Giorgio Maggi wants the EuroNASCAR PRO title despite a fluffed start to the season
In the EuroNASCAR PRO, Giorgio Maggi finally wants to win the title this year – But his start to the season is not going according to plan
Giorgio Maggi ended the 2022 season with the title in the Junior Trophy of the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series (NEWS). This year, the Swiss driver not only wants to repeat that success, but aim even higher and win the title in Europe’s premier NASCAR series.
“I think with what we have built up now, we can attack this year. The title is of course the goal,” says Maggi in an interview with ‘Leadlap.de’. But the competition is fierce, and the Swiss knows that.
He sees Gianmarco Ercoli, for example, as one of the biggest competitors. But he also sees Liam Hezemans, Lucas Lasserre, Frederic Gabillon and Vittorio Ghirelli as title contenders. “And of course you can’t forget Anthony Kumpen, who is back after a long time,” emphasises the Race Art driver.
The season opener went anything but as hoped for the Maggi. Yet he had a good starting position in the first race on Saturday with sixth place on the grid and got off to a good start. “I got into the race well and had a solid start,” he recalls. “But from the fifth lap onwards I was driving with blunt weapons because the brakes gave up the ghost. Unfortunately, I don’t know what the problem was,” the Swiss summed up. In the end, he finished tenth and was third in the Junior Trophy.
On Sunday, the Race Art driver started the race from tenth place and quickly worked his way up to sixth. After an early restart, he was even in fourth place and the podium seemed possible. But then technology threw a spanner in the works again.
“After two or three attacks on Lucas Lasserre, the performance of the front tires dropped extremely and I could only get the car through the corners with difficulty,” Maggi explained. In the end, the Swiss finished seventh and also benefited from the chaos in the final laps of the second round of the EuroNASCAR Pro. In the Junior Trophy, Maggi finished second behind Ulysse Delsaux.
Before the second race weekend at Brads Hatch on 17 and 18 June, the Swiss is tied for seventh overall with Ercoli and Delsaux. He is 14 points behind Lasserre. But Maggi is optimistic: “We had a good set-up for Brands Hatch last year with Race Art Technology and I think” that we will quickly get up to speed there.
