Vittorio Ghirelli will return to chase the EuroNASCAR PRO title this year with Not Only Motorsport.
After racing with the Italian team at Vallelunga during last year’s Finals, the Fasano native will be back driving the No. 36 Camaro.
“I am ready for this new challenge and I am sure we can do really well preparing ourselves the best way to be 100 percent ready straight from the Hockenheim season opener,” Ghirelli said. “We can accomplish our goal which is to win the title. I trusted the team last year in Vallelunga, the trust turned into a lot of work and a new friendship. We went so close on winning the title last year, but racing is cruel sometimes.
“Luca Giovannelli is a great, experienced professional and all the team has lots of passion and a winning mentality, I think it is the right place to be in. We are putting together a solid program with a group counting on me. Winning the title would be amazing, but winning it with a young team – growing together – would be twice as rewarding”.
Coming from very successful experiences in single seaters – GP3, AutoGP, GP2, Indy Lights – and GT racing, Ghirelli made his NWES debut in 2019 and immediately found his way to victory lane as a rookie in EuroNASCAR 2.
He then went on to grab the title the following year with five wins, moving to EuroNASCAR PRO in 2021. The 27-year-old quickly proved to be competitive among the best NASCAR drivers in Europe and battled for the NWES title until the very last race of the season.
Joining Not Only Motorsport for the Finals, Ghirelli was incredibly close to winning the championship, but ended up fifth in points, only due to a sudden technical issue.
Not Only Motorsport is one of the latest additions to the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series grid, having joined the championship in 2020.
In the short span of two seasons, the Vignate-based organization quickly rose to prominence in EuroNASCAR: they won the Challenger Trophy with Davide Dallara, the Rookie Trophy with Alberto Panebianco and Naveh Talor brought home the team’s first EuroNASCAR 2 race win in 2021, finishing third in points.
“With Vittorio we definitely have the potential to do well. He is extremely quick, he’s absolutely professional and provides great indication for the car’s development. He’s going to be out spearhead in 2022, we’ll put up all our efforts to provide him with top-level equipment and fight in the top-5 in every race,” said Not Only Motorsport technical director Luca Giovannelli. “A driver like Vittorio can really be the benchmark for the whole team. We are motorsport professionals, we believe in teamwork and he immediately understood our spirit. He always shared his feedback with all teammates. I believe we can really take the next step”.
Counting on Ghirelli’s talent and experience to take on the EuroNASCAR top teams, Not Only Motorsport is planning to begin a series of tests to develop the car’s setup ahead of the April 8-9 season opener at the Hockenheimring. The team is currently at work to finalize the rest of the this year’s lineup.