A family dynasty is in the making in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series: Gianmarco Ercoli’s younger brother, Mario Ercoli, will make his EuroNASCAR 2 debut in Germany at the wheel of the #8 Vict Motorsport Chevrolet Camaro. At the age of 16 years and 3 days, the Rome native – who celebrates his birthday on September 20 – will tie the record set by Leonardo Colavita in 2021. Mario Ercoli will also be competing in his first ever auto race, trying to follow in his brother’s footsteps in EuroNASCAR, but the youngster is eager to quickly progress and learn how to handle a 400-horsepower V8 beast without any electronic driving aids.
Born in 2007, Ercoli watched his successful brother win the EuroNASCAR 2 championship in 2015 and become a title contender in EuroNASCAR PRO, following him on the NWES circuits. “He’s one of the best drivers in the series,” said the NWES debutant ahead of his first NASCAR start. “When I was young I watched all the F1 races and I also watched my brother race in real life, so the Pure Racing of EuroNASCAR is pumping through my veins. My idol is Michael Schumacher from Germany, but my inspiration is definitely my brother Gimmy.”
The business school student is aiming at becoming a full-time driver in EuroNASCAR 2 in 2024 and his debut at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben could pave the way for the next Ercoli to climb a NWES podium. Before Mario and Gianmarco Ercoli, Maxime and Guillaume Dumarey competed in the series, as did Liam and Loris Hezemans. In fact, the latter have both won races and championships, so Mario Ercoli has a long-term goal to equal another record in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series.
“I will be making my debut at Oschersleben, the first race of my career,” he said. “My expectations and goals for this race and the upcoming season are to earn precious experience and try to get some good results. Driving a EuroNASCAR car is such an amazing thing and I’m looking forward to competing against the best NASCAR drivers in Europe in a pure racing style. I’m a young, fair and fast driver who is good at defending positions thanks to my solid race pace”. Outside of racing, Mario Ercoli, like his brother Gianmarco, is a big football fan.
The NASCAR Whelen Euro Series will hold its regular season finale on September 23-24 at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben in Germany. Qualifying and all races will be streamed live on EuroNASCAR’s YouTube channel, Motorsport.tv and various television services around the world. Keep an eye out for the Ercoli family as they add a new storyline to the NWES history books.
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