Young Swiss race driver Giorgio Maggi (21) put on an extraordinary show in the 7th and 8th round of the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series Elite 2 at Most (CZ). With his #50 Ford Mustang, run by team Hendriks from The Netherlands, he was fastest in free practice, fastest in qualifying and went on to claim pole position in the Super Pole session with the unbelievable lap time of 1m41.339s. that remained unbeaten throughout the weekend. On top of that, he was classified as the best rookie, took victory in the race on Saturday and finished second on Sunday to crown his most successful race weekend of the 2019 season to date. In the Elite2 standings, he was able to extend his lead and has a total of 271 points!
“I think that the temperatures (air temperature up to 40 degrees Centigrade and up to 70 degrees Centigrade in the car) gave me a special boost. Everything just worked out! The Hendriks team has done a fantastic job!”
On Saturday, Maggi’s participation in the first race was in doubt for a long time. What had happened? Giorgio Maggi is sharing the #50 Ford Mustang with Loris Hezemans, who is racing in the Elite1 class. In his race, Hezemans was in the lead until his engine blew with four laps remaining.
Now, the Hendriks team only had a little less than two hours to replace the engine for Giorgio Maggi to take part in the Elite2 race on Saturday afternoon. Just one minute before the pit lane was to be closed, the Dutch team actually succeeded in revving up the new engine. A masterpiece by the team and a masterpiece by Giorgio Maggi who then went on to claim victory with the new engine.
On Sunday, Loris Hezemans dominated proceedings with victory in the Elite1 race and Giorgio Maggi successfully concluded a ‘hot’ race weekend with second place.
On 13-14 July, the next two races are held at the only oval track on the calendar, ‘Raceway Venray’ (NL) near Venlo.