Gianmarco Ercoli (born 5 May 1995 in Rome) is an Italian professional racing driver that currently competes in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series, driving the No. 54 Chevrolet Camaro for CAAL Racing in the EuroNASCAR PRO class. He is a two-time champion in the Euro Series, having won the Elite 2 championship title in 2015 and the PRO Class championship title in 2023.
| Gianmarco Ercoli | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  Italian |
| Born | May 5, 1995 Rome, Lazio, Italy |
| NASCAR Whelen Euro Series career | |
| Debut season | 2014 |
| Current team | CAAL Racing |
| Car number | 54 |
| Starts | 61 (EuroNASCAR PRO) 22 (EuroNASCAR 2) |
| Championships | 2 (2015 Elite 2) (2023 PRO) |
| Wins | 2 (EuroNASCAR PRO) 4 (EuroNASCAR 2) |
| Poles | 0 (EuroNASCAR PRO) 1 (EuroNASCAR 2) |
| Fastest laps | 1 (EuroNASCAR PRO) 2 (EuroNASCAR 2) |
| Best finish | 1st in 2023 (PRO) |
| Finished last season | 1st in 2023 |
| Previous series | |
| 2003–13 | Karting |
| Championship titles | |
| 2015 & 2023 | NASCAR Whelen Euro Series – Elite 2 & NASCAR Whelen Euro Series – PRO |
Racing career
editErcoli started his racing career in 2003 on karting. During his karting career, he won the 2009 Italian Open Masters in the KF3 class.[1] He made his racing debut in 2014 when CAAL Racing entered him in the second round of the 2014 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series season at Brands Hatch.[2] He scored his career podium finish in his home race at Magione. Ercoli would finish his debut season in 11th place with 2 podium finishes and 5 Top-10 finishes.
Driving for Double T by MRT Nocentini in the No. 9 team in 2015, he beat Stienes Longin by 0.3 seconds to score a victory in the first Elite 2 race of the season at Valencia, his first career win in the Euro Series.[3] At Tours, he scored his first win on an oval when he beat Ulysse Delsaux in a green-white-checkered finish on the Sunday race.[4] Ercoli would sweep the season finale round at Zolder to claim the Elite 2 title despite he entered the race in fourth place in the championship.[5][6] Ercoli would finish his season with four wins, ten Top-5s, and eleven Top-10 finishes.
As a reward for winning the Elite 2 title, Ercoli made his racing debut in the United States in 2016 when he took part in a NASCAR Whelen All-American Series late model race at New Smyrna.[6] He moved up to the Elite 1 class for the 2016 season, staying with the No. 9 Double T team. Ercoli finished his debut season in Elite 1 in 8th place with 4 Top-5s and 6 Top-10 finishes, achieving a best finishing result of fourth in the second race at Venray and the first race at Zolder.
In 2017, he stayed in the No. 9 team as Double T and Vict Motorsport merged to form Racers Motorsport.[7][8] Ercoli would improve his position in the Elite 1 championship as he finished the 2017 season in 7th place with 8 Top-10 finishes with a best finish of 5th at Brands Hatch.
In 2018, Ercoli scored his first Elite 1 podium finish in his home race at Franciacorta before he became the first Elite 2 alumnus to win a race in the Elite 1 class after he scored a victory from pole position in the Sunday race at Brands Hatch.[9][10] Ercoli would finish the season in 8th place once again, having scored 1 victory, 3 Top-5s, and 8 Top-10 finishes.
Ercoli began the 2019 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series season with two finishes outside of the Top-20 in the season opening round at Valencia. His first Top-10 finish of the season came at his home race at Franciacorta, where he finished in 7th place on the Saturday race. His first Top 5 finish came during the Playoff races at Hockenheim, where he finished 4th in the Saturday race before he scored his only podium finish of the season with a third-place finish in the Sunday race.[11] He closed his season with a double Top 5 finish at Zolder to secure 6th place in the championship, his best championship finish in Elite 1 so far. He finished the 2019 season with 1 podium, 4 Top-5s, and 8 Top-10 finishes.
Ercoli rejoined CAAL Racing on 2020 as the replacement driver for Alon Day, who left the team to join PK Carsport.[12] He won on just his second race with CAAL at Vallelunga, but he later received a 10-point penalty for jumping the start.[13] For the third round at Rijeka, Ercoli temporarily raced Mishumotors' No. 70 car after teammate Arianna Casoli suffered a heavy crash in EuroNASCAR 2 Qualifying that wrote off the No. 54 car's chassis.[14] He would eventually finish the year in sixth with one win, 3 podiums, and 8 Top-5 finishes. After losing the title fight at the NASCAR Whelen Euro Finals in Rijeka against Alon Day in the 2022's Season, his iron-maiden title came in the next year, after a solid run of results and an unreal battle till to the last lap of the last appointment in Zolder, against Lucas Lasserre and Vittorio Ghirelli.
Complete motorsports results
editNASCAR
editWhelen Euro Series - EuroNASCAR PRO
edit(key) Bold - Pole position awarded by fastest qualifying time (in Race 1) or by previous race's fastest lap (in Race 2). Italics - Fastest lap. * – Most laps led. ^ – Most positions gained.)
| NASCAR Whelen Euro Series - EuroNASCAR PRO results | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | NWES | Pts | ||
| 2015 | Double T by MRT Nocentini | 9 | Chevy | VAL |
VAL |
VEN 14 |
VEN DNS |
BRH |
BRH |
TOU DNS |
TOU DNS |
UMB DNS |
UMB DNS |
ZOL DNS |
ZOL DNS |
20th | 207 | |||
| 2016 | Ford | VAL 5 |
VAL 13 |
VEN 14 |
VEN 4 |
BRH 11 |
BRH 9 |
TOU 11 |
TOU 13 |
ADR 22 |
ADR 10 |
ZOL 4 |
ZOL 5 |
8th | 525 | |||||
| 2017 | Racers Motorsport | VAL 9 |
VAL 15 |
BRH 5 |
BRH 6 |
VEN DNS |
VEN 6 |
HOC 6 |
HOC 8 |
FRA 7 |
FRA 6 |
ZOL 11 |
ZOL 11 |
7th | 535 | |||||
| 2018 | VAL 10 |
VAL 7 |
FRA 3 |
FRA 23 |
BRH 25 |
BRH 1* |
TOU 10 |
TOU 9 |
HOC 19 |
HOC 5 |
ZOL 8 |
ZOL 13 |
8th | 407 | ||||||
| 2019 | VAL 25 |
VAL 21 |
FRA 7 |
FRA 19 |
BRH 7 |
BRH 7 |
MOS 7 |
MOS 16 |
VEN 15 |
HOC 4 |
HOC 3 |
ZOL 4 |
ZOL 5 |
6th | 452 | |||||
| 2020 | CAAL Racing | 54 | Chevy | ITA 3 |
ITA 1* |
BEL 5 |
BEL 2 |
ESP1 5 |
ESP1 5 |
ESP2 4 |
ESP2 20 |
6th | 350 | |||||||
| Mishumotors | 70 | CRO 12^ |
CRO 5 |
|||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | CAAL Racing | 54 | ESP 3 |
ESP 2 |
GBR |
GBR |
CZE |
CZE |
CRO |
CRO |
BEL |
BEL |
ITA |
ITA |
2nd* | 69* | ||||
Whelen Euro Series - Elite 2
edit(key) Bold - Pole position awarded by fastest qualifying time (in Race 1) or by previous race's fastest lap (in Race 2). Italics - Fastest lap. * – Most laps led. ^ – Most positions gained.)
| NASCAR Whelen Euro Series - Elite 2 results | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | NWES | Pts | |||
| 2014 | CAAL Racing | 31 | Chevy | VAL |
VAL |
BRH 25 |
BRH 7 |
TOU 10 |
TOU 24 |
NÜR 4 |
NÜR 17 |
11th | 487 | |||||||
| 25 | UMB 2 |
UMB 13 |
BUG 2 |
BUG 16 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2015 | Double T by MRT Nocentini | 9 | VAL 1* |
VAL 2* |
VEN 5 |
VEN 3 |
BRH 5 |
BRH 8 |
TOU 5 |
TOU 1* |
UMB 22 |
UMB 5 |
ZOL 1* |
ZOL 1* |
1st | 663 | ||||
* Season still in progress
References
edit- ^ "Gianmarco Ercoli intent on making his mark in Whelen Euro Series". motorsport.com. Motorsport.com. 16 May 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
- ^ "Whelen Euro Series News & Notes: Brands Hatch". speed51.com. Speed51. 2 June 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
- ^ "Ercoli Delivers First Euro Series Triumph". speedsport.com. Speed Sport. 25 April 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
- ^ "Gianmarco Ercoli wins second race of the season in Tours". automobilisport.com. Automobili Sport. 28 June 2015. Archived from the original on October 30, 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "NASCAR Whelen ELITE 2 Final 2 Zolder: Gianmarco Ercoli Wins And Grabs Title". automobilisport.com. Automobili Sport. 5 October 2015. Archived from the original on October 30, 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ a b "Gianmarco Ercoli Set for US Debut at New Smyrna". whelen.com. Whelen Engineering. 10 February 2016. Archived from the original on 30 October 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
- ^ "An Amazing NWES Season Is About To Begin!". motorsportsunplugged.com. MotorSports Unplugged. 31 March 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
- ^ "NASCE IL RACERS MOTORSPORT E PUNTA ALLA VETTA DELLA NASCAR EUROPEA". monzaspeed.it (in Italian). Monza Speed. 29 March 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
- ^ "The Music of Victory Keeps Playing for Alon Day". euronascar.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. 16 April 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
- ^ "Gianmarco Ercoli Grabs Maiden Elite 1 Win in Brands Hatch". euronascar.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. 16 April 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
- ^ "Hezemans Makes It Four In A Row, Puts His Hands On The NWES Title". euronascar.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. 22 September 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
- ^ "GIANMARCO ERCOLI AND CAAL RACING BACK TOGETHER TO AIM AT THE NWES TITLE". euronascar.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. 25 January 2020. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
- ^ "GIANMARCO ERCOLI RETURNS TO VICTORY LANE AT HIS HOME TRACK". euronascar.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. 13 September 2020. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
- ^ "Ghirelli en Longin pakken overwinningen op zaterdag in Kroatië" [Ghirelli and Longin take victories on Saturday in Croatia]. dutchnascarfans.nl (in Dutch). 14 November 2020. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
External links
edit- Gianmarco Ercoli driver statistics at Racing-Reference
- Gianmarco Ercoli career summary at DriverDB.com