After “turbulent start”: Austrian Alina Loibnegger feels “comfortable” in new team
After three events in the 2022 NWES season, Alina Loibnegger feels really comfortable in her new team Racingfuel Motorsport – Now she wants to attack in the Lady Trophy
“They are really very cool people,” Alina Loibnegger tells ‘Leadlap.net’ about her new team Racingfuel Motorsport, for which the Austrian competes in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series (NWES). Actually, she was supposed to start for Not Only Motorsport in the 2022 season, but Loibnegger changed teams at short notice before the season opener in Valencia, Spain, due to internal problems. She really feels comfortable at the Swiss team after three race weekends.
“I had a turbulent start to the season because of the spontaneous team change,” says the 27-year-old, who has now been taken under the wing of Racingfuel team boss Ferruccio Finkbohner. “I really felt at home very quickly at Racingfuel Motorsport. It’s really fun to work with the team and the nice thing is that they bring a lot of experience from other racing series. Of course it’s the first NASCAR year, but it’s cool because you can grow together.”
Both Loibnegger and Racingfuel Motorsports share the same goals and values, according to the Austrian from Wolfsberg. In the 2022 NWES season, the focus would be on optimization to create a strong foundation for the future. Currently, the team and the 27-year-old are working on finding a “better setup” for the race driver, who celebrated her EuroNASCAR 2 debut in 2021 after gaining initial experience in Club Challenge.
The big goal: Loibnegger wants to improve further and maximize her potential. After three rounds in Spain, Great Britain and Italy, the Austrian is third in the Lady Trophy – behind Luli Del Castello and Aliyyah Koloc. The Racingfuel driver has so far made it onto the podium in five of six races in the special women’s classification in the EuroNASCAR 2 championship. Four female drivers are competing in the Lady Trophy in the 2022 season: Del Castello, Koloc, Loibnegger and three-time champion Arianna Casoli.
Loibnegger’s consistent performances brought her to third place in the Lady Trophy after six rounds and 18th in the overall standings, in what 39 drivers have been ranked so far. “The first half of the season was actually quite okay,” reports the 27-year-old. “Of course I would like to score better results, but I have my eye on the target and I will keep fighting as well as working to improve personally. I’m really looking forward to the second half of the season after the summer break.”
NWES travels to the Czech Republic on September 3 and 4, where rounds seven and eight are scheduled at the Autodrom Most. “Most is definitely one of my favorite tracks on the calendar,” Loibnegger enthuses. “It was very cool there last year, the atmosphere was great and with the fans it was really fun, I have very positive memories of that. I’m really looking forward to that.”
