained in front with his Chevrolet Camaro.
Redeeming podium
The pole setter put on pressure but couldn't find a way past the leader. However, he kept the Dane Lasse Sörensen, who had snatched the Elite 2 title from him at the last moment last year, at bay.
Giorgio Maggi: "I knocked on Longin's door a couple of times but wasn't fast enough anywhere to get past without taking risks. But I'm also happy about second place. After the technical problems at the first two race weekends, this is good for me and the team, which has put a lot of time into preparation."
Despite accident a good weekend
According to the regulations, the starting grid for Sunday's race is always based on the best lap times from the first race. So Maggi had to line up in fifth place.
When he attacked the man in front of him, Martin Doubek, the two teammates collided and retired. Too bad, but at least the race organizers saw it as a normal racing accident.
The Swiss was thus able to take a mostly positive view of the third championship round.
Giorgio Maggi: "It was a cool race weekend on a very interesting race track. We were able to show that I can race at the front when everything fits."
Intense finale
The final will also be interesting. This will take place from December 3 to 6 at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia. In four races on four consecutive days, the champions of the very compact 2020 Euro Nascar season will be sought in Spain.
Giorgio Maggi is no longer eligible because of his poor results in Vallelunga and Zolder and the zero in the second round at Grobnik. On the other hand, he has four chances to win a race in his second year with the 400-hp silhouette touring cars and to recommend himself for a move to the American Nascar circuit. Nothing less is his next career goal.
