DDespite two DNFs at the NASCAR Euro Series 2025 season opener in Valencia, Giorgio Maggi remains optimistic. The Swiss driver showed impressive pace and race craft at the wheel of the #33 Speedhouse Ford Mustang, even though luck wasn’t on his side in Spain.
“We definitely had the pace for a top result – maybe even a podium,” Maggi said after the weekend. “But the racing luck just wasn’t with us.”
The weekend started off tricky during Thursday’s practice sessions. “Thursday was kind of a throwaway,” Maggi admitted. “I wasn’t comfortable with the seating position, so we didn’t really get any proper testing done. Instead, we focused on making sure everything fit – especially since the car had been freshly rebuilt.”
On Friday, the team made solid progress, testing various setup options and switching to fresh tires late in practice. But the all-new qualifying format – with just two flying laps – posed a challenge. High tire pressure led to understeer and threw Maggi off his rhythm. “I tried to play with weight transfer and use some rear rotation to get the car to turn better,” he explained. “But I made a small mistake and lost the rear a bit too much in one corner – that cost me about half a second. So we ended up starting P17.”
Race 1 got off to a strong start with great battles and early gains. But midway through, brake issues began to surface. Just a few laps later, Maggi suddenly lost control coming out of the final corner. “I instantly knew something was wrong. The steering was crooked down the straight and the rear was pulling hard to the right. I pulled over to avoid any further damage.” Back in the pits, the team discovered a broken rear axle – an unusual failure given there were no hard curb hits or contact during the race.
In Race 2, Maggi once again charged from P17 with great pace and confident moves. The car felt strong – until disaster struck again. “After the full-course yellow, the engine just cut out halfway through the lap,” Maggi said. “I tried everything to restart it while coasting, even bump-starting, but nothing worked. Ironically, when we rolled the car back into the pits – it started up just fine. Super frustrating.”
Despite the double retirement, Maggi keeps his head high and looks ahead to the next round: “We showed that we’ve got the speed to fight at the front. Huge thanks to Lucas Lasserre and the entire Speedhouse crew – we’ll be back stronger in Vallelunga!” The next race weekend takes place on May 17–18 at the Autodromo di Vallelunga near Rome, Italy. Giorgio Maggi is determined to bounce back and show what he and the #33 Ford Mustang are truly capable of – without technical gremlins getting in the way.
