Sokolovskiy: Want to continue competing in both NWES championships!
Yevgen Sokolovskiy plans to continue competing in both championships in the 2022 EuroNASCAR season – The Ukrainian wants to continue driving for Marko Stipp Motorsports
“I would like to continue competing in both EuroNASCAR championships in 2022,” Yevgen Sokolovskiy told ‘Leadlap.de’. The Ukrainian ventured into the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series (NWES) in 2020 and joined German team Marko Stipp Motorsport. Since the beginning, Sokolovskiy has competed in both NWES championships – the EuroNASCAR PRO and EuroNASCAR 2. That is not expected to change in the 2022 season.
“Everything will remain the same with Marko Stipp Motorsport and my sponsors Grand Prix Originals and Gulf Racing,” explained the Ukrainian. “I hope that next season we can create even more spectacle for the fans. I thank the Marko Stipp Motorsport team for doing a perfect job in 2021. The guys and girls showed their best side and did a super job. The whole team was like a mechanism, it all worked very well.”
That was reflected in the results, with Sokolovskiy finishing twelfth in EuroNASCAR PRO and grabbing third place behind Henri Tuomaala and Davide Dallara for bronze and silver drivers in the top championship. He finished 14th in the EuroNASCAR 2 championship and grabbed second behind Max Lanza in the Legend Trophy for drivers 40 and older – the Ukrainian is 43 years old.
“The season was a real success for us,” explained the motorsport enthusiast, who lives in Düsseldorf. “We improved the car throughout the year with the team. So it got better from track to track. I’m very satisfied overall and I hope we can step it up a notch next year to do even better.” Sokolovskiy has written the two trophies in particular on his wish list.
Sokolovskiy can’t complain about too little track time in 2021, as he also competed in various GT series in addition to EuroNASCAR. “It sounds crazy, but I drove 43 races this year,” said Sokolovskiy, who has improved his driving style so significantly. “I’ve been in seven different series and five different cars.” Since it’s sometimes difficult to readjust, the Ukrainian wants to focus “more on NASCAR and GT4 cars” in 2022.
Sokolovskiy is particularly fond of the progress, as it was immediately apparent at the start of the season: “It started right after the finale in Valencia in 2020. Things started off well right away and we started the season strong. We did a lot with the car and the pace was right. Every race track was a small step forward for me this year and at the end of the season the development was very positive.”
In order to continue learning as much as possible, Sokolovskiy plans to compete not only in NASCAR but also in the GT4 Series and the V8 Oval Series at Raceway Venray, where he will drive a Late Model. Both the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series and Raceway Venray have already announced their calendars for the 2022 season. The first NWES race will be held on April 9 and 10 at the Hockenheimring in Germany. The season opener on the Dutch oval will take place on Easter Monday (April 18, 2022).
