quebec’s
DECEMBER 28, 2019 AT 4:59 AM
After discovering the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series in 2019 and scoring three podium finishes in his first season, Formula 1 World Champion and Indy 500 Champion Jacques Villeneuve will double down on Euro NASCAR. The Canadian, together with Patrick Lemarie, will bring their FEED Racing team into the championship, fielding at least two cars in the 2020 NWES season. An extension of the FEED Racing academy Villeneuve and Lemarie founded last year, the team will aim at competing for the European NASCAR title and mixing world-class top drivers with new promising talents.
Villeneuve and Lemarie will drive the #5 and #6 cars in the EuroNASCAR PRO championship, marking the first time the two will race as teammates despite a longstanding friendship. The first EuroNASCAR 2 driver will be 17-year-old Belgian Simon Pilate, who will share the #6 car with Lemarie.
“This is a project aimed at giving young talents the opportunity to grow and become professionals in racing. I always loved this kind of cars and races and after gaining some valuable experience last year in NWES, we are ready to take the next step,” said Villeneuve, who also started at the front of the field twice and finished eighth in points in EuroNASCAR PRO in 2019. “With Patrick we know each other since we were eight years old, he was the test driver at BAR in Formula 1 and we founded the FEED Racing academy together, so this is a natural step forward. The Euro NASCAR car is perfect to learn the basics of driving a race car, it is bold and aggressive, it has no electronic aids and plenty of horsepower and since two drivers share the car, we will be able to do a proficient work together with our young drivers. The NASCAR Whelen Euro Series can open a very interesting development path for them and in the next couple of months we’ll evaluate the opportunity to expand to three or four cars, fielding more top drivers and more up-and-coming talents.”
Villeneuve’s personal ambitions for the 2020 season are clear and include the opportunity to chase the NWES title.
Euro NASCAR —Source: