Locations of the circuits that hosted a NASCAR Whelen Euro Series race in 2023
The 2023 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series was the fifteenth Racecar Euro Series season, and the eleventh under the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series branding. The season started on 6 May with the Valencia NASCAR Fest at Circuit Ricardo Tormo and ended on 15 October with the EuroNASCAR Finals at Circuit Zolder.
Alon Day and Liam Hezemans did not defend their championship titles in the EuroNASCAR PRO and EuroNASCAR 2 divisions respectively, making it the first season since 2015 where neither of the reigning champion competed in the season that followed. Gianmarco Ercoli, who scored three victories in 2023, secured his first EuroNASCAR PRO championship title after he finished fourth in the final race at Zolder. Ercoli became the first driver to win the championship title in both divisions as he had already previously won the EuroNASCAR 2 title in the aforementioned 2015 season.[1]
The championship battle did see some controversy as SpeedHouse Racing's owner-driver Lucas Lasserre, who entered the final race as the championship leader, had a late collision with Gianmarco's younger brother Mario Ercoli. It was later announced that the collision had no effect on the final standings because Lasserre was hit with a post-race penalty for start procedure infringements. Lasserre managed to finish second regardless with two victories, securing his best championship finish in the NASCAR sanctioned years of EuroNASCAR.[2][3]Vittorio Ghirelli finished third after scoring two victories, one a piece in Vallelunga and Most. Anthony Kumpen was fourth in his first full-season campaign since 2017 ahead of Hezemans, who won the season opening race at Valencia. Tobias Dauenhauer and Paul Jouffreau took two race wins each, with the latter becoming the youngest race winner in EuroNASCAR PRO at the age of 19.[4]
Jouffreau was also crowned as the EuroNASCAR 2 champion after winning the final race, giving him enough points to overhaul long-time season leader Vladimiros Tziortzis. Jouffreau had three wins compared to Tziortzis' five, but the Frenchman finished every single race inside the top-10 while Tziortzis had three results where he was classified outside of the top-10. Gil Linster finished third after securing his first victory of his career at Zolder. He was followed by Patrick Schober, who also took his first career victory at Oschersleben, and 2021 champion Martin Doubek [cs]. Italian YouTuber Alberto Naska scored two victories, but a disastrous final races of the season resulted in him only finishing sixth in the standings.
Hendriks' four-year streak in the Team's Championship was stopped by RDV Competition, who claimed their second Team's title with the No. 3 team of Jouffreau and Frédéric Gabillon. CAAL Racing's No. 54 team, driven by Ercoli and Naska, finished second while Hendriks was third with the No. 50 team of Hezemans and Linster.
Teams and drivers
NASCAR Whelen Euro Series released a provisional 31-car entry list for the teams participating on 5 April 2023.[5]
On 5 October 2022, former two-time series champion Anthony Kumpen announced to Autosport.be that he will be returning to the series on a full-time basis in 2023, having previously made his return to the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series during last year's round at Circuit Zolder. It is scheduled to be Kumpen's first full-time season since 2017 and his first planned full-time season participation since 2018, which he was unable to complete after he was suspended for four years by the Royal Automobile Club of Belgium for failing a drug test during the 2018 24 Hours of Zolder.[22] The announcement of the provisional Entry List on 4 April 2023 confirmed that Kumpen will be replacing Alon Day as PK Carsport's sole full-time driver in EuroNASCAR PRO. Day's status for 2023 is currently unknown.[5]
On 10 October 2022, Thomas Krasonis announced that he would be leaving the series to compete in the United States in 2023. Krasonis is currently scheduled to make his ARCA Menards Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut in 2023 for a currently unannounced team.[64]
On 28 October 2022, just after the conclusion of the 2022 EuroNASCAR Club Challenge season, Néo Lambert announced his plans to compete in the EuroNASCAR 2 season with SpeedHouse for 2023. It was subsequently revealed on 28 April 2023 that Lambert will be racing in EuroNASCAR PRO instead of EuroNASCAR 2, where he is due to race the No. 40 Ford Mustang.[18][19]
On 5 December 2022, it was announced that Vladimiros Tziortzis will be stepping up to the EuroNASCAR PRO class for 2023. Tziortzis will become the new EuroNASCAR PRO driver of Academy's No. 5 team, replacing Patrick Lemarié whose status for 2023 is currently unknown.[8]
On 15 December 2022, Double T Racing announced that Leonardo Colavita and Double T Racing will be leaving NASCAR Whelen Euro Series to join the Italian GT Championship's GT Cup class in 2023.[65]
On 16 February 2023, it was announced that Australian driver Max Mason will be joining the EuroNASCAR 2 championship in 2023. It was subsequently announced on 21 March 2023 that Mason will be joining Racingfuel Motorsport as the full-time driver of the No. 58 Chevrolet in 2023. He will be joined by American driver Nick Strickler, who is set to compete with the No. 94 Chevrolet in 2023.[58][59]
On 9 March 2023, it was announced that reigning EuroNASCAR 2 champion Liam Hezemans will be moving up to the EuroNASCAR PRO division for a full-time switch in 2023. Liam previously competed double duty on both EuroNASCAR PRO and EuroNASCAR 2 in 2022.[13]
On 15 March 2023, Marko Stipp Motorsport announced that the team has signed German-Brazilian driver Nick Schneider for the 2023 season. Schneider, who competed in the DMV BMW 318ti Cup last year under a Brazilian racing license, is set to compete in the EuroNASCAR 2 division.[53][54]
On 24 March 2023, it was announced that Alberto Naska will be driving CAAL Racing's No. 54 team for the 2023 season. Naska competed with CAAL's No. 88 team in 2022.[56]
On 25 March 2023, it was announced that Paul Jouffreau will be switching teams to RDV Competition despite having a two-year contract with SpeedHouse. Jouffreau will be replacing Ulysse Delsaux as RDV's new EuroNASCAR 2 driver. Delsaux himself will be moving to SpeedHouse Racing, with the former EuroNASCAR 2 champion being set to replace Alexander Graff as the EuroNASCAR PRO class driver of the No. 64 team.[9][16][17]
On 27 March 2023, it was announced that Marc Goossens will be returning to CAAL Racing after spending a season with SpeedHouse. Goossens will be joined by Sven van Laere, who is set to make his first full-season campaign in EuroNASCAR after making his debut at Circuit Zolder in 2019.[33]
On 29 March 2023, it was announced that Alina Loibnegger is set to compete in EuroNASCAR PRO with Racingfuel Motorsport after two seasons of competition in the EuroNASCAR 2 division.[36]
On 8 April 2023, it was announced that Gil Linster will be switching teams to Hendriks Motorsport. Linster is set to partner Liam Hezemans in the No. 50 Toyota Camry team, which will carry sponsorship from Chinese cryptocurrency company Binance.[47]
On 9 April 2023, Marko Stipp Motorsport announced that the team has signed Greek driver Thomas Krasonis as one of their drivers in the EuroNASCAR PRO division for the 2023 season.[25][26]
On 13 April 2023, it was announced that Kenko Miura will be making his full-time return in EuroNASCAR as an owner-driver for Team Japan Needs24.[40]
On 17 April 2023, Team Bleekemolen announced that they have signed Vittorio Ghirelli to race the team's No. 72 Chevrolet Camaro in the EuroNASCAR PRO division for 2023. Ghirelli had previously raced with Not Only Motorsport in 2022.[39]
On 23 April 2023, Race Art Technology announced that Claudio Remigio Cappelli and Thomas Toffel will be joining the team as full-time competitors in the No. 18 and No. 34 cars respectively. Cappelli, who raced for both Race Art and MK1 Racing Italia in 2022, will be focusing his efforts solely in the EuroNASCAR 2 division while Toffel is set to be competing in both EuroNASCAR PRO and EuroNASCAR 2.[20][21]
On 28 April 2023, Italian motorsport news website Erregimedia reports that Advait Deodhar has been signed by Academy Motorsport to race the team's No. 1 car in the EuroNASCAR PRO division. Deodhar, who competed in EuroNASCAR 2 last year, will be scheduled to make his debut in EuroNASCAR's top division as a result.[6]
Teams
On 15 December 2022, Double T Racing announced that they will be leaving the series and make the switch to the Italian GT Championship in 2023.
On 29 December 2022, German automotive tuning firm Bremotion announced their intention to enter NASCAR Whelen Euro Series as a single-car team in 2023. Bremotion will be receiving technical support and cooperation from both Hendriks Motorsport and Team Hezeberg for their debut season.[42]
On 24 February 2023, Team Bulgaria announced that they will be joining the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series in 2023, fielding the No. 90 Toyota Camry for their debut season.[41]
The announcement of the provisional Entry List on 4 April 2023 revealed the following changes:[5]
Buggyra ZM Racing and MK1 Racing Italia will be leaving the series after a year and a three-year stay respectively.
Team Bulgaria acquired a second entry in the No. 89 team, effectively taking over the entries from Not Only Motorsport who fielded both the No. 89 and the No. 90 teams in 2022.
Team Japan Needs24 will be attempting their first full-season campaign in EuroNASCAR. Team Japan had previously entered the 2022 round at Circuit Zolder as a one-off entry.
Racers Motorsport will be rebranded back to Vict Motorsport.
Academy Motorsport is downscaling to two cars with the decision to shut down the No. 2 team for 2023.
Team Bleekemolen will be downscaling to three cars, losing the No. 23 and No. 44 teams that were entered in a collaboration with Finnish racing firm Iceboys and replacing it with a new team in the No. 66 car.
Race Art Technology will expand their team with the addition of the No. 34 car in 2023.
On 27 June 2023, it was announced that Frédéric Gabillon will not complete his planned 2023 EuroNASCAR PRO season campaign due to sponsorship issues. Paul Jouffreau will be running double duty and replace Gabillon in RDV Competition's No. 3 EuroNASCAR PRO seat for the rest of the season.[10]
On 19 August 2023, it was announced that Academy Motorsport will be fielding an all-female driver line-up in the team's No. 1 Ford Mustang for NASCAR GP Czech Republic, the first all-female line-up in ten years. Michaela Dorcikova returns to the team in EuroNASCAR PRO while Stefani Mogorović will make her debut in EuroNASCAR 2.[7]
Alina Loibnegger briefly returned to the EuroNASCAR 2 division for the NASCAR GP Czech Republic as her main team Racingfuel Motorsport did not enter the round due to the damage sustained by the team's chassis in the previous round at Vallelunga. Loibnegger joined Bremotion and acted as the teammate of Tobias Dauenhauer in the No. 99 Chevrolet Camaro.[66]
Marc Goossens missed the NASCAR GP Czech Republic because of a schedule clash with the 24 Hours of Zolder. He was not replaced, leaving Sven van Laere as the sole competitor of the No. 56 CAAL Racing Chevrolet at Most.[67]
Max Lanza did not take part in the EuroNASCAR Finals at Circuit Zolder for family reasons. He was not replaced, leaving Roberto Benedetti as the sole driver of the No. 88 CAAL Racing Chevrolet.[68]
Schedule
The provisional calendar for the 2023 season was announced on 25 October 2022.[69] All races of the 2023 season will be held on road courses, although the Arctic Ice Race non-championship event would be planned to be held on an ice surface.
NASCAR Whelen Euro Series was initially scheduled to be hosting NASCAR's first event on ice with the NASCAR Arctic Ice Race, which was initially scheduled to open the season as an exhibition event on 4–5 March. The announcement follows upon what NASCAR Whelen Euro Series had announced last year where the series plans to host a non-championship Winter Classic event at some point between late 2022 and early 2023. However, on 10 January 2023 it was announced that the race was postponed indefinitely due to global supply chain issues.[71] Had the NASCAR Arctic Ice Race went underway, the race would use the following format that was first announced on 3 December 2022:[72]
Six 30-minute long free practice sessions was planned to be held on Friday on a 3.2 km (2.0 mi) long track.
A Time Attack tournament was planned to be held on a 2.4 km (1.5 mi) track layout on Saturday, with the results of the tournament determined the starting grid for Sunday's event.
A rallycross-style shootout event was planned to be held on Sunday on a 2.0 km (1.2 mi) layout of the track. The shootout would include heat races, semi-finals and finals to determine the overall winner of the event.
NASCAR GP Germany will be returning to the series after a three-year hiatus. The round will be held on Motorsport Arena Oschersleben for the first time and is currently scheduled to fifth round of the season on 23-24 September.
NASCAR GP Belgium regained its former status as the final round of the season. Circuit Zolder is scheduled to host EuroNASCAR's season finale for the first time since 2019 and the sixth time in history, having hosted the final round of the season from 2015 to 2019.
Automotodrom Grobnik loses its status as a championship round and will be scheduled to host an All Star Endurance Race on 11 November.[73] The Endurance Race was later quietly dropped from the schedule, leaving the series with just the six championship rounds.
NASCAR GP Czech Republic was initially scheduled to be held on 3–4 September, but on 26 November 2022 it was announced that the round will be moved one week ahead to 26–27 August instead.[74]
^Vittorio Ghirelli originally won the race, but he was stripped of the win after receiving a 3-place position drop penalty post-race for usage of a non-compliant air filter.[75]
^Paul Jouffreau originally won the race, but he was stripped of the win after receiving a 30-second time penalty for causing an avoidable collision with Alberto Naska.[76]
Points are awarded to drivers and team using the current point system used in NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, excluding the Stage and Race Winner bonus points. For the final round at Zolder, double points are awarded. In addition, the driver that gained the most positions in a race will receive 4 bonus championship points.
For the EuroNASCAR PRO and EuroNASCAR 2 driver's championship, only the best 8 results from the first 10 races and the results from the double-points rewarding final round at Zolder will count towards the final standings. For the Club Challenge championships, points are awarded per session and the results listed from each round in the standings are the combined results. For the Teams Championship, all points scored by a team's drivers will be counted with no dropped scores.
EuroNASCAR PRO
(key) Bold - Pole position awarded by fastest qualifying time (in Race 1) or by previous race's fastest lap (in Race 2). Italics - Fastest lap. * – Most laps led. ^ – Most positions gained.
3 – Marc Goossens received 12 championship points despite being a non-starter.
4 – Marc Goossens received 14 championship points despite being a non-starter.
EuroNASCAR 2
(key) Bold - Pole position awarded by fastest qualifying time (in Race 1) or by previous race's fastest lap (in Race 2). Italics - Fastest lap. * – Most laps led. ^ – Most positions gained.
^ abc"Bremotion steigt in EuroNASCAR 2023 ein" [Bremotion enters EuroNASCAR in 2023]. bremotion.de (in German). Bremotion Sport Marketing GmbH. 29 December 2022. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
^"LIVE: EuroNASCAR PRO Round 10 - NASCAR GP BELGIUM 2022". YouTube. NASCAR Whelen Euro Series. October 9, 2022. Retrieved December 3, 2022. (at 13:35) MICHAEL BLEEKEMOLEN: "I'm 73 now and my sons, they told me "You have to stop now!" but I don't like to stop. I'll go away again next year again with the whole season." ANDRÉ WIEGOLD: "You will be back on EuroNASCAR next season, one hundred percent?" MICHAEL BLEEKEMOLEN: "For sure! I don't know what I have to do otherwise, that's my problem. But it's just six weekends, which is just enough."
^"Max Lanza costretto a saltare Zolder" [Max Lanza forced to skip Zolder]. maxlanzadriver.com (in Italian). Max Lanza. 9 October 2023. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
^ abOnly the best 8 results from the first 10 races and the results from Zolder were counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.
