2021 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series

The 2021 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series is the thirteenth Racecar Euro Series season, and the ninth under the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series branding. The season began at Circuit Ricardo Tormo with the NASCAR GP Spain on 15 May and ended on 31 October with the NASCAR GP Italy at Autodromo Vallelunga.

1. Valencia

2. Brands Hatch

3. Most

4. Rijeka

5. Zolder

6. Vallelunga

Locations of the circuits scheduled to host a NASCAR Whelen Euro Series race in 2021

Loris Hezemans won his second Euro Series championship title in 2021.

Despite not taking part in the fifth round at Zolder to compete in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the Charlotte Roval, Loris Hezemans was crowned as champion at Vallelunga after winning four races and finishing 7 races inside the podium, his second title in the series. He finished the season 3 points ahead of Gianmarco Ercoli, who scored a race win at Rijeka and 7 podium finishes. Lucas Lasserre finished third despite being winless, tying his best championship finish in the series under NASCAR's official sanctioning. Defending series champion Alon Day won three races but was unable to defend his title after retiring four times while defending EuroNASCAR 2 champion Vittorio Ghirelli, who scored his maiden top class victory at Most, had his championship hopes dashed after a crash in the final race of the season. Stienes Longin and Jacques Villeneuve were the other race winners, Longin winning his home race at Zolder while Villeneuve swept the weekend at Vallelunga.

In the EuroNASCAR 2 class, Martin Doubek won the title after teammate Tobias Dauenhauer crashed late in the final round of the season. Both drivers scored a total of five race wins and nine podiums each, but Dauenhauer's incident on the final race handed the championship to Doubek who won the title by 17 points. Not Only Motorsport driver Naveh Talor finished third after scoring his maiden win at Zolder. Indian driver Advait Deodhar was the only other race winner of the season, scoring a victory in the first race at Brands Hatch.

Hendriks Motorsport won the Teams Championship for a record third time as the team's No. 7 car, driven by series champions Hezemans and Doubek, would finish the season on top of the Teams standings with 969 points. DF1 Racing's No. 22 team finished second with 875 points, 94 points adrift from Hendriks' No. 7 team, while the No. 50 Hendriks team would finish third with 867 points.

Teams and drivers

NASCAR Whelen Euro Series released a provisional 26-car entry list for the teams participating on 14 April 2021.[1]

EuroNASCAR PRO

Team	No.	Body Style	Race Driver	Rounds
Academy Motorsport[2]	1	Ford Mustang	Thomas Ferrando[3]	1
	1	Ford Mustang	Michaela Dorcikova[4][5]	3
	2	EuroNASCAR FJ 2020	Federico Monti[6][7]	2–6
	5		Jacques Villeneuve[8]	1, 3–4, 6
	5		Patrick Lemarié[9]	5
	24	Chevrolet Camaro	Alex Sedgwick[10]	2
RDV Competition[11]	3	EuroNASCAR FJ 2020	Frédéric Gabillon[11]	1–3
RDV Competition[11]	10	Chevrolet Camaro	Ulysse Delsaux[12][13]	All
Iceboys[14]	4	Ford Mustang	Luka Nurmi[14]	6
Hendriks Motorsport-MOMO[15][16]	7	Ford Mustang	Loris Hezemans[17][16]	1–4, 6
	7		Martin Doubek[9]	5
	18		Giorgio Maggi[18][16]	All
	50		Vittorio Ghirelli[16]	1–5
Vict Motorsport[19]	8	Chevrolet Camaro	Dario Caso[19]	1, 3–6
Vict Motorsport[19]	9	Chevrolet Camaro	Leonardo Colavita[20]	4–6
PK Carsport[21]	11	Chevrolet Camaro	Stienes Longin[21]	5
Solaris Motorsport	12	Chevrolet Camaro	Francesco Sini[22]	1, 3–6
42 Racing[23]	17	Shadow DNM8[24]	Bernardo Manfrè[3]	1–4, 6
42 Racing[23]	42	Shadow DNM8[24]	Luigi Ferrara[25]	1
DF1 Racing Iceboys with DF1 Racing[N 1]	22	Chevrolet Camaro	Nicolò Rocca[26]	All
	23	Chevrolet Camaro 3 Ford Mustang 3	Henri Tuomaala[27][28]	All
	44	Chevrolet Camaro	Ian Eric Wadén[29][28]	1, 3, 5
	44		Alexander Graff[6][30]	2
	66		Patrick Lemarié[31]	1, 3–4, 6
	66		Simon Pilate[6]	2, 5
	77		Marc Goossens[3]	1–4
Marko Stipp Motorsport	46	Chevrolet Camaro	Scott Jeffs[6][32]	2
			Romain Iannetta[4][33]	3–4, 6
			Pierre Combot[9]	5
	48		Evgeny Sokolovsky[34]	All
CAAL Racing	54	Chevrolet Camaro	Gianmarco Ercoli[35]	All
	56	Ford Mustang	Marc Goossens[36]	5
	56	Ford Mustang	Davide Amaduzzi[14][37]	6
	88	Chevrolet Camaro	Alon Day[38]	All
The Club Motorsport[39]	55	Chevrolet Camaro	Fabrizio Armetta[39]	1, 4, 6
Speedhouse	64	Ford Mustang	Lucas Lasserre[3]	All
Team Bleekemolen[40][41]	69	Ford Mustang	Sebastiaan Bleekemolen[40][41]	All
Not Only Motorsport[42]	89	Chevrolet Camaro	Davide Dallara[42]	All
	90		Andrea Nori[43]	1, 3
			Igor Romanov[6]	2
			Nicolò Gabossi[20]	4–5
			Vittorio Ghirelli[14]	6

EuroNASCAR 2

Team	No.	Body Style	Race Driver	Rounds
Academy Motorsport[2]	1	Ford Mustang	Vladimiros Tziortzis[44]	All
Academy Motorsport[2]	2	EuroNASCAR FJ 2020	Thomas Krasonis[45]	All
Iceboys[14]	4	Ford Mustang	Ossi Peltola[14]	6
Hendriks Motorsport-MOMO[15][16]	7	Ford Mustang	Martin Doubek[46][16]	All
Hendriks Motorsport-MOMO[15][16]	50	Ford Mustang	Tobias Dauenhauer[18][16]	All
Vict Motorsport[19]	8	Chevrolet Camaro	Paolo Valeri[19]	1, 3–6
Vict Motorsport[19]	9	Chevrolet Camaro	Leonardo Colavita[20]	4–6
RDV Competition[11]	10	Chevrolet Camaro	Didier Bec[13]	1
PK Carsport[21]	11	Chevrolet Camaro	Pol van Pollaert[9]	5
Solaris Motorsport	12	Chevrolet Camaro	Alina Loibnegger[22]	All
42 Racing[23]	17	Shadow DNM8[24]	Bernardo Manfrè[25]	1
			Francesco Garisto[6]	2
			Alfredo de Matteo[14]	6
	42		Francesco Garisto[23]	1, 3–6
DF1 Racing Iceboys with DF1 Racing[N 1]	22	Chevrolet Camaro	Justin Kunz[47][48]	All
	23	Chevrolet Camaro 3 Ford Mustang 3	Leevi Lintukanto[28]	All
	44	Chevrolet Camaro	Ian Eric Wadén[27][29]	1–3, 5
	66		Simon Pilate[31]	All
	77		Shaun Hollamby[6][30]	2
	77		Gil Linster[4][49]	3–5
Double V Racing[50]	27	Ford Mustang	Pierluigi Veronesi[50]	All
Marko Stipp Motorsport	46	Chevrolet Camaro	Miguel Gomes[51]	All
Marko Stipp Motorsport	48	Chevrolet Camaro	Evgeny Sokolovsky[34]	All
CAAL Racing	54	Chevrolet Camaro	Arianna Casoli[52]	1–3, 5–6
	56	Ford Mustang	Advait Deodhar[53]	All
	88	Chevrolet Camaro	Max Lanza[54]	All
The Club Motorsport[39]	55	Chevrolet Camaro	Fabrizio Armetta[39]	1, 6
Speedhouse	64	Ford Mustang	Eric Quintal[3]	1, 3–6
Speedhouse	64	Ford Mustang	Matthias Hauer[6]	2
Team Bleekemolen[40][41]	69	Ford Mustang	Michael Bleekemolen[41]	1–3
Team Bleekemolen[40][41]	69	Ford Mustang	Melvin de Groot[20][55]	4–5
Not Only Motorsport[42]	89	Chevrolet Camaro	Alberto Panebianco[43]	All
Not Only Motorsport[42]	90	Chevrolet Camaro	Naveh Talor[43]	All

EuroNASCAR Club Challenge

Team	No.	Body Style	Race Driver	Rounds
Academy Motorsport	1	Ford Mustang	Vladimiros Tziortzis[3]	All
Academy Motorsport	2	EuroNASCAR FJ 2020	Federico Monti[3]	All
Iceboys[14]	4	Ford Mustang	Hugo Roch[4]	5
Vict Motorsport	9	Chevrolet Camaro	Leonardo Colavita[4]	2–5
RDV Competition	10	Chevrolet Camaro	Jerome Mure[3]	1–4
Solaris Motorsport	12	Chevrolet Camaro	Alina Loibnegger[4]	2–5
Speedhouse by 42 Racing	17	Shadow DNM8[24]	Marcel Berndt[3]	1–2
42 Racing	42	Shadow DNM8[24]	Francesco Garisto[4]	2–5
Double V Racing	27	Ford Mustang	Mitch Maguerez[20]	3
Double V Racing	27	Ford Mustang	Kasparas Vingilis[14]	5
Marko Stipp Motorsport	46	Chevrolet Camaro	Andreas Kuchelbacher[56]	2–5
Marko Stipp Motorsport	48	Chevrolet Camaro	Gordon Barnes[56]	All
CAAL Racing	54	Chevrolet Camaro	Yasmeen Koloc[20]	3
CAAL Racing	56	Ford Mustang	Aliyyah Koloc[20]	3
Speedhouse	64	Ford Mustang	Paul Jouffreau[57][3]	All
DF1 Racing	66	Chevrolet Camaro	Norling Kristoffer[14]	5
Not Only Motorsport	89	Chevrolet Camaro	Nicolò Gabossi[43]	All
Not Only Motorsport	90	Chevrolet Camaro	Simona Lenci[43]	All

Notes

Car No. 23 was entered as Iceboys with DF1 Racing.

Driver changes

Ander Vilariño was initially scheduled to compete full-time with DF1 Racing this year, but opted not to participate in the 2021 season. Vilariño was initially scheduled to compete the full 2020 season with the team, but withdrew due to family and business concerns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic before returning as part of DF1-MSM Racing in the season ending doubleheader at Valencia.[58]
On 7 December 2020, it was reported that Paul Jouffreau is set to make his debut in the series as the EuroNASCAR 2 class driver for Speedhouse.[57] It was later revealed that Jouffreu was signed to become Speedhouse's Club Challenge class driver.[3]
On 4 February 2021, DF1 Racing announced that the team has signed both Patrick Lemarié and Simon Pilate to drive the No. 66 car for the 2021 season. Both drivers will move from FEED Vict Racing to replace Lasse Sørensen and Andreas Jochimsen respectively.[31]
On 3 March 2021, it was announced that Francesco Garisto will be returning to 42 Racing in 2021 after he switched teams to Marko Stipp Motorsport midway through 2020 due to 42 Racing being forced to withdraw from the second half of the 2020 season due to COVID-related problems.[23]
On 4 March 2021, it was announced that Jacques Villeneuve will be switching teams to Academy Motorsport for the 2021 season. Villeneuve will be moving from FEED Vict Racing and is scheduled to be returning to full-time competition after he competed part-time in 2020 due to schedule clashes with Canal+'s Formula One broadcasting schedule.[8]
On 18 March 2021, it was reported that Henri Tuomaala and Ian Eric Wadén will be returning to the series in 2021 with DF1 Racing. Tuomaala and Wadén were initially scheduled to enter the 2020 season with DF1 and Memphis Racing respectively, but they ultimately withdrew due to the restrictions caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.[27][29] Later on 27 April 2021, it was announced that Leevi Lintukanto, who made his debut at Valencia last year with Not Only Motorsport, will become Tuomaala's teammate for the season opener at Valencia while Wadén will compete in both classes in 2021.[28]
On 23 March 2021, PK Carsport driver Stienes Longin announces that he will be temporarily exiting the series to compete in the newly established BMW M2 CS Racing Cup Benelux for PK, citing travel restriction concerns as the reason for his temporary exit from EuroNASCAR as he focuses on a return in 2022.[59]
On 26 March 2021, Marko Stipp Motorsport announced that Evgeny Sokolovsky will be driving the team's No. 48 car on both classes this year, bringing in sponsorship from Gulf Grandprix Originals. Sokolovsky competed full-time in the EuroNASCAR PRO class and took part in 8 races of the EuroNASCAR 2 class as a replacement driver for the injured Gašper Dernovšek last year.[34]
On 31 March 2021, it was announced that RDV Competition driver and three-time series runner-up Frédéric Gabillon will be returning to Euro Series for a possible final season after he and RDV Competition withdrew from the 2020 season due to the effects of COVID-19 pandemic.[11] His teammate Ulysse Delsaux, who also withdrew from the 2020 season due to the effects of the pandemic, was later reported on the following day to be planning to make his return to the series in 2021.[12] Delsaux's return to the series was announced on 8 May 2021, with the same announcement also revealing that Didier Bec would be making his return to the series as the EuroNASCAR 2 teammate of Delsaux in the No. 10 RDV team.[13]
On 2 April 2021, it was announced that Nicholas Risitano will be leaving the series to join the SR&R team in the Italian GT Championship for 2021.[60] Solaris Motorsport would later announce on 5 May 2021 that former Club Challenge competitor Alina Loibnegger will be making her debut in Euro Series' two main classes as the team's new EuroNASCAR 2 class driver.[22]
On 9 April 2021, it was announced that Portuguese driver Miguel Gomes will be making his debut in the series as the full-time EuroNASCAR 2 class driver of Marko Stipp Motorsport's No. 46 Chevrolet.[51]
On 12 April 2021, Bleekemolen's Race Planet reveals that Sebastiaan Bleekemolen will be returning to the series after he and the team withdrew from 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sebastiaan is planning to compete in both Euro Series and the newly established BMW M2 CS Racing Cup Benelux for 2021.[40] Later on 30 April 2021, it was announced that Sebastiaan's father Michael would also return to the championship to compete in EuroNASCAR 2 as the teammate of Sebastiaan.[41]
On 23 April 2021, Hendriks Motorsport announced that defending EuroNASCAR 2 championship Vittorio Ghirelli will be promoted to the EuroNASCAR PRO class in 2021. Ghirelli is scheduled to drive the team's No. 50 car, replacing Loris Hezemans who will be transferred to the team's No. 7 car.[16]
On 25 April 2021, it was announced that defending series champion Alon Day will be returning to CAAL Racing after making a switch to PK Carsport in 2020. Day will be driving the team's No. 88 Monster Energy Chevrolet.[38]
On 29 April 2021, it was announced that Indian driver Advait Deodhar will be returning to the championship after taking a sabbatical in 2020. Deodhar will be driving CAAL Racing's No. 56 car in the EuroNASCAR 2 class.[53]
On 1 May 2021, it was announced that Thomas Krasonis will be returning to the championship to race the No. 2 car of Academy Motorsport in the EuroNASCAR 2 division.[45]
On 2 May 2021, it was announced that Justin Kunz will be transferred to DF1 Racing's No. 22 EuroNASCAR 2 seat for 2021. Kunz was originally supposed to be competing in EuroNASCAR PRO with DF1's No. 99 car, but he was demoted to EuroNASCAR 2 to maximize the team's chances of winning the championship after the team received news that Andre Castro wouldn't be able to compete until 2022 as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions in the United States. On the same day, it was also revealed that Japanese driver Kenko Miura would also not be able to compete until 2022 due to the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions in Japan.[47][48]
On 5 May 2021, it was announced that Pierluigi Veronesi will be returning to the series as an owner-driver of the debutant Double V Racing team in 2021.[50]
On 6 May 2021, Not Only Motorsport announced that series debutant Andrea Nori, Alberto Panebianco, Naveh Talor, and Igor Romanov would contest the 2021 season with the team for the full season. Panebianco and Romanov would make their full season debuts with the No. 89 and No. 91 teams in EuroNASCAR 2, while Talor makes his return as a full-time competitor after he competed part-time with the team in 2020.[43]
On 6 May 2021, it was reported that Paolo Valeri will be making his debut in the series as the EuroNASCAR 2 driver of Vict Motorsport, replacing Alessandro Brigatti who made the switch to BMW M2 CS Racing Cup Italia in 2021.[19]
On 7 May 2021, 42 Racing announced that Luigi Ferrara and Bernardo Manfrè would be returning to the championship after both drivers missed the second half of the 2020 season. Ferrara will continue to drive the team's No. 42 car in EuroNASCAR PRO while Manfrè will now drive the No. 17 car in EuroNASCAR 2.[25]
On 9 May 2021, it was announced that Fabrizio Armetta will be returning to the series after a two-year hiatus. Armetta will be competing in both classes as the owner-driver for The Club Motorsport.[39]
The Entry List for the season-opening NASCAR GP Spain at Valencia, released on 10 May 2021, revealed that Marc Goossens will make a switch to DF1 Racing as the new driver of DF1's renumbered No. 77 team, replacing Justin Kunz after Kunz was moved into EuroNASCAR 2. It was also revealed that Lucas Lasserre will contest the 2021 season as the owner-driver of Speedhouse, with his EuroNASCAR 2 teammate Eric Quintal also made the switch to Speedhouse in 2021.[3]

Team changes

Lucas Lasserre's Speedhouse team is set to be competing full-time for the first time this year. The team had previously competed part-time since their debut in 2019.
Alex Caffi Motorsport will be rebranded into Academy Motorsport after Federico Monti signed a partnership deal to become a co-owner of the team. The team plans to field up to three cars and will retain Alex Caffi Motorsport's existing partnership with Race Art Technology.[2]
V8 Thunder Cars team racinGPalvelu will enter the championship in 2021, fielding the No. 44 Camaro for the full-season in Euro Series whilst maintaining plans to compete in V8 Thunder Cars.[29] Later on 14 April 2021, it was revealed that the team will be running under the DF1 Racing banner for their debut season.[61]
RDV Competition and Team Bleekemolen will be returning to the championship after both teams were forced to withdraw from 2020 due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. For the No. 3 RDV team, the team is set to run a EuroNASCAR FJ 2020-based chassis in 2021 after running a Chevrolet SS-based chassis in 2019.[11][40][41]
PK Carsport will be exiting the series after a seven-year stay to compete in both GT Rebellion Series and BMW M2 CS Racing Cup Benelux.[59][62]
DF1 Racing will be expanding into a five-car team in 2021 with the addition of both the No. 23 Camaro and the racinGPalvelu-prepared No. 44 Camaro. The No. 23 team will be competing under the Iceboys with DF1 Racing banner. Later, it was revealed through the Entry List of NASCAR GP Spain that DF1 Racing will renumber the No. 99 car into the No. 77 car.[3]
Not Only Motorsport will be expanding into a three-car team with the addition of the No. 90 and the No. 91 cars in 2021. The team previously fielded a part-time second car in the 2020 season-ending doubleheader round at Valencia.
CAAL Racing will be downsizing into a three-car team in 2021.
Hendriks Motorsport will be competing under the Hendriks Motorsport-MOMO banner in 2021 after it was announced that MOMO will become the team's title sponsor.[16]
Double V Racing, owned by Pierluigi Veronesi and Francesco Vignali, will be entering the series in 2021. The team will be fielding the No. 27 Ford Mustang with technical support from Solaris Motorsport.[50]
FEED Vict Racing will be rebranded into Vict Motorsport after Jacques Villeneuve and Patrick Lemarié's FEED Racing academy ended their co-ownership deal with the team.[19]
The Club Motorsport is scheduled to expand its racing program in 2021 after the team only competed in the season opening round at Vallelunga last year. The Club plans to enter a minimum of three rounds and could potentially compete for the full season.[39]
42 Racing will be running a Shadow DNM8-based chassis in 2021, the first racing chassis to be entered under the Shadow Racing Cars name since the Shadow DN12 was last raced in the 1980 French Grand Prix.[24]

Mid-season changes

Igor Romanov was forced to miss NASCAR GP Spain at Circuit Ricardo Tormo after he was tested positive for COVID-19. Not Only Motorsport opted to not replace Romanov and withdrawn the No. 91 entry for Valencia.[63]
On 28 June 2021, it was announced that Alex Sedgwick will be returning to the series for American SpeedFest VIII at Brands Hatch. Sedgwick will drive the No. 24 Chevrolet for Academy Motorsport with sponsorship from NBA 2K, running a special Los Angeles Lakers livery in tribute to Kobe Bryant.[10]
Francesco Sini missed the British round due to paternity leave. He was not replaced, leaving Alina Loibnegger as the team's sole driver for the round at Brands Hatch.[64]
On 20 August 2021, it was announced that DF1 Racing signed Gil Linster to drive the team's No. 77 car in the EuroNASCAR 2 class starting from the third round at Autodrom Most.[49]
Team Bleekemolen's Renault Clio Cup driver Melvin de Groot replaced Michael Bleekemolen for the Croatian and Belgium rounds after Bleekemolen suffered a spinal injury caused by an accident in a race at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.[55]
Vict Motorsport expanded to a two-car team with the addition of Leonardo Colavita in the No. 9 team starting from the fourth round at Croatia. At the age of 16 years and 3 days, Colavita would become Euro Series' youngest ever driver – breaking the record previously set by Ben Creanor.[65]
On 21 September 2021, it was announced that RDV Competition's No. 3 team and Frédéric Gabillon will be withdrawing their entry for the rest of the year, citing a problematic new chassis and preparation for the 2022 season as their reason of withdrawal. Ulysse Delsaux will become RDV's sole driver for the rest of the season.[66]
On 3 October 2021, it was announced that PK Carsport will be returning to the series for the team's home race at Circuit Zolder, fielding the No. 11 Chevrolet for Stienes Longin and Pol van Pollaert.[21]
Loris Hezemans would skip the Belgium round to race for MBM Motorsports in the Drive for the Cure 250 at Charlotte Roval. Teammate Martin Doubek would replace Hezemans and compete in both classes as a result.[9][67]
On 7 October 2021, it was announced that Marc Goossens will be returning to CAAL Racing starting from the Belgium round, leaving DF1 Racing after just four rounds. Goossens will be set to drive the team's No. 56 Ford Mustang in the EuroNASCAR PRO class.[36]
On 27 October 2021, it was announced that Davide Amaduzzi will be returning to CAAL Racing to drive the No. 56 Ford Mustang in the EuroNASCAR PRO class at Vallelunga, marking his first race in the series after eight years.[14][37]
Vittorio Ghirelli switched teams for the final round of the season, leaving Hendriks Motorsport after two seasons to join Not Only Motorsport in the No. 90 team.[14]