A constant growing, race by race, kilometer by kilometer: we can describe in this way the Solaris Motorsport first season in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series. A podium grabbed in UK on the legendary track of Brands Hatch is probably the highest point of a season that started a new chapter for the Italian team history: in the 2018 Solaris has switched to NASCAR learning how big is the difference between a stock car and an European GT or Touring car. Many good races and some bad luck portrayed the 2018 of the Italian squad led by Roberto Sini, already at work for a 2019 on top.
“It was a kind a year ‘zero’ for the team and for me too, as a driver.” commentend Francesco Sini, third in the NASCAR GP of UK. “I had to reset totally my driving style and adapt it to the characteristics of this car. I came from the GT3 world, I had to change everything: different the braking, different the speed in the corner, different the reactions to the setup changes. It’s all very different from the GT world, probably closer to the Superstars era. The car is very responsive to the setup changes, it has no driving aids and over 450hp to face with a manual gearbox, only two new tyres per weekend. It’s a type of racing very different from what we are used in Europe. Here the driver and the team can still made the difference. Sometimes it was easier and we had the chance to stay on top, sometimes it was more difficult but we managed the way to climb back during the weekend. And I think this is the most important thing. We adapted soon to the door to door battles on track, we love them, very Ringhio style. This season we matured a lot of experience and we want to take advantage of it next year. At Zolder Circuit we had the pace to reach the Top5 in the Final 2, we posted the 4th fastest time in the Sunday’s warm up and we were ready for a full-attack race, but someone crashed into us at the first corner. What a pity!”
“New championship, new car, new tracks but the same passion and the same desire to work in a professional way as at the beginning of the Solaris history. We faced this season well knowing to need to learn everything and well knowing we had to confront with professional teams involved in the series by several years. When you have more than 15 cars in less than a second, details don’t make the difference, they become fundamental. But I think we had a good season, we reached the podium already at the third event and we lost some good performance during the season due a race contacts.” said Roberto Sini, Solaris Motorsport Team Principal. “We are back to race with the Camaro, it’s like a emblem for our team. We have all the winter to prepare the 2019 and to remain loyal to our winning tradition with the most beautiful muscle car on the market. No one won with a Camaro in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series yet, once more we can be the first ones of the Chevrolet history!”
Solaris Motorsport PR
