Photo: EUROV8 Media

The new EUROV8 SERIES kicks off at Monza

Monza will host the opening round of the EUROV8 SERIES this weekend. A good seventeen-car grid contains manufacturers including Audi, BMW, Chevrolet and Mercedes, with Lexus and Chrysler also present on the grid with one car each.

The top four finishers from the drivers’ championship from the 2013 Superstars Series season have all migrated to different series, and therefore a rush of fresh talent is entering the championship, starting with the highly anticipated debut of Eddie Cheever III. The young Italian, son of the former F1 and IndyCar driver Eddie Cheever, switches to touring cars after a very interesting career in single-seaters, which led to a Formula One test with Ferrari after taking the runner-up spot in both the Italian and the European Formula 3 Series in 2012.

Cheever will drive for Roma Racing Team in their Mercedes C63 AMG Coupé. The team’s Mercedes saloon will be driven by 2013 Italian Mini Challenge champion Nicola Baldan, who’s only confirmed for the first event of the season so far.

CAAL Racing will also field two C63 AMGs, with former WTCC driver Diego Romanini and Leonardo Baccarelli behind the wheel.

Romeo Ferraris, Mercedes’ 2013 works team, will not be on the grid, with drivers Vitantonio Liuzzi and Thomas Biagi migrating to Japanese Super GT and the Porsche Supercup respectively.

After taking a clean sweep of all of the titles last year, Audi’s drivers’ champion Gianni Morbidelli will join the FIA World Touring Car Championship, but the team will still field a strong pair of drivers in Czech Tomas Kostka and Italian Davide Stancheris. The former took part in the DTM with Audi in 2009 before switching to Rallying, taking a podium in his home event in the 2012 Intercontinental Rally Challenge. Stancheris is an Italian GT Cup champion and has a long history with Audi Sport Italia. The two will have to be watched very carefully for the ultimate glory, despite a clear disadvantage compared to Mercedes at Monza due to the rival cars having more power.

Solaris Motorsport could also be a threat for the title, with Francesco Sini, now one of the most experienced drivers in the series, at the wheel of the team’s updated Chevrolet Camaro. The new car should have a better aero package this year, and a second Camaro may appear later during the year. Mimmo Schiattarella, a former F1 driver, has been confirmed to drive an old Lumina for the team, with a view into switching to the newer Camaro later in the season.

Another ex-Grand Prix driver, Giovanni Lavaggi, will be at the wheel of a Lexus ISF run by Team MRT, who will also field a Chrysler C300 for Alessandro Battaglin.

BMW will be represented by some seven cars, three from Team BMW Dinamic and four from Scuderia Giudici. Young rookie Claudio Giudici will be at the wheel of a BMW M3 E92, along with Domiziano and Jonathan Giacon, father and son. Scuderia Giudici will also field an old 550i for former Euro NASCAR driver Gabriele Volpato.

Team BMW Dinamic sees their No.1 driver of last year, Giovanni Berton, move to the team’s Italian Porsche Cup programme, but has retained the experienced Max Mugelli, with Niccolò Mercatali and Maurizio Copetti joing them at the wheel of the Team Dinamic’s BMW M3 E92s.

The EUROV8 Series will hold three events in Italy at Monza, Vallelunga and Mugello before going to Brno in the Czech Republic, and then finishing in Germany at the Sachsenring and with the season finale at Hockenheim.

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EUROV8 SERIES – Round 1 Monza Entry List

No – Driver – Nationality – Team – Car
1 – Tomas Kostka – CZE – Audi Sport Italia- Audi RS 5
2 – Davide Stancheris – ITA – Audi Sport Italia- Audi RS 5
5 – Max Mugelli – ITA – Team BMW Dinamic- BMW M3
4 – Niccolo Mercatali – ITA – Team BMW Dinamic- BMW M3
19 – Maurizio Copetti – ITA – Team BMW Dinamic- BMW M3
27 – Eddie Cheever – ITA – Roma Racing Team- Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Coupé
28 – Nicola Baldan – ITA – Roma Racing Team- Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG
54 – Diego Romanini – ITA – CAAL Racing- Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG
58 – Leonardo Baccarelli – ITA – CAAL Racing- Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG
12 – Francesco Sini – ITA – Solaris Motorsport- Chevrolet Camaro
11 – Mimmo Schiattarella – ITA – Solaris Motorsport- Chevrolet Lumina
9 – Gianni Giudici – ITA – Scuderia Giudici- BMW M3
47 – Domiziano Giacon – ITA – Scuderia Giudici- BMW M3
6 – Jonathan Giacon – ITA – Scuderia Giudici- BMW M3
64 – Gabriele Volpato – ITA – Scuderia Giudici- BMW 550i
46 – Giovanni Lavaggi – ITA – Team MRT- Lexus IS-F
7 – Alessandro Battaglin – ITA – Team MRT- Chysler C300
14 – Giuseppe Cipriani – ITA – Hartmann Racing – Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG
15 – Hans Hartmann – DEN – Hartmann Racing – Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG