Photo: EUROV8

New drivers announced ahead of EUROV8 kick off

As the start of the EUROV8 season at Monza approaches, several drivers have been announced to take part in the series.

BMW Team Dinamic will retain Max Mugelli, who took two podiums last season in his BMW M3 E92. The Tuscany-based driver will be partnered by Maurizio Copetti, a former Italian Ginetta G50 Cup racer. Copetti also took part in the Dubai 24h.

The last driver to fill the seat of the team’s BMW M3s will be Niccolò Mercatali, a race winner in the 2013 Italian Mini Challenge. Mercatali also had a few outings in the Superstars Series, but is now approaching his first full season with the powerful V8 cars.

2013 Superstars Series runner-up Giovanni Berton will not return to the championship, shifting his focus on the team’s new program in the Porsche Carrera Cup Italia. On the subject of BMW, 17 year-old Gabriele Volpato will be at the wheel of a BMW 550i prepared by Scuderia Giudici. The young rookie took three podiums last season in the 2013 EURO Nascar Series.

On Audi’s side, Davide Stancheris has been confirmed at the wheel of the championship-winning RS5. A former Italian GT Cup champion, Stancheris made his debut as far back as 2000 in a single make trophy organized by Emilio Radaelli, Audi Sport Italia’s team manager, and has already tested the car at Adria.

Solaris Motorsport confirmed Domenico Schiattarella, a former F1 driver, at the wheel of their Chevrolet Lumina. The Italian, also an ex IndyCar racer, should be able to switch to the newer Camaro during the season, as soon as preparation has finished. The American car will instead be driven by Francesco Sini.

Nicola Baldan, who made his Superstars Series debut at Franciacorta during the Italian Superstars season finale, will switch from BMW to Mercedes by sitting behind the wheel of a C63 AMG prepared by Roma Racing Team. The 2013 Italian Mini Challenge champion is only confirmed for the Monza event so far, but did not rule out continuing for at least the two other Italian events of the EUROV8 Series.

The championship kicks off this weekend at Monza, the first of six events. A minimum of sixteen entries for each event has been granted by ATT, the Teams’ Association, but the numbers could raise as some of the teams should field more than two cars.