EuroNASCAR's Ladies Trophy will again feature spectacular on-track battles in 2021, with the return of Italian driver Arianna Casoli at her sixth season in the series and Austrian racer Alina Loibnegger stepping up to EN2 division.
EuroNASCAR – the European division of the famous stock car championship – has historically featured a significant female presence on its grid.
From its inception, the two main classes – Elite 1 and Elite 2 – have seen more than 10 women competing on some of the most popular European racetracks, surrounded by the familiar and fan-friendly environment of the championship.
Drivers such as Francesca Linossi, Michela Cerruti, Carmen Boix, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Michaela Dorcikova, Julia Landauer and the German racing legend Ellen Lohr have populated the grid in the past five years. Among them is a familiar name for fans of the series: Italian Arianna Casoli, who announced that she will make her return to the EN2 division. It will be Arianna's sixth season in the championship, again with her iconic yellow car by CAAL Racing.
“I’m looking forward to being part of the EuroNASCAR Championship in 2021 and staying with my family at CAAL Racing”, Arianna said, who has claimed the Lady Trophy title twice in her career. “It’s also a pleasure to share the car with my fellow countryman Gianmarco [Ercoli], who is incredibly fast." Ercoli will share the #54 Chevrolet Camaro in the EN1 division.
"My goal is to defend the Legend Trophy title and win the Lady Trophy. Of course I also want to improve my overall results but I know that there will be a lot of fierce and strong drivers on the grid in the 2021 EuroNASCAR season.” – she concluded.
Casoli scored her first top-five of her career in 2020, when she finished fifth in the second race at Zolder. She was eleventh in the drivers' standings, grabbing 293 points and the Legend Trophy title. Making her debut in 2016, she is one of the most experienced drivers on the field, with 55 races under her belt.
Always a fan favourite, Arianna is looking forward to welcoming back fans at the racetracks in 2021 - a crucial part of the EuroNASCAR events - whenever the situation will prove favourable. “That would bring some normalcy back in our racing lifes and it would be great to have the fans back to celebrate the NASCAR parties we have at the circuits around Europe." – she said. "It would be great to get back the NASCAR style events in which fans play a huge role. I really can’t wait to start again and rev that wonderful V8 engine.”
While in 2020 Casoli had to go against American talent Julia Landauer in the Ladies Trophy, the Italian from Reggio Emilia will again have great competition: Austrian racer Alina Loibnegger will step up to the EN2 division, having gained vital experience in the Club category. The 26-year old made headlines in 2016, when she finished second at Hockenheim (Elite Club division), in EuroNASCAR's first ever female 1-2.
Alina joins Francesco Sini at Solaris Motorsport and will drive the #12 Chevrolet Camaro.
“I can’t wait for the season to begin and to work with the team. My goal for 2021 is to continue to grow and improve in racing and in NASCAR in particular. I want to keep learning and getting better and better. A special thank you goes to my sponsors, without them all of this wouldn’t be possible” – said Loibnegger.
The 2021 EuroNASCAR season will kick-off at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Valencia for the first of its seven double-headers on 15-16 May. The series will then move to Most, Czech Republic in mid-June, before the traditional American SpeedFest at Brands Hatch in July.
Hockenheim will host the German round, before the return of the series to Automotodrom Grobnik, in Croatia, after the championship's first ever visit to the track in 2020.
Zolder (Belgium) and Vallelunga will round out the season – with the final round still awaiting a date confirmation.
All the qualifying sessions and races will be streamed live on EuroNASCAR's Youtube, Facebook and Twitch channels - as well as on Motorsport.tv.
