The NASCAR Whelen Euro Series and FEED Racing – the academy founded by Jacques Villeneuve and Patrick Lemarie – announced today a partnership to create the first EuroNASCAR racing school in France to provide new exceptional opportunities to become a NASCAR driver thru the FEED Racing EuroNASCAR Challenge.
The brand new program will welcome drivers aged 16 and over to test a EuroNASCAR car during a three-day session in Magny-Cours, France under the guidance of the two FEED Racing founders and EuroNASCAR PRO drivers: Jacques Villeneuve, 1997 Formula 1 champion, Indycar champion and Indianapolis 500 winner and Patrick Lemarié, European endurance champion, test and development driver in F1 for four years and IndyCar driver.
The first stage of the course will welcome 15 drivers and will take place on August 4-5-6, 2021. The best 6 drivers will qualify for the final, which will take place in September 2021. At the end of the selection process, the winning driver will be offered a free full season in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series for 2022.
Featuring one of the most versatile race cars in the world, EuroNASCAR is reaffirming with this partnership the formative value of its 400hp, 1200Kg car, which provides Pure Racing and fun for all kinds of drivers on the most diverse tracks and surfaces.
The NASCAR Whelen Euro Series season is made of seven events – each one featuring four sprint races – at some of the most iconic road courses in Europe. When the 2021 NWES campaign starts on May 15-16 in Spain at Valencia’s Circuit Ricardo Tormo, both Jacques Villeneuve and Patrick Lemarié will chase the EuroNASCAR PRO title, while 19-year-old Simon Pilate, the first driver to come from the Feed Racing academy to the NWES grid in 2020, will compete in the EuroNASCAR 2 championship.
QUOTES
Jerome Galpin, NASCAR Whelen Euro Series President / CEO – “The EuroNASCAR car is probably the car providing the best ratio between performances, costs and fun to every kind of driver of every age! Over the years they demonstrated to be the perfect tool to develop drivers’ skills! This is why we are very happy to open a new dimension for our EuroNASCAR cars and build this first Racing School program.”
Jacques Villeneuve – “Since the launch of FEED Racing and the F4 program, we realized that many drivers over 21 years old are also eager to get a chance. In collaboration with EuroNASCAR and Jérôme GALPIN’s teams, we thought that there was room to offer an opportunity for the largest number. EuroNASCAR is the ideal platform for those who otherwise could not hope to drive such a car, and who knows, to win a full season. I’ve been enjoying myself so much since 2019 in this championship. It’s an amazing chance for all those who want to express their talent, to take part in very close races, against a fierce competition.”
Patrick Lemarie – “EuroNASCAR is what we call Pure Racing. It’s everything we love about driving. It gives you the opportunity to relive the sensations that tend to disappear nowadays in motorsport. Driving a EuroNascar is brutal and very demanding. We take a maximum of pleasure out there. This Challenge is quite different because there is no age limit. It can concern young drivers over 16 years old who would like to have access to a professional championship in order to get noticed but also older drivers who already have experience in other categories and would like to relaunch their career, those who do not have the budget to complete a season or gentlemen drivers who would like to drive something different than a GT car.“
NWES PR
