NWES President compares EuroNASCAR cars with TCR and GT4 vehicles
The EuroNASCAR cars are among the fastest touring cars in Europe – The official European NASCAR series offers racing for a comparatively small budget
Many sports have the image that they are expensive or elitist. This applies to golf as well as to motorsports. But there are also series in which you can drive with a comparatively small budget.
One of these series is the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series (NWES). In the official European NASCAR series, drivers can participate – without damages – for less than 100,000 euros per season. In return the drivers are offered cars that do not have to hide from TCR or GT4 cars.
“But they are also a lot more fun to drive and by far less expensive to run,” said NWES President Jerome Galpin. The purchase of a new car for the NWES costs around 90,000 euros before taxes. Used, the cars are already available for between 50,000 and 60,000 euros. In comparison, a new TCR car costs about 100,000 to 200,000 euros, a GT4 car costs about 125,000 to 250,000 euros – racing those cars is much more expensive in most cases. Used, both vehicle types are on a par with a new EuroNASCAR car.
In contrast to the other two classes, even older chassis from 2009 to 2011 are regularly found in Victory Lane in the NWES. This is also due to the fact that there is no Balance of Performance (BoP) or manufacturer enforced updates in the series. Instead, as in the USA, the focus is on simple technology that enables low maintenance costs. The fact that two drivers share one car in two separate championships also lowers the costs.
“Nearly everyone testing a EuroNASCAR car comes back with a ‘wow, this is really much better than what I expected!’ So I encourage every driver to take a shot at a test! They will understand why some of the best drivers in the world love to drive our cars,” said Galpin about the cars without any driving aids, a four-gear H-pattern gearbox and a raw 400-horsepower V8 engine.
That’s why the NWES has already been able to attract numerous prominent names to participate as guest entrants. Ellen Lohr and US NASCAR champion Bobby Labonte have already started in the series. Former Formula 1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve is now participating with his own team. A door opener into EuroNASCAR is the recruitment program – the opportunity for interested drivers to test the cars.
“The Drivers Recruitment Program has proven to be very successful over the years, bringing many great talents to the series,” explained Galpin. It also offers the chance to get to know EuroNASCAR and get a scholarship from the series up to 25,000 euro. This year the first recruitment day will take place on December 7th in Valencia.
