MSVR Competition Secretary samples the Racecar Euroseries

01/02/2012 - The Racecar Euroseries, which recently gained affiliation with NASCAR, held a media day at Brands Hatch on Friday 27 January to officially launch their new season and prepare for their second visit to the venue, supporting DTM at the Kent circuit in May.

The championship is the first category outside of America to be officially linked with NASCAR, something Racecar Euroseries CEO Jerome Galpin is excited about: "It's amazing to have got the affiliation and we are really excited to bring a NASCAR series to Brands Hatch in May.

"We started in 2009 as a French series and around 80% of our drivers are French. Now we are presenting ourselves to other countries to get more European drivers - we had a boost at the Autosport show - and we've made a special presentation to English media and drivers joining us today to hopefully get more people involved in our series."

The overall champion of the series will also be rewarded with a one-off drive Stateside, meaning when the teams and drivers return to Brands Hatch in May, they will be going all out to secure the prestigious prize: "We are now the official doorstep for European drivers to race in NASCAR and our champion will win a race in NASCAR which means they will get great recognition. We hope to further develop this channel into NASCAR and send more and develop more European drivers."

Galpin also enthused about the Brands Hatch circuit: "I really like this track. It has a lot of history and the Indy track is very challenging for our drivers and has a typically British atmosphere! I really like the place and all the people here and you have a great organisation with very professional people, we get a great welcome and we're more than happy to come back here."

Several familiar luminaries, including BTCC drivers Andrew Jordan and Shaun Hollamby, had time behind the wheel to experience the V8-powered machines. MSVR's Competition Secretary Alex Shaw was also on hand to test drive one of the cars, the vehicle used by Jenson Button at the recent Race of Champions. Shaw is more adept at racing Ford Fiestas, but said: "They're fantastic cars! There's so much power but they're also quite heavy so you're coming into the corner and wondering if it's going to stop. Then on the exit of the corner you try and put the power down and the rear end is coming round on you, so a real challenge to drive but also really fun and I had a whale of a time out there!"

The Racecar Euroseries supports the DTM at Brands Hatch on 18-20 May. For more information and to book tickets call 0843 453 9000 or click this link.