Solaris Motorsport switches from GT Racing to Euro NASCAR

The Italian squad Solaris Motorsport switches from GT Racing with Aston Martin to Euro NASCAR. The team will field the #12 Chevrolet which is driven by Francesco Sini in the ELITE 1.

In 2017 the team competed in the Italian GT Championship and International GT Open with an Aston Martin GT3. The new NASCAR car is not the first V8 machine the team has to tame. The team fielded a Chevrolet Camaro in the SuperStar series and different US-cars in GT championships in Europe.

"We have been looking at the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series for a few years,” said Francesco Sini, who had the chance to test a NWES car on December 4 at the Autodromo di Franciacorta, in the context of the second Italian Recruitment Days. “We followed it as it grew to be one of the most important touring car series in Europe and we are very happy to join it in 2018.”

Sini added the NASCAR Euro Series is affordable and the timing is right to compete in the series.

"The car is awesome and we love the fact that there’s a lot of people at every event, plus the series has a fantastic cost-effective formula. Everywhere else in racing money has become the only thing that matters, but in NASCAR we can still find that passion for the sport that drives all of us at Solaris Motorsport.”

"We are very happy to welcome such a professional team and passionate racing family in NWES," explained NWES President Jerome Galpin. "100% of drivers who tested our Euro NASCAR cars during the Recruitments Days were really surprised by how good and fun they are to drive and they enjoyed the experience a lot! Francesco was among them and he showed very good skills and true passion for pure racing. We wish him and his family all the best for their NASCAR debut."

The family business Solaris Racing is led by Roberto Sini as Team Owner and Laura Sini runs the team as Team Manager. The whole family is happy to be back in V8 racing.

"I would love to say that I want to win from the beginning, but I have to be realistic and I know the competition is exceptionally strong, there are lots of strong teams and for sure we will need experience, But I’m confident we can do pretty well," concluded the Italian driver.

"There are at least three events I particularly look forward to. Franciacorta because it will be our home race, Hockenheim because I love the track and I won there the EuroV8 title and then the Oval World Challenge, because I never ran on an oval and I’m really curious to know what I can do."

The team is currently working on completing its lineup with an ELITE 2 driver in preparation for the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series season opener taking place in Valencia, Spain at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo on April 14-15.